Christianity vs Islam

The Bible is the central scripture of Christianity, though its exact contents vary by tradition. The Protestant Bible contains 66 books (39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament), while Catholic Bibles include an additional seven deuterocanonical books, and Orthodox canons may include further texts. The Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) contains the Torah, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophetic writings. The New Testament includes four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Acts of the Apostles, epistles attributed to Paul and other early leaders, and the book of Revelation. [2][3]

The Gospels narrate the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul's epistles, written in the mid-1st century CE, are among the earliest Christian documents and address theology, ethics, and church organization. The New Testament canon was largely settled by the 4th century CE, though debates about certain books continued for some time. [2][3]

Christians have produced an enormous body of interpretive and theological literature over two millennia, including the writings of the Church Fathers, medieval scholastic theology, Reformation-era confessions, and modern biblical scholarship. Different traditions assign varying levels of authority to these secondary sources alongside scripture. [2][3]

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.", John 1:1, King James Version, 1611 (public domain). This opening verse of John's Gospel is among the most widely quoted passages in Christian scripture, expressing the theological concept of the Logos. [6][2][3]

The Quran is the primary scripture of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the verbatim word of God revealed to Muhammad over approximately 23 years (c. 610-632 CE). It consists of 114 chapters (surahs) of varying length, arranged roughly from longest to shortest rather than chronologically. The Quran addresses theology, law, ethics, narrative, and eschatology, and is recited in Arabic in worship regardless of the worshipper's native language. [2][3]

"In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.", Quran 1:1-2, Marmaduke Pickthall translation, 1930 (public domain). This opening of the Fatiha is recited in every unit of Muslim prayer. [6][2][3]

The Hadith literature, collections of reports about the sayings, actions, and approvals of Muhammad, serves as the second major source of Islamic guidance. Sunni Muslims recognize six major hadith collections (the "Six Books"), with those compiled by al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj considered the most authoritative. Shia Muslims maintain their own hadith collections, which also include reports from the Imams. [2][3]

Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) draws on the Quran, Hadith, scholarly consensus (ijma), and analogical reasoning (qiyas) to derive legal and ethical rulings. Four major Sunni legal schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali) and the Ja'fari school in Shia Islam represent different methodological approaches to interpreting these sources. [2][3]