Home > Old Testament Stories in the Quran
The Old Testament account in Genesis is around a thousand years before the Quran. There is manuscript evidence (E.g., Dead Sea Scrolls, 250-400 BC) that confirms the Genesis story we have today was already well established long before Islam appeared on the historical stage. The first manuscripts for the Quran are around 650 AD. The principle of priority means that earlier sources are often more reliable in historical terms as they are closer to the source.
Thus, when the Quran tells a different version, the question is:
Why should a 7th-century revision replace an already well-preserved account?
The account of Genesis stories in the Bible is older and more internally consistent than the Quran, which is far removed in time, geographical area, and theology from the Old Testament used by Jews and Christians before Muslims first appeared in the 7th century AD.
The Quranic version of Genesis and other Old Testament stories introduces changes that do not align with the preserved Hebrew Scriptures, suggesting a later retelling influenced by oral and pagan traditions rather than actual divine revelation. These discrepancies indicate that the Quran revises earlier biblical history rather than preserving or restoring it.