What do the Bible and the Qur'an agree on?

Muslims believe that the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were all originally divine revelations — sent to Moses, David, and Jesus by the same God. Islam is not in opposition to the prophetic tradition of the Bible; it claims to be its continuation and restoration. One of the most effective ways to understand this is to look at the specific teachings the Qur'an and the Bible share:

1. Absolute Monotheism

Deuteronomy 6:4: 'Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.' This is the Shema — the foundational Jewish declaration of God's oneness. It is almost word-for-word identical to the first part of the Islamic Shahada: 'There is no god but Allah.' And crucially, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he quoted this exact verse (Mark 12:29) — the same declaration of absolute monotheism that Islam is built upon.

Isaiah 45:5: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.'

2. Prayer: Sincere, Private, and Prostrated

Matthew 6:5-6: Jesus teaches private prayer directed to God alone — not public performance. This mirrors the Islamic emphasis on sincerity (ikhlas) in worship.

Matthew 26:39: 'He fell with his face to the ground and prayed.' Jesus prostrated — the same physical posture Muslims assume in every unit of salah. The Greek is clear: face to the ground.

3. Fasting as Devotion

Jesus fasted forty days (Matthew 4:2). Joel 2:12 commands fasting as a return to God. Jesus assumes his followers will fast: 'When you fast...' (Matthew 6:16) — not 'if you fast.' Ramadan is the continuation of this prophetic practice.

4. Dietary Law: No Pork, No Alcohol

Leviticus 11:7-8 explicitly prohibits pork — a law Islam maintains. Proverbs 20:1 warns against wine and alcohol. Ephesians 5:18 warns against drunkenness. The moral concern is identical; Islam applies it more completely.

5. Modesty

1 Timothy 2:9 calls for women to dress with 'decency and propriety.' 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 describes head covering for women in worship. The hijab is not a foreign imposition on Abrahamic tradition — it continues a principle the New Testament itself affirms.

6. Charity and Care for Orphans

James 1:27 defines authentic religion as 'looking after orphans and widows.' Proverbs 19:17 says giving to the poor is lending to the LORD. This is the spirit of zakat and sadaqah in Islam — not charity as a cultural custom but as a divine obligation.

7. A Coming Prophet

Deuteronomy 18:18 foretells: 'I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth.' Islamic scholars identify three criteria in this verse — the parallel with Moses, the Ishmaelite lineage, and the mode of revelation ('words put in his mouth') — that all point to Muhammad ﷺ specifically.

The Qur'an itself explicitly invites this recognition: 'O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you — that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him.' (Ali 'Imran 3:64). The shared foundation is already there. Islam is an invitation to stand on it fully.