same mix of laws and narratives about God’s dealings with
His people. But the Koran is unlike any book of the Bible in
that there is only one speaker throughout: Allah (although
there are a few exceptions to this that bedevil Muslims to
this day).[19]
While the Pentateuch presents a more or less
continuous narrative from the creation of the world to the
Israelites’ imminent entry into the Promised Land, the Koran
makes no attempt at linear history. Though the Koran is
shorter than the New Testament, a surprisingly large amount
of what it says is repeated. Nevertheless, the reader often
cannot figure out what exactly is being said, or why, without
reference to the Hadith. We will examine this later.
31. Does the Bible play any role in
Islamic belief and practice?
Not as such, but the Koran’s primary message —
namely, that there is one God, Allah, and the worst of all
sins is idolatry — has strong biblical parallels. Also, the
basic outline of its story will be familiar to Bible readers,
although in the Koran the story of salvation is altered in
significant ways.
After Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan into
turning away from the truth (a story imported straight from
Genesis, with important modifications and embellishments),
Allah sent the world a succession of prophets to call people
back to true worship. The most important of these were