Comparison of the Qur'an and the Bible
God vs. Allah
Allah is the Arabic word commonly used for "God," but it is used inaccurately by Arabic-speaking Christians to name the true God of the Bible. Allah and the God of Christianity are not the same God. This is true even though there seem to be a few similarities between Allah and the God of Scripture. Allah is identified as the only God. He is the creator of the world, all knowing, all powerful. He is the judge who places the good in paradise, the wicked in hell. "Merciful" and "Forgiving" are included among his 99 names.
A closer look, however, reveals that the Qur'an's description of Allah is a distorted view of what Scripture has revealed about God, because there is a critical, deadly omission. Allah is not a loving father. He has no son. Allah is bound by no law nor by any promise. Allah is a forgiver, but he is no Savior. He has no good news for the world, but only law for those who follow him.
Islam states clearly that those who worship Jesus as God are not worshiping the same God that Muslims worship. The Qur'an emphatically rejects the deity of Christ and condemns shirk (associating anyone with Allah) as the most deadly sin. To worship the Trinity is the greatest of all heresies. Islam is completely incompatible with the words of Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
Jesus vs. Muhammad
Muslims rank Jesus after Muhammad as one of the greatest prophets. They speak about the "gospel" of Jesus but claim that Christians corrupted the Bible so that we no longer have Jesus' original message.
In some ways the Qur'anic Jesus seems to be superior to Muhammad. The Qur'an mentions Jesus nearly four times more often than it mentions Muhammad. Jesus' virgin birth was a miracle of God. Jesus was the only sinless prophet. He did miracles. He will have a role in the final judgment.
But the significance of all this is obliterated by two critical Islamic errors, namely the insistence of Islam that Jesus is not God, and that he did not die for the sins of the world. In fact, Islam teaches that Jesus was not crucified at all. Sura 4.157 of the Qur'an says, "Because of their saying: 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger,' they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them." The Qur'an gives the impression that Judas was crucified in his place.
Islam considers Jesus to be a Muslim prophet, not the Son of God nor the Savior of the world.