What does the Quran say about the Bible?

Which earlier scriptures does the Qur’an name?

Three by name. The Tawrat, the Torah given to Moses, described as containing guidance and light Qur’an 5:44. The Injil, the Gospel given to Jesus, described in the same terms and as confirming the Torah before it Qur’an 5:46. And the Zabur, the Psalms, given to David Qur’an 4:163, quoted from in Qur’an 21:105. They are introduced as revelations from the same source, not as rival books: Qur’an 3:3 states that He sent down the Book in truth confirming what was before it, and that He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.

Does the Qur’an tell Muslims to believe in the Bible?

It instructs belief in what was revealed to the earlier prophets. Qur’an 2:136 gives the formula: believe in what was revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the descendants, and what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord — making no distinction between any of them. Qur’an 2:285 repeats the phrase about making no distinction, and Qur’an 3:84 restates the whole formula. The object of belief in these verses is what was revealed to those prophets. That is a claim about the revelations as given, and the Qur’an’s statements about later alteration bear on how it relates that to the texts circulating afterwards.

What does the Qur’an mean by distortion?

Several verses address this, and they are more specific than the summary "the Bible was corrupted" suggests. Qur’an 2:75 describes a group who used to hear the word of God and then distort it after they had understood it, knowingly. Qur’an 5:13 and Qur’an 4:46 both describe distorting words from their places. Qur’an 2:79 is the strongest: woe to those who write the scripture with their own hands and then say this is from God, to purchase a small price with it. What these verses describe is an act by particular people — altering, misplacing, or writing and attributing. That is a narrower and more careful claim than the blanket summary suggests, and it leaves the Qur’an’s honouring of the Torah and the Gospel as revelations fully intact. The Qur’an does not set out a textual history of the biblical manuscripts, and this page does not supply one on its behalf.

What does "confirming and a criterion over it" mean?

Qur’an 5:48 uses both terms of the Qur’an in a single verse: sent down in truth, confirming what preceded it of the Scripture, and as a criterion — muhaymin — over it. The same verse continues in a direction often missed: it states that for each community God appointed a law and a way, that had He willed He would have made them one community, and that they should therefore compete with one another in good works. The passage sets up difference between communities as something deliberate rather than accidental.

How much of the Bible’s content appears in the Qur’an?

A great deal of shared narrative, told differently. Adam, Noah and the flood, Abraham, Lot, Joseph, Moses and Pharaoh, David, Solomon, Jonah, Zechariah, John and Jesus all appear. The form differs sharply. The Qur’an is not arranged as a chronological narrative and rarely tells a story once from beginning to end — an exception being Surah 12, on Joseph, which Qur’an 12:3 introduces as the best of stories. Episodes are more often invoked in parts, for the point being made at that moment. There are also details with no biblical counterpart, and biblical material the Qur’an does not carry.

How does the Qur’an tell Muslims to speak with Jews and Christians?

It gives an explicit instruction. Qur’an 29:46 says not to argue with the People of the Book except in the way that is best — except with those who commit injustice — and gives the words to use: we believe in what was revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is one, and we are Muslims in submission to Him. Qur’an 10:94 goes further in the other direction: addressing the Prophet himself, it says that if he is in doubt about what has been revealed to him, he should ask those who have been reading the Scripture before him.

Common questions

Does the Qur’an say the Bible is corrupted?

It affirms the Torah and the Gospel as revealed, containing guidance and light Qur’an 5:44 Qur’an 5:46. Alongside that it records acts by particular people — distorting words from their places Qur’an 5:13 Qur’an 4:46, knowingly altering what they had heard Qur’an 2:75, and writing by hand and attributing it to God Qur’an 2:79. It does not set out a manuscript history, and the affirmation and the caution sit together in the text.

Do Muslims believe in the Torah and the Gospel?

Belief in what was revealed to Moses and Jesus is required, with no distinction made between the prophets Qur’an 2:136 Qur’an 2:285. Both are described as containing guidance and light Qur’an 5:44 Qur’an 5:46.

Is the Qur’an a copy of the Bible?

They share many narratives, but the Qur’an is structured differently — not chronological, rarely telling a story straight through — and it contains material with no biblical counterpart while omitting much biblical content. It presents itself as confirming earlier scripture and as a criterion over it Qur’an 5:48.

Are the Psalms mentioned in the Qur’an?

Yes. The Zabur is named as given to David Qur’an 4:163, and Qur’an 21:105 quotes from it — that the earth will be inherited by God’s righteous servants.

The Surahs this page draws on

Every verse quoted above comes from one of these chapters. Each is set out in full — why it was revealed, and what it teaches.

• 2. Al-Baqarah — The Cow
• 3. Al Imran — The Family of Imran
• 4. An-Nisa — The Women
• 5. Al-Maidah — The Table Spread
• 10. Yunus — Jonah
• 12. Yusuf — Joseph
• 21. Al-Anbiya — The Prophets
• 29. Al-Ankabut — The Spider