Short answer
No. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, marks some of his words as his own, not the Lord's. In one chapter he gives a ruling and says it comes from the Lord. A few lines later he gives another and says, "speak I, not the Lord". Of a third question he writes that he has no commandment of the Lord. He calls that ruling "my judgment". He says he speaks "by permission, and not of commandment". A writer who marks some of his words as his own cannot have every word counted as God's (﷾). Yet the church put all of it in the Bible. Islam keeps that line clear. The Qur'an holds only the word of God (﷾). The words of the Prophet (ﷺ) are kept apart from it.
Full explanation
Why Christians count Paul's letters as scripture
Christians hold that Paul wrote as an apostle, a man sent out by Jesus, chosen by the risen Christ. They point to Second Peter, which places Paul's letters beside "the other scriptures". They point to Paul's thanks that the Thessalonians received his message as the word of God (﷾) and not of men. Paul also tells the Corinthians that the things he writes "are the commandments of the Lord".
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
“If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
Paul separates his words from the Lord's
In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul marks the line himself. One ruling on marriage is from the Lord, not from him. The next is from him, not from the Lord. On virgins he has no commandment of the Lord and gives his own judgment. He speaks by permission, not by command. He writes "I suppose", and he gives his advice to widows "after my judgment". He closes the chapter with "I think also that I have the Spirit of God". Paul claims no more than "I think", though the church claims far more for him. Elsewhere he says he speaks "not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly".
“And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:”
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.”
“But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.”
“Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.”
“I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.”
“But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.”
“That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.”
Letters that open as letters
Philippians opens as a letter from Paul and Timothy. Both letters to the Thessalonians open in the names of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. None of these letters opens as a message from God (﷾), as the book of Jonah does. Where Paul claims the Lord's authority, he claims it for particular teachings. In 1 Corinthians 7 he withholds it from others himself.
“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:”
“Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,”
“If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.”
A slip and its correction, both kept
Paul first thanks God (﷾) that he baptised none of the Corinthians except two men. He then remembers a household he also baptised. He admits he does not know whether he baptised anyone else. The first statement was wrong, and both it and its correction stand in the Bible. Where the Qur'an replaced an earlier ruling with a later one, it never reversed a fact. Paul's first statement was a fact, and it was wrong. In the next verse he says Christ sent him not to baptise. Yet Matthew's Jesus joins teaching the nations and baptising them in one command.
“I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.”
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
“None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?”
Paul was not with Jesus during his ministry
Christians say Paul was sent by Jesus. But Paul never met Jesus during his ministry. When Jesus' disciples chose a man to replace Judas, Peter set the condition. The man must have been with them from John's baptism until Jesus was taken up. Paul was never among the disciples in those years.
“Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Paul's letters: the problems at a glance
- Paul never met Jesus during his ministry. When Jesus' disciples chose a man to replace Judas, they required him to have been with them from John's baptism until Jesus was taken up. Paul was not.
- Paul marks some of his rulings as his own: “speak I, not the Lord”. On another question he has “no commandment of the Lord” and gives his own judgment.
- He says he baptised none of the Corinthians except two men. Then he remembers a household, and says he does not know whether he baptised anyone else. The slip and its correction both stand in the Bible.
- Philippians and 1 Thessalonians open as letters from Paul and Timothy, not as a message from God (﷾).
Keeping God's (﷾) word apart from men's
Isaiah says God's (﷾) thoughts are not man's thoughts. The Qur'an condemns those who write with their own hands and then say "This is from Allah". It says the Prophet (ﷺ) did not speak the Qur'an from his own desire. That is why the Qur'an contains only what was revealed. His own words were recorded separately as hadith, the reports of the Prophet's (ﷺ) words and deeds handed down by his companions. They are never recited as Qur'an.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
“Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.”
“Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) Desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him:”
Verse by verse
1 Corinthians 7:12 — First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 12
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.”
