Much of Islam has to do with rules that Muslims must follow in order to please Allah. Part of pleasing Allah includes memorizing the Quran, Islam’s religious book, that was supposedly revealed to Muhammad by one of Allah’s angels starting in 610 AD and lasted till Muhammad’s death in 632 AD.

When Muhammad was “creating” Islam, he drew a lot of details from Judaism and Christianity. He wanted the Jews and Christians to accept him as a prophet sent by their God, so he tried to pull from their beliefs and add them to Islam’s beliefs.

This is also what happened to the Islamic creation story– there are many details that are connected to the Jewish and Christian creation story from the Old Testament. But then there are certain differences that are brought in because of the context of Muhammad’s life in the 7th century Arabian peninsula.

Learning about the Islamic creation story can open your eyes to see what influenced Muhammad as he started this new religion and how easily the truth can be twisted. Then we will also give you tips about how you can talk to your Muslim friend about it and use this topic to start a beneficial conversation!

What is the Islamic creation story?

The creation story is found in both the Quran and the Hadith, Islam’s two main religious texts. If you don’t know the difference between the two, we suggest reading about them here. The basic outline of the creation story is as follows:

1. Allah’s throne and water: Allah’s throne was created and set above the water. Allah was the only “being” in the universe before this. 

2. The pen and Lawh al-Mahfooz: Allah then created a pen and told it to write down everything that was going to happen in creation. The pen wrote it down on a tablet that is called the Lawh al-Mahfooz (the preserved tablet). 

3. Heavens and the Earth: Islam says that 50,000 years after Allah wrote the Lawh al-Mahfooz, he created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day.

4. Living things are brought to life from the water: In Islam, it is said that water is the essence of life. Allah sends down water onto the earth and all living things come from it.

5. Sun and moon are created: Allah created the sun and moon for humans to be able to keep track of time. 

6. Angels and jinns are created: Angels are messengers of Allah that are created from light. Jinns are made to worship Allah like humans, but they are not all obedient to Allah like angels are. It is a belief that Satan was from the jinn.

7. Humans are created: Allah created Adam and his wife as the first humans. 

(Source)

Now, that’s a lot of details. The order is not the same as the creation story we read in the Bible, but there are similarities. The timeline of seven days of creation, with rest on the seventh day, is identical to the Old Testament story of creation (although one text in the Quran contradicts itself by mentioning 8 days of creations Quran 41:9-12) There are also similar details of Eve (though she is never mentioned by name in the Quran) being created from Adam (from a crooked bone that’s why women are difficult in nature and wicked), and them being tempted by Satan so they can have power and rule.

The main differences between the Islamic and biblical creation story

The Islamic creation story is not entirely different from the biblical creation story, but there are a few key differences to point out.

The preserved tablet

The first big difference is the part about the Lawh al-Mahfooz, the pre-written history of the world. There is no mention of this happening in the Bible. The Bible does talk about God’s omnipotence, His everlasting power and knowledge, but there is no scripture to support Islam’s claim about the history of the world being written down.

Created from water 

In the Islamic tale, water is the essence of life and therefore all living things come out of the water. This is not accurate to what the Bible tells us! All living things came into existence because of God’s words and did not originate from anything (Genesis 1:20-25).

Timeline differences

The Bible tells us that God made the sun and moon and stars before He made the living animals on the earth, but Islam’s version says that Allah made the sun and moon last before the angels, jinn, and humans.

Worshiping Adam

That brings us to the last main difference between the Islamic creation story and the biblical account– the creation of man. In the Quran and Hadith, Adam is the first human and he is made out of clay. All of the angels and jinn are commanded to bow down to Adam as a sign of reverence to him, but Satan, also called Iblis in Arabic, refuses so he is cursed by Allah and rejected (Quran 2:34).

The Fall according to Islam

Satan is known as one of the jinn who disobeyed Allah’s command to bow to Adam. He believed he was better than humans, and Allah cast Satan out of paradise. Satan promised that he would torment humans.

Allah had told Adam and his wife to live in paradise and enjoy it, and told them not to eat of one particular tree. Satan came back and told them if they ate from the tree they would become immortal like the angels and jinn.

When Adam and his wife ate from the tree, they realized they were naked and covered themselves. Then Allah came back, found them, and he sent them down to Earth as punishment. (Surah 7:11-25)

How can we talk about the creation story with our Muslim friend?

It’s not every day that someone brings up how they believe God made the Earth. But if you do talk to your Muslim friend about it, you can point out the similarities in your beliefs and ask them why they think that might be. Your friend will probably tell you that your Bible is corrupted, so your version is inaccurate. This can actually lead you into a very good conversation about the Bible’s validity (which you can read about here).

Even beyond talking about the Bible versus the Quran, you can ask your Muslim friends questions like these:

• Why do you believe Allah created the earth and man?
• This is a great conversation leading into you being able to share what the Bible says about this topic 
• In the Bible, the creation story shows us that God is a God of creativity and order. What do you think of this?
• This is great way to open up the discussion about the characteristics of God 

Always pray before talking to your Muslim friend about faith and religious beliefs. Give the conversation over to God and remind yourself that you can rely on Him to make a change in your Muslim friend’s heart.

Prayer for our Muslim friend to see the Truth
Dear Lord, I am in awe of your power and grace. Please give me the right words to talk to my Muslim friend and tell them about You. Open up their heart so they may hear Your word and be changed by it. Amen.