As Muslims like to point out, there are two major world religions which revere Jesus of Nazareth as a prophet: Islam and Christianity. Though it is rather light on recapitulating His teachings, the Koran retells many pious fables about the Lord's early life, and even includes some legitimate information.

Mohammed positioned his new revelation as being in continuity with prior revelations in the monotheistic tradition, particularly Christianity and Judaism:

If that's so, then where does this come from? How did Christmas become a "pagan holiday"?:

In fact, the 'Jesus' of the Koran is a cardboard cut-out who says exactly what Mohammed says and condemns His own followers,— those who believe what He said about Himself in the New Testament,— to Hell. If I were to take that approach today, and 'quote' Mohammed saying, 'ISIS are crazy murderers,'- Mohammed ibn Abdallah, 7th century Arabia, would they desist from their activities? Wouldn't they say, 'Do you think anyone cares if you invent bogus quotations?' Nevertheless this approach turned out to be a stroke of genius for Mohammed, because millions of Muslims world-wide do believe that Jesus said exactly those things which he quotes Him as saying, in the Koran, even though no one had ever heard these sayings before Mohammed 'quoted' them. Therefore Christians have to be pagans, apostates, etc.; doesn't 'Jesus' Himself say so!

"You should visit 'Thriceholy.' It's a dynamic, progressive web-site!"
   -- Mohammed ibn Abdallah, 7th century Arabia

Christians distinguish between the canonical gospels and apocryphal works, which are basically fiction. According to ancient testimony, the canonical writings included in the New Testament go back to the immediate circle of the apostles. The apocryphal works have no such background, but often originate in places far away and times long distant. As a rule modern Bible critics like Bart Ehrman discard this testimony; not that they produce any dissenting ancient testimony with which to rebut it, they simply disbelieve it. Some of Mohammed's informants evidently had access to this material, because that is where the 'talking in the cradle' story comes from. While I doubt that Mohammed ever held in his hands a copy of the Arabic Infancy Gospel, his informants had likely heard the story from someone who heard the story from someone who had:

"The following accounts we found in the book of Joseph the high-priest, called by some Caiaphas: He relates, that Jesus spake even when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother: Mary, I am Jesus the Son of God, that word which thou didst bring forth according to the declaration of the angel Gabriel to thee, and my father hath sent me for the salvation of the world." (The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, Chapter 1, 1-3, p. 38, The Lost Books of the Bible).

Right on, Baby Jesus! While I do not think this source has any historical value, and it certainly does not go back to Joseph Caiaphas as claimed, Muslims would do well to take the Lord's words to heart, because He is who He says He is.

Clay Birds

In the Koran, Jesus makes birds out of clay, and then breathes life into them:

This is another one of Mohammed's stories that come from the apocryphal gospels. It is striking to realize that the author who made up this story to begin with likely intended it as a testimony to Jesus's divinity.

Reza Aslan, a Muslim, traces this story to the apocryphal gnostic gospels:

"There are some great stories about the boy Jesus in the gnostic gospels, especially The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, in which a petulant Jesus flaunts his magical powers by bringing clay birds to life or striking dead neighborhood kids who fail to show him deference." (Reza Aslan, Zealot, p. 252).

Here is the original context to which Reza Aslan refers:

"When this boy, Jesus, was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream. He was collecting the flowing water into ponds and made the water instantly pure. He did this with a single command. He then made soft clay and shaped it into twelve sparrows. He did this on the sabbath day, and many other boys were playing with him.

"But when a Jew saw what Jesus was doing while playing on the sabbath day, he immediately went off and told Joseph, Jesus' father: 'See here, your boy is at the ford and has taken mud and fashioned twelve birds with it, and so has violated the sabbath.'

"So Joseph went there, and as soon as he spotted him he shouted, 'Why are you doing what's not permitted on the sabbath?'

"But Jesus simply clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows: 'Be off, fly away, and remember me, you who are now alive!' And the sparrows took off and flew away noisily." (The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Chapter 2, p. 371, The Complete Gospels, Robert J. Miller, Editor).

