Furthermore, in the Talmud
—and some non-Muslim scholars, such as Rodinson, claimed that the Quranic material came from the Talmud—it states that there was a dispute between God and the Jewish scholars. After a lengthy debate with no resolution, they decided to refer the matter to one of the rabbis. After the rabbi’s decision, God was forced to admit that He was mistaken.
Thus, God, according to them, is not even perfect with respect to His knowledge.
The Christian conception of God and God having a son is, of course, completely blasphemous from an Islamic perspective. I often wondered how there could have been a semi-human son of God or how Jesus in particular could be the son of God. As Jesus is pictured in the New Testament, besides performing some miracles that earlier prophets performed, there is nothing special about him. He lived like a human being, eating and drinking. He suffered like a human and even prayed out to God. The Romans and Jews
defeated God’s supposed son and he could not save himself, even crying out to his father. Beyond that, there are also of the difficult questions encountered by Christians: was he partially divine and partially human, was he completely divine, he was completely human, was he divine since birth, was he divine at a time and then that divinity left him and so on.
In the Islamic conception of God, there is nothing of this nature whatsoever. In fact, the Quran even denies the crucifixion—surely if the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, were simply copying from the Bible, he would have included that story.
In the Quran, on the other hand, God is depicted in such a way that one realizes that He is deserving of worship. One feels gratitude to Him and hope in Him. God truly becomes beloved to the individual as He understands more about Him via the Quran. Some passages in the Quran describing God are noteworthy:
“God is He, other than Whom there is no other god; Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. God is He, other than Whom there is no other god; the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace (and Perfection), the Guardian of Faith, the Preserver of Safety, the Exalted in Might, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory to God! (High is He) above the partners they attribute to Him. He is God, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory; and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.” (Quran 59:22-24)
“God! None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Footstool extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great” (Quran2:255).
“Say [to them, O Muhammad], ‘He is God, (the) One. God, The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need. He begets not, nor was He begotten; And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him” (Quran 112:1-4).
By the way, even when describing the Prophets, many important, yet rather despicable, stories that are prominent in the Bible have been completely ignored in the Quran. For example, Exodus 32:1-6 has the story of Aaron, the brother of Moses and one of the religious leaders of the tribe of Israel, making a golden calf as an idol for worship.
In 2 Samuel, chapter 11, verses 1-17, the leader of the Jewish people David, whom the Muslims consider a prophet, is shamelessly pictured as committing adultery, doing his best to conceal it and then doing his best to have the woman’s husband killed.
Solomon is also accused of committing idolatry simply out of love for his many wives.
In addition, the Bible also claims the following: Jacob committed deceitful tricks towards his father Isaac. The drunken Prophet Lot committed incest with his daughters. Judas committed incest with his daughter in law. Pharez and Zarah who were the result of that incest are honored as the great grandfathers and great grandmothers of Jesus. Jesus is reported to have rebuffed his own mother when he said, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?”
All of these stories are not found in the Quran and a Muslim does not believe such ignoble accusations concerning the noble prophets selected by God to guide humanity.