Between Scriptures

Mary · Maryam

The only woman the Qur'an names directly, with an entire surah dedicated to her. Few figures are as revered across both traditions.

Abraham · Ibrāhīm

Both traditions call him the father of faith. The episode of his son's sacrifice is also one of the clearest points where the two texts part ways.

Moses · Mūsā

No prophet is mentioned as often in the Qur'an. His story tracks the biblical narrative closely at several of its central moments.

Adam and Eve · Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ

The first human couple, created by God and placed in the garden, where they disobey a single command and are expelled. Both traditions tell almost the same fall, but read very differently what it means for everyone who came after.

Noah · Nūh

A builder of an ark and a patient preacher before a people who refuse to listen. The Qur'an dedicates an entire surah to him, bearing his name.

Joseph · Yūsuf

Sold by his own brothers, he rises to power in Egypt through patience and integrity. The Qur'an calls his story "the most beautiful of narratives."

Ishmael · Ismāʿīl

Abraham's/Ibrāhīm's eldest son, sent into the desert with his mother Hagar. Islamic tradition ties him to the founding of Mecca; the Bible follows him only into adulthood.

David · Dāwūd

The shepherd who defeats a giant and becomes king. Both traditions honor him as a prophet and as the author of psalms/the Zabur.

Solomon · Sulaymān

David's son, known for wisdom and wealth. The Qur'an adds to him a dominion over the winds, the jinn, and the birds that the Bible doesn't mention.

Jonah · Yūnus

A prophet who flees his mission, is swallowed by a great fish, and survives. An entire surah of the Qur'an bears his name.

Job · Ayyūb

The model of patience in suffering in both traditions, though the Bible gives him an entire book of forty-two chapters and the Qur'an only a few verses.

Zechariah · Zakariyyā

An elderly, childless priest who asks for an heir and receives news that he will become a father despite both spouses' advanced age.

John the Baptist · Yahyā

Zechariah's son, born as an answer to prayer, and given a name that, according to the Qur'an, had never been given to anyone before him.