As its original author no doubt intended, the story of Jesus breathing life into clay birds is a very powerful testimony to His identity. If there had been any steady editorial hand at the helm, one might wonder how this story ever would have made its way from the "gnostic gospels" into the Koran, whose author intended to deny Jesus' deity. After all, it's God's prerogative to give life:

"'Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand." (Deuteronomy 32:39).

Nor does the Koran dispute the point: "His is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; He maketh alive and killeth; and He hath power over all things!" (Sura 57:2, 44:8, 23:82). There is one who can do such things:

"And we cause to live and we cause to die, and We are the heir of all things. . ." (Sura 15:23).

"SAY: Who supplieth you from the Heaven and the Earth? Who hath power over hearing and sight? And who bringeth forth the living from the dead, and bringeth forth the dead from the living? And who ruleth all things? They will surely say, ‘God:’ then SAY: ‘What! will ye not therefore fear him?. . .

"SAY: Is there any of the gods whom ye add to God who produceth a creature, then causeth it to return to him? SAY: God produceth a creature, then causeth it to return to Him: How therefore are ye turned aside?" (Sura 10:32-35).

"He maketh alive and He causeth to die, and to Him shall ye return." (Sura 10:57).

It is out of the question for any other than God to create even a fly: "Verily, they on whom ye call beside God, cannot create a fly, though they assemble for it; and if the fly carry off aught from them, they cannot take it away from it! Weak the suppliant and the supplicated!" (Koran Sura 22:72).

The Table

Here, breaking the pattern, is a wondrous sign performed by Jesus which does have a scriptural foundation in the New Testament:

This story reminds the reader of the loaves-and-fishes miracles of the gospels,

"And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men." (Mark 6:34-44).

As for the idea of "recurring festival," is there any Christian ordinance involving food and a table? It may be he has some confused notion of communion. The Arabic word 'id, translated feast or festival, may be a borrowing from the Syriac 'ida, meaning 'feast' or 'liturgical festival':

"Noting that this verse is the only place in the Qur'an where the word 'id appears, Samir concludes: 'This ma'ida [table] is thus defined by two terms: 'id and aya, a 'Feast' or 'liturgical festival' and a 'sign.' Is this not the most appropriate definition of the Eucharist of Christians, which is a festive celebration and a sacramental sign?'" (Samir Khalil Samir, quoted in Robert Spencer, Did Muhammad Exist? Kindle location 2993).

In the nature of things, Mohammed could not have a correct understanding of communion, which is all about Jesus's sacrificial death:

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

Since Mohammed denies the crucifixion, neither does he have a clear understanding of any of the things that follow therefrom. In the early part of his 'prophetic' career, Mohammed seems to have been partial towards Christianity, but then once he emigrated to Medina and began to be 'taught' by the Jewish scholars, he leaned in the other direction, and came to deny everything that communion attests.

The Crucifixion

As noted on the 'Contradictions' page, the Koran's story about the crucifixion is one of the major parting-of-the-ways between the Bible and the Koran. Was Jesus crucified in fact or in semblance? The Koran says, semblance:

"And for their saying, 'Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an Apostle of God.' Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness. And they who differed about him were in doubt concerning him: No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion, and they did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself.  And God is Mighty, Wise!" (Sura 4:156).

What this means in practice is disputed. Some Muslims follow the 'substitution' theory, which holds that another party, perhaps Judas Iscariot or perhaps Simon of Cyrene, was substituted for Jesus on the cross. Some follow the 'swoon' theory, which holds that Jesus did not really die, but fainted, and was resuscitated later. The Bible, of course, dissents, teaching that Jesus really did die upon a Roman cross:

"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole." (Acts 4:10).

"But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." (John 19:33-34).

In denying the sacrificial death of Jesus upon the cross, Mohammed is denying also everything that follows therefrom. If Jesus did not die, then He did not rise; if He did not bear our sins to the cross, there is no atonement. This one error snow-balls to the point where Islam is not even recognizable as the same religion as its claimed foundation. And whoever said that it was? Mohammed ibn Abdallah said so.

In denying Christ's crucifixion, Mohammed is not only controverting the New Testament, he is denying secular history as well:

"But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular." (Tacitus, Annals, Book XV, Chapter 44).

