Short answer
No. The Qur'an sets this test for itself. It says that if it had come from anyone but God (﷾), people would find many contradictions in it. For fourteen centuries critics have looked. Their objections turn on Arabic grammar, an old way of speaking, a verse taken out of context, or a law given in stages. None shows the Qur'an saying a thing happened one way and, elsewhere, the opposite way. The Bible has contradictions of that kind. One book says King Ahaziah began to reign at twenty-two, and another says forty-two. One says forty thousand horsemen were killed, and the other, of the same battle, says forty thousand footmen. The Qur'an has no pair like these. Islam's answer is that this is what we expect of the word of God (﷾).
Full explanation
The test the Qur'an sets
The Qur'an asks its readers to consider it with care. It says that if it were from anyone other than God (﷾) they would find many contradictions in it. Its longest surah (chapter) opens by calling it the Book in which there is no doubt. It stakes its origin on a test any reader can apply.
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah;”
It answers its critics in its own text
The Qur'an records what its opponents said and answers them. When they said a man was teaching the Prophet (ﷺ), it answered that the man spoke a foreign tongue. When they said it was forged, it challenged them to bring one surah like it. It also gives the number of the angels over Hell. It says in the next verse that the number was set as a test, so that doubters would ask what it means.
“We know indeed that they say, "It is a man that teaches him." The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear.”
“Or do they say, "He forged it"? say: "Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!"”
“Over it are Nineteen. And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers,- in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, "What symbol doth Allah intend by this?" Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.”
What a real contradiction looks like
Kings and Chronicles are two Old Testament books that tell the history of the kings of Israel and Judah. Kings says Ahaziah, a king of Judah, was twenty-two when he began to reign. Chronicles says forty-two, which would make him older than his own father. Samuel says David slew the men of seven hundred chariots and forty thousand horsemen. Chronicles, telling the same battle, says seven thousand men who fought in chariots and forty thousand footmen. Matthew says Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, hanged himself. Acts says he fell headlong and burst open, and that he bought the field himself. Matthew says the priests bought it. Each pair is two statements about one event, in one Bible, that cannot both be true. Neither Matthew nor Acts says the rope broke. That is added to make them fit, and it still leaves the question of who bought the field. Christians reply that the priests bought it with his money. But Acts names no priests: it says "this man purchased a field". No knowledge of Hebrew makes them agree.
“Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.”
“Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.”
“Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.”
“And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.”
“But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.”
“And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
“And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.”
“Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”
The objections, one by one
Qur'an 19:28 — Surat Maryam (Mary), verse 28
“"O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"”
Cited for
The Qur'an calls Mary "sister of Aaron", confusing her with Miriam, who lived more than a thousand years earlier.
The response
Christians of Najran, a town in southern Arabia, put this to al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, a Companion, in the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ). He took it to the Prophet (ﷺ), who answered that people named their children after the prophets and righteous people before them. "Sister of" in the Semitic languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, also means descent. Luke calls Elisabeth one "of the daughters of Aaron".
Where it lands — An idiom of lineage, explained by the Prophet (ﷺ) himself.
Qur'an 41:9-12 — Surat Fussilat (Explained in detail), verses 9-12
“Say: Is it that ye deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do ye join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds. He set on the (earth), mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measure therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four Days, in accordance with (the needs of) those who seek (Sustenance). Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: "Come ye together, willingly or unwillingly." They said: "We do come (together), in willing obedience." So He completed them as seven firmaments in two Days, and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights, and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might, Full of Knowledge.”
Cited for
Two days for the earth, four for its provision and two for the heavens make eight days, but the Qur'an elsewhere says six.
The response
The classical commentators read the four days of verse 10 as a running total that includes the two days of verse 9. A builder might say the walls took two days and the whole house four. Two more days for the heavens make six, the number the Qur'an gives everywhere else.
Where it lands — A question of Arabic counting, not a contradiction.
Qur'an 5:116 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 116
“And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden.”
Cited for
The Qur'an thinks the Trinity is God, Jesus and Mary.
The response
The verse is not a definition of the Trinity. It is a question put to Jesus on the Day of Judgement about whether he told people to worship him and his mother. Some people did worship Mary. Epiphanius, a fourth-century bishop, wrote against women in the Roman province of Arabia who made offerings to her.
Where it lands — The verse is about what people did, and some people did it.
Qur'an 2:106 — Surat al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 106
“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?”
Cited for
If God replaces one verse with a better one, He must have changed His mind.
The response
What is replaced is always a ruling, never a fact about God (﷾), the prophets or the Hereafter. A people was given its law in stages, as a doctor changes a dose as the patient mends. The New Testament does the same. Hebrews, one of its letters, calls the first covenant (God's (﷾) agreement with Israel) old and ready to vanish.
