What does the Qur’an teach about the Bible?

If you want to share the gospel with Muslims, your conversations will be more effective when you understand what they believe about the Bible, explains Imtiaz Khan.

“We want to encourage Christians to share the gospel with Muslims, but before they do that it’s helpful for them to know how Muslims will understand what they’re saying,” says Imtiaz Khan.

Imtiaz is Islam Missiologist Training Director at London City Mission, and we’re speaking to him straight after LCM’s The Bible & The Qur’an conference, which explored what the Qur’an teaches about the Bible.

The event acknowledged that often Christians want to speak to Muslim friends and neighbours but don’t know where to begin or feel daunted at the thought of being unable to answer their questions.

It’s important, says LCM, for Christians to understand what Muslims think about the Bible and the Qur’an, because it can present quite a challenge.

So we asked Imtiaz to give us a taste of his teaching.

The Islamic dilemma

It’s useful to begin by looking at ‘the Islamic dilemma’, Imtiaz says, because it can be central to many conversations.

“This phrase refers to the tension in how Muslims view the Bible,” he explains. “The Qur’an affirms the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospels as God’s Word, yet it also contradicts their teachings.

“To explain this, Muslims are taught that the Bible was later changed. But the Qur’an itself never says the text was corrupted; rather, it declares that God’s Word cannot be altered.

“This raises the question: if the Bible was truly changed, why does the Qur’an still affirm it as God’s Word?”

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