Notice how the Lord's story of the vineyard, which even the destructive Bible critics favored by Muslims admit is authentic, foretells His execution:

Born of a Virgin

One fact about Jesus's life which Mohammed did get right is that He was born of a virgin. The Koran is effusive in its praise of Mary:

"And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary! verily hath God chosen thee, and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of the worlds!" (Sura 3:37).

"And her who kept her maidenhood, and into whom we breathed of our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to all creatures." (Sura 21:91).

"And we appointed the Son of Mary, and His mother for a sign; and we prepared an abode for both in a lofty spot, quiet, and watered with springs." (Sura 23:52).

There is no question about her chastity:

"She said, 'How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste.' He said: 'So shall it be.  Thy Lord hath said: 'Easy is this with me;' and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us.  For it is a thing decreed. And she conceived him, and retired with him to a far-off place." (Sura 19:20-22).

The Bible, of course, concurs:

"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS." (Matthew 1:24-25).

Mohammed's fables about Mary's youth are, again, derived from apocryphal sources. It reflects the confusion of the enterprise that the Koran simultaneously condemns Mariolatry, while also incorporating much of the same apocryphal information that started Mary's apotheosis.

Only-Begotten

Of all of Jesus's Biblical titles and epithets, 'Son' is one which the Koran is bound and determined to deny to Him:

"It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! when he decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, Be, and it Is." (Sura 19:36).

"They say: 'The God of Mercy has gotten offspring.' Now have ye done a monstrous thing! Almost might the very Heavens be rent thereat, and the Earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down i fragments, That they ascribe a son to the God of Mercy, when it beseemeth not the God of Mercy to beget a son!" (Sura 19:91-93).

"And that it [the Book] may warn those who say, 'God hath begotten a Son.' No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous saying to come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie!" (Sura 18:3-4).

"And they say, 'God hath a son:' No! Praise be to Him! But — His, whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth! All obeyeth Him..." (Sura 2:110).

The Bible has no such inhibition:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).

The underlying problem here is that Mohammed cannot conceive of Sonship without procreation; if a Son, then a consort: "Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! how, when he hath no consort, should He have a son? He hath created everything, and He knoweth everything!" (Koran Sura 6:101).

The Same Honor

'Shirk,' to Muslims, is the sin of associating any with God. Is it proper to worship the Son? We are commanded to do Him honor:

"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." (Psalm 2:12).

Mohammed's case against the Christians centers around this accusation. Because, for all its rumored tolerance, this book brings a very bitter charge against us. We must confess, 'Guilty as charged;' yet worshipping God is no crime. The greater guilt lies in not worshipping:

"It beseemeth not a man, that God should give him the Scriptures and the Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and that then he should say to his followers, 'Be ye worshippers of me, as well as of God;' but rather, 'Be ye perfect in things pertaining to God, since ye know the Scriptures, and have studied deep.' God doth not command you to take the angels or the prophets as lords. What! would he command you to become infidels after ye have been Muslims?" (Sura 3:73-74).

We are simply following instructions after all. If you don't like it, you can bring it up with the One who issued them:

"...that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." (John 5:23).

What is Mine

The 'Jesus' of the Koran is no more than a servant:

"The Messiah disdaineth not to be a servant of God, nor do the angels who are nigh unto Him." (Sura 4:170).

"Jesus is no more than a servant whom we favored, and proposed as an instance of divine power to the children of Israel." (Sura 43:59).

The Messiah of the Bible is a servant, but far more than a servant. He is the servant who owns the plantation:

"All things that the Father has are Mine." (John 16:15).

What indeed is God's, that is also given to the Son? In the Bible, everything:

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'" (Matthew 28:19).

In the Koran, a book, or so they imagine. In the Bible, the Messiah is a servant to be sure. The Messiah is called a servant in Isaiah 42:1,

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.” (Isaiah 42:1-4).

There is a Servant Song about Jesus in the Old Testament:

. . .But He is also the Son. The letter to Hebrews shows how far above the servant, Moses, is the Son, the heir:

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." (Hebrews 2:1-6).