Where it lands — A law given in stages, which the Bible also does.
Qur'an 70:4 — Surat al-Ma'arij (The Ascending Stairways), verse 4
“The angels and the spirit ascend unto him in a Day the measure whereof is (as) fifty thousand years:”
Cited for
One verse makes a Day of God a thousand years and another makes it fifty thousand, so the Qur'an contradicts itself.
The response
The two verses describe two different things. Verse 32:5 is about the affairs God (﷾) rules going up to Him, on a Day whose span is a thousand years of our reckoning. Verse 70:4 is about the ascent of the angels and the Spirit, in a passage about the Day of Judgement. Two different events are given two different measures. Kings and Chronicles, by contrast, give two numbers for one event: Ahaziah's age.
Where it lands — Different events with different measures, not two numbers for one thing.
Qur'an 18:86 — Surat al-Kahf (The Cave), verse 86
“Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."”
Cited for
The Qur'an says the sun sets in a muddy spring.
The response
The verse says Dhul-Qarnayn, a ruler the Qur'an tells of, who travelled far, found the sun setting in murky water. It reports what a traveller saw at the western edge of the land. These are the words anyone would use on a shore at evening.
Where it lands — A description of what was seen, not a claim about the sun.
Qur'an 86:6-7 — Surat al-Tariq (The Morning Star), verses 6-7
“He is created from a drop emitted- Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs:”
Cited for
The Qur'an says semen is made between the backbone and the ribs.
The response
The verse says where the fluid comes out from, not which organ makes it. Its word sulb means the backbone or loins. The Qur'an uses the same word of a man's own sons: "sons proceeding from your loins" (4:23).
Where it lands — A plain description, not a claim about which organ produces the fluid.
Qur'an 74:30-31 — Surat al-Muddaththir (The Cloaked One), verses 30-31
“Over it are Nineteen. And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers,- in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, "What symbol doth Allah intend by this?" Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.”
Cited for
Nineteen angels over Hell is an arbitrary number.
The response
The next verse says the number was set as a test, so that those in doubt would ask what God (﷾) means by it. The Qur'an predicts the objection inside the passage that raises it.
Where it lands — The objection is foreseen and answered in the text.
| Objection | The answer | What it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| Six days of creation, or eight? (41:9-12) | The four days of verse 10 include the first two, as a builder might say the walls took two days and the whole house four. Everywhere else the Qur'an gives six. | Arabic grammar |
| Mary called “sister of Aaron” (19:28) | The Prophet (ﷺ) explained it himself: people named their children after earlier prophets and righteous people. | An old way of speaking |
| Does 5:116 make Mary part of the Trinity? | It is a question to Jesus about what people did. A Christian bishop records people in Arabia who worshipped Mary. | Context |
| Did God (﷾) change His mind? (2:106) | Only rulings are ever replaced, never facts about God (﷾), the prophets or the Hereafter. The New Testament itself retires a whole covenant (Hebrews 8:13). | A law given in stages |
| Why nineteen angels over Hell? (74:30) | The next verse says the number was set as a test, so that doubters would ask what it means. | Answered in the text itself |
In the Bible, two numbers describe the same event: Kings says Ahaziah began to reign at twenty-two, Chronicles at forty-two. None of these objections is of that kind.
Perspectives
Set beside the Bible
The objections to the Qur'an are about grammar, idiom and context. The objections to the Bible are pairs of statements that cannot both be true.
Kings and Chronicles give Ahaziah's age at his accession as twenty-two and forty-two.
Samuel and Chronicles disagree on the same battle. One has forty thousand horsemen and the other forty thousand footmen. One has the men of seven hundred chariots and the other seven thousand men who fought in chariots.
Critics set two numbers in the Qur'an side by side, such as the thousand angels of 8:9 and the three thousand of 3:124. The verses describe different things. The commentators read them as help promised in stages, or at different battles. In Kings and Chronicles the two numbers describe the same event.
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an is the word of God (﷾), given to the Prophet (ﷺ). So it is free of contradiction, as it says of itself. Every objection raised against it has an answer from the Arabic, the context, or the Prophet's (ﷺ) own explanation.
The Qur'an offers its freedom from contradiction as proof that it comes from God (﷾).
In Qur'an 41:9-12 the four days include the first two, so the total is six, as the commentators explain.
The Prophet (ﷺ) himself explained "sister of Aaron": people named their children after earlier prophets and righteous people.
Qur'an 5:116 is a question to Jesus about what people did. A Christian bishop records people in Arabia who worshipped Mary.
Only rulings are ever replaced in the Qur'an, never facts about God (﷾), the prophets or the Hereafter. The New Testament itself retires a whole covenant.
The Qur'an anticipates the objection to the nineteen angels in the very next verse.