Some resemblances between Islam and Mormonism (Part Three)

Continuing with my introduction to Islam for Latter-day Saints:

The entire twelfth chapter of the Qur’an is devoted to a beauti­ful retelling of the story of Joseph of Egypt. It is the only chapter of the Qur’an that is entirely occupied by a single narrative.

The story of Moses is one of the more commonly repeated in the Qur’an.[1]  Saul, David, and Solomon are also mentioned.[2]

The Qur’an knows the biblical stories of David and Goliath, as well as the parable Nathan tells to David in 2 Samuel 11-12. King David is a great revelator in the Qur’an. “To David We gave the Psalms.”[3] Moreover, Solomon appears in the Qur’an not only as a great king of Israel but also as a magician, just as he does in post-biblical Jewish lore. And at one point the Qur’an seems to make Solomon the star of a story which the Bible connects with Gideon instead.[4]

It is not only the stories of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible that seem to find their counterparts in the Qur’an; the New Testa­ment has Qur’anic parallels as well. A parable similar to that of the ten virgins occurs.[5] The miraculous birth of John the Baptist is alluded to at several points.[6] So, too, is the story of Mary, includ­ing Gabriel’s annunciation to her of the advent of the Savior and the virgin birth of Jesus.[7] Certain Western scholars have seen a remi­niscence of the institution of the eucharist or sacrament and the miracle of loaves and fishes.[8]

Many of the similarities are verbal. There are passages in the Qur’an that are virtually identical to passages in the Bible.[9] Thus, when the Qur’an talks about the ruins of past civilizations, destroyed for their disobedience to God and to the prophets he had sent to them, it comments that “your Lord would not have ruined those cities without just cause, had their inhabitants been righteous men.”[10] It rejects the notion that God prefers one people over another because of their lineage or ancestry. “The noblest of you in God’s sight,” it says, “is he who fears Him most.”[11]  This is reminis­cent of the justification given by the Book of Mormon for the expul­sion of the Canaanites by the children of Israel:

And now, do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous? I say unto you, Nay. Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity.[12]

[1] See, for example, 2:40-71, 246-48; 5:20-26; 7:103-75; 10:75-93; 19:51-53; 20:10-98; 26:10-69; 27:7-14; 28:3-46, 76-82; 40:23-53; 43:46-56; 79:15-26.

[2] 2:249-53; 27:15-44; 34:12-14; 38:21-26.

[3] 4:163; 17:55.

[4] Compare 2:249 with Judges 7:2-7.

[5] 57:12-15; compare Matthew 25:1-13.

[6] 3:38-41; 19:2-15; 21:89-90.

[7] 3:35_37,42-51; 19:16-34.

[8] 5:112-15.

[9] It might be of interest to compare the 55th chapter of the Qur’an with Psalm 136. However, such a comparison is beyond the scope of the present book.

[10] 11:117.

[11] 49:13.

[12] 1 Nephi 17:33-35.