How can God be a servant?:

Declare the Decree

The Koran concedes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, that is the Christ, God's Anointed One:

"Remember when the angel said, ‘O Mary! Verily God announceth to thee the Word from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious in this world, and in the next, and one of those who have near access to God..." (Sura 3:40).

This is an astonishing concession. Having conceded this however, the Koran proceeds to deny to Jesus the names and titles very clearly bestowed on the Messiah by the Old Testament:

“Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You.'” (Psalm 2:6-7).

Those like the Jehovah's Witnesses who accept the authority of the Bible yet deny the deity of Jesus Christ go to great lengths to explain the Messiah's title of "Son of God." They must evade the normal expectation that, whatever nature of being the Father is, so also is the Son. Yet Mohammed does not follow them in interpreting the title "Son of God" in a weak or metaphorical sense. Rather, he flatly denies any such title belongs to the Messiah, or to anyone else for that matter:

"The Jews say, 'Ezra (Ozair) is a son of God'; and the Christians say, 'The Messiah is a son of God.' Such the sayings in their mouths! They resemble the sayings of the Infidels of old! God do battle with them! How are they misguided! They take their teachers, and their monks, and the Messiah, son of Mary, for Lords beside God, though bidden to worship one God only. There is no God but He! Far from His glory be what they associate with Him!" (Sura 9:30-31).

Apparently he interprets the title in a carnal way such as would be appropriate to a pagan theogony: "Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! how, when He hath no consort, should He have a son?" (Sura 6:101). Here is not a case where the Koran confirms prior scripture as advertised, but flatly contradicts.

"Such the sayings in their mouths:"

“And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'” (Matthew 3:17).

At the Right Hand

The Old Testament gives a prophecy of exaltation to the Messiah,

“The LORD said to my Lord,
Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1).

As Paul pointed out, the realized promise of this Psalm situates the Messiah above all others:

"...His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come." (Ephesians 1:19-21).

This is one Bible promise that is by no means conceded in Mohammed's teaching, as recorded in the Hadith. Mohammed, who conceded the title 'Messiah' to Jesus without seeming to realize what it implied, also told the tale of a fantastic 'Night Journey.' In this tale, he ranks Jesus below Moses:

"Narrated Malik bin Sasaa: The Prophet said, 'While I was at the House in a state midway between sleep and wakefulness, (an angel recognized me) as the man lying between two men. A golden tray full of wisdom and belief was brought to me and my body was cut open from the throat to the lower part of the abdomen and then my abdomen was washed with Zam-zam water and (my heart was) filled with wisdom and belief. Al-Buraq, a white animal, smaller than a mule and bigger than a donkey was brought to me and I set out with Gabriel. When I reached the nearest heaven. Gabriel said to the heaven gate-keeper, 'Open the gate.' The gatekeeper asked, 'Who is it?' He said, 'Gabriel.' The gate-keeper,' Who is accompanying you?' Gabriel said, 'Muhammad.' The gate-keeper said, 'Has he been called?' Gabriel said, 'Yes.' Then it was said, 'He is welcomed. What a wonderful visit his is!' Then I met Adam and greeted him and he said, 'You are welcomed O son and a Prophet.'

"Then we ascended to the second heaven. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel said, 'Gabriel.' It was said, 'Who is with you?' He said, 'Muhammad' It was asked, 'Has he been sent for?' He said, 'Yes.' It was said, 'He is welcomed. What a wonderful visit his is!" Then I met Jesus and Yahya (John) who said, 'You are welcomed, O brother and a Prophet.' Then we ascended to the third heaven. It was asked, 'Who is it?' Gabriel said, 'Gabriel.' It was asked, 'Who is with you? Gabriel said, 'Muhammad.' It was asked, 'Has he been sent for?' 'Yes,' said Gabriel. 'He is welcomed. What a wonderful visit his is!' (The Prophet added:). There I met Joseph and greeted him, and he replied, 'You are welcomed, O brother and a Prophet!' Then we ascended to the 4th heaven and again the same questions and answers were exchanged as in the previous heavens. There I met Idris and greeted him. He said, 'You are welcomed O brother and Prophet.' Then we ascended to the 5th heaven and again the same questions and answers were exchanged as in previous heavens. there I met and greeted Aaron who said, 'You are welcomed O brother and a Prophet'.

