Evidence · Case 10 · Islam
Surah 5:116 and 19:28
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Surah 5:116 has God ask Jesus whether he told people to take him and his mother as two gods besides God, framing the Christian error as worshipping Mary. Surah 19:28 addresses Mary as sister of Aaron. Muslim commentators explain the second as a tribal or honorific title rather than literal siblinghood, which is a fair defense worth stating.
Sources
- Gabriel Said Reynolds, “The Qur’an and Its Biblical Subtext” (Routledge, 2010). (opens in a new tab)
Scholarly treatment of the Qur’an’s engagement with biblical material.
Objections & responses
- Every one of these has a scholarly Muslim answer, and pressing them looks like the proof-texting Christians resent when it is done to the Bible. Isn’t this a double standard?
The double-standard worry is fair, and it is why these are offered as questions with the Muslim replies alongside, not as verdicts. The deeper point is consistency. Muslims raise exactly this kind of question about the Bible under the heading of corruption. If the Bible’s difficulties are fair to examine, so are the Qur’an’s, and the honest move is to hold both texts to one standard rather than shielding either.