The Islamic Dilemma

The Logical Premise & Syllogism

To present the Islamic Dilemma clearly in dialogue, it helps to understand it as a standard logical syllogism.

1. The Syllogism Formulated

1. Premise 1: The Quran affirms that the Torah (Tawrat) and the Gospel (Injeel) are true, divine revelations, and commands Christians and Jews in the 7th century to obey and uphold them.
2. Premise 2: The Quran states that the words of Allah cannot be altered or corrupted (Quran 6:115, 10:64).
3. Premise 3: The Christian scriptures available in the 7th century (and preserved in manuscripts today) unequivocally teach that Jesus is the Son of God, died on the cross, and rose from the dead.
4. Premise 4: The Quran explicitly denies that Jesus is the Son of God (Surah 9:30) and denies that he died on the cross (Surah 4:157).

2. The Resulting Dilemma

This creates two mutually exclusive scenarios for Islamic theology:

Option A: If the 7th-century Bible is preserved and true (as affirmed by the Quran), then the Bible is correct. But if the Bible is correct, the Quran's denials of Jesus' crucifixion and divinity are false, making the Quran incorrect.

Option B: If the 7th-century Bible was corrupted and false, then the Quran erred by affirming a corrupted text and commanding Christians to judge by it. Furthermore, it implies Allah failed to preserve His word, contradicting Quranic verses on divine preservation.

In either outcome, Islamic scripture faces a fundamental logical inconsistency.