"Then we ascended to the 6th heaven and again the same questions and answers were exchanged as in the previous heavens. There I met and greeted Moses who said, 'You are welcomed O brother and. a Prophet.' When I proceeded on, he started weeping and on being asked why he was weeping, he said, 'O Lord! Followers of this youth who was sent after me will enter Paradise in greater number than my followers.' Then we ascended to the seventh heaven and again the same questions and answers were exchanged as in the previous heavens. There I met and greeted Abraham who said, 'You are welcomed O son and a Prophet.' Then I was shown Al-Bait-al-Ma'mur (i.e. Allah's House). . ." (Hadith, Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 54, Number 429.)

Assigning a higher rank to Moses than to Jesus directly contradicts the Bible, "For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house." (Hebrews 2:3).

By the way, what's the topography here?

Least Common Denominator

The oft-repeated claim of the Koran that there is no meaningful distinction between the prophets of God would tend to put Jesus in His place; certainly to the Bible He is different, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;. . ." (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Son is a prophet, but much more than a prophet. But, if He were different, He could not be the same:

"Say ye: 'We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down to us, and that which hath been sent down to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes: and that which hath been given to Moses and to Jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their Lord. No difference do we make between any of them: and to God are we resigned (Muslims).'" (Sura 2:130).

"Say: We believe in God, and in what hath been sent down to us, and what hath been sent down to Abraham, and Ismael and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and in what was given to Moses, and Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord. We make no difference between them. And to God are we resigned (Muslims)." (Sura 3:78).

Certainly the Bible does not concur that there is no difference. Is Jonah the way, the truth and the life?:

"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).

Nor can Mohammed himself sustain the 'no difference' myth. In the end, all it means is that the cardboard cut-outs who populate the Koran can speak only Mohammed's words, not their own.

Be!

Jesus is called the Word of God even in the Koran. Muslims, however, generally interpret this to mean no more than that God created Him:

"Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God. He created him of dust: He then said to him, ‘Be’— and he was." (Sura 3:52).

"It beseemeth not God to beget a son. Glory be to Him! when he decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, Be, and it Is." (Sura 19:36).

By that standard, we are all 'words'! It is not as if this were a unique instruction, "Our word to a thing when we will it, is but to say, 'Be,' and it is." (Sura 16:42).

Biblically, Jesus' title of 'the Word' actually means something far more distinctive and more dramatic. It is a title of deity, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2). This clear and consistent Bible teaching cannot readily be evaded, by the 'cheat' of assigning the 'word' as 'be.'

In the Koran, Jesus is likened to Adam, another, it is claimed, direct creation of God. But in reality, He is unchanging: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8).

No Man Knows the Father

The Bible describes a unique fellowship of mutual knowledge between Father and Son:

"Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." (Matthew 11:26-27).

"O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me." (John 17:25).

"As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." (John 10:15).

This Bible teaching is specifically denied in the Koran:

"He shall say — 'Glory be unto Thee! it is not for me to say that which I know to be not the truth; had I said that, verily thou wouldest have known it: Thou knowest what is in me, but I know not what is in Thee; for Thou well knowest things unseen!" (Sura 5:116).

In the Koran, 'Jesus,'— The Jesus of the Koran is little more than a sock puppet, who mouths the words Mohammed puts in His mouth, foreign as they are to the Lord's own diction,— specifically denies the unique mutual knowledge of the Father and the Son which He teaches in the New Testament. This is a very clear, direct contradiction between Mohammed's teaching and the New Testament; it is probably not a knowing and intentional contradiction, because Mohammed did not have direct access to that sacred document. It is true that, as Muslim commentators on this passage point out, omniscience is a divine prerogative: "Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite." (Psalm 147:5). Thus, when Jesus says, "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father," He is claiming to be God.

Mohammed's assertion, "Thou knowest what is in me, but I know not what is in Thee; for Thou well knowest things unseen!" contrasts directly with the Bible ascription of reciprocity: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." (Matthew 11:27). If Jesus spoke Matthew 11:27, then the speaker of Sura 5:116 is of necessity someone else.