Cited for
"Not the Lord" only means Jesus gave no teaching on this while on earth. Paul still rules as an inspired apostle.
The response
Paul does not stop there. In the same chapter he says he speaks by permission and not by command, and he writes "I suppose". Elsewhere he says he speaks "not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly". Paul himself withholds the Lord's authority from these rulings.
Where it lands — Paul himself marks these words as his own, so they are not the word of God (﷾).
1 Corinthians 14:37 — First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 37
“If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
Cited for
Paul says that what he writes is the commandment of the Lord, and that his message came by revelation (Galatians 1:12).
The response
He says this in chapter 14, about order in worship. In the same letter he writes "speak I, not the Lord" and "I have no commandment of the Lord". A general claim cannot turn back rulings he himself says are not the Lord's. Galatians 1:12 is about the message he preached, not every line of every letter.
Where it lands — Paul's claim to the Lord's authority does not cover the rulings he marks as his own.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 — First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Cited for
Paul says the Thessalonians received his message as the word of God, so his letters are God's word.
The response
Paul speaks of the message they "heard of us" when he preached. He does not say that each line of each letter came from God (﷾), and in other letters he says plainly that some lines did not.
Where it lands — A claim about Paul's preaching does not cover the rulings he marks as his own.
2 Peter 3:15-16 — Second Epistle of Peter, chapter 3, verses 15-16
“And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
Cited for
Peter counts Paul's letters among the scriptures, so Jesus' first followers already treated them as God's word.
The response
The verse does set Paul's letters beside "the other scriptures". But 2 Peter was itself one of the disputed books. Early in the fourth century Eusebius, a church historian, still listed it among the writings not accepted by all. And no later letter can turn Paul's own "I, not the Lord" into the Lord's words.
Where it lands — A disputed letter's view of Paul cannot overrule Paul's own statement that some rulings were his.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians hold that Paul was an apostle of Christ, and that his letters are scripture. Even where he gives his own judgment, they say the Holy Spirit guided what he wrote.
Second Peter places Paul's letters beside "the other scriptures".
Rebuttal
The verse does set Paul's letters beside "the other scriptures". But 2 Peter was itself one of the disputed books. And no later letter can turn Paul's own "I, not the Lord" into the Lord's words.
Paul says the Thessalonians rightly received his message as the word of God, not the word of men.
Rebuttal
Paul speaks of the message they "heard of us" when he preached. He does not say that each line of each letter came from God (﷾), and in another letter he says plainly that some lines did not.
Paul tells the Corinthians that the things he writes to them are the commandments of the Lord.
Rebuttal
He says this in chapter 14, about order in worship. In chapter 7 of the same letter he writes "speak I, not the Lord". A general claim cannot turn back rulings he himself says are not the Lord's.
In 1 Corinthians 7:12, "not the Lord" means only that Jesus left no saying on the matter. So Paul rules with an apostle's authority.
Rebuttal
Paul does not stop there. In the same chapter he says he speaks by permission and not by command, and he writes "I suppose". He himself withholds the Lord's authority from these rulings.
The Islamic perspective
Paul wrote letters, and he marked some of their rulings as his own. The Qur'an alone is God's (﷾) word, and the words of the Prophet (ﷺ) are kept apart from it.
Paul contrasts a ruling from the Lord with rulings that he says are his own and not the Lord's.
Paul calls some of his advice permission rather than command, and writes "I suppose" and "after my judgment".
Paul says some of his words are spoken "not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly".
Paul corrects himself in writing about whom he baptised, and both the error and the correction remain in the Bible.
Philippians and the letters to the Thessalonians open as letters from Paul and his companions. None says that the letter itself came from God (﷾).
Paul says only that he thinks he has the Spirit of God (﷾) when he gives his advice to widows.
Acts 1 sets a condition for a witness, and Paul did not meet it. He never went with Jesus during his ministry.
The Qur'an condemns passing off men's writing as God's (﷾) word, and it contains only what was revealed.