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2. Similarities Between Christ and Adam
The standard way, according to which I was taught to answer such questions, was to take seriously, what the Koran revealed about Christ and Adam. The Koran teaches:
Truly, the likeness of 'Isa, with Allah, is as the likeness of Adam. He (Allah) created him (Adam) from dust. Then he said to him, “Be!” And he was. (Sura Al 'Imran 3:59)
إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ (سُورَة آل عِمْرَان ٣ : ٥٩)
So, if Christ 'Isa is like Adam, who is a creature, then Christ cannot be like Allah, who is the creator. The Koran therefore here teaches the following about Christ and Adam:
SIMILARITY 1 : Adam was a creature of Allah, just like Christ is a creature of Allah. In this they are similar.
The verse just mentioned above (Sura Al 'Imran 3:59) teaches that Adam was created by Allah's command: “Be!” In like manner the Koran teaches that the angels appeared to Mary, before Christ was born, announcing his birth to Mary. When she asked how this can be, since she had no husband and no man had touched her, the angel answered:
He (the angel) said (to Mary), “Like this: Allah creates, what he wants. When he decrees a matter, then he says to it, ‘Be!’ and (then) it will be.” (Sura Al 'Imran 3:47)
قَال كَذَلِك اللَّه يَخْلُق مَا يَشَاء إِذَا قَضَى أَمْرا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُول لَه كُن فَيَكُونُ (سُورَة آل عِمْرَان ٣ : ٤٧)
Here the Koran uses virtually the exact same expression about Christ's creation as he uses about the creation of Adam in Sura 3:59. So Christ is similar to Adam in that both were created by Allah's command, “Be!” And therefore, on the basis of these two verses alone, Christ cannot be like Allah, just as little as Adam is like Allah, because both are creatures of Allah, their creator.
There are other similarities between Adam and Christ in the Koran, which underline this specific likeness between Adam and Christ. Here is the most important one:
SIMILARITY 2 : Adam is mentioned in the Koran as a prominent human personality, just like Christ is mentioned in the Koran as a prominent human personality. In this they are similar.
There are 54 verses in the Koran, which explicitly refer to Adam: Suras al-Baqara 2:30-37 -- Al 'Imran 3:33.59 -- al-Ma'ida 5:27-32 -- al-A'raf 7:11-27.31.35.172 -- al-Isra' 17:61-65.70 -- al-Kahf 18:50 -- Maryam 19:58 -- Ta Ha 20:115-123 and Ya Sin 36:60.
In addition there are 68 verses in the Koran, which indirectly refer to Adam as the first human being: Suras al-Nisa' 4:1 -- al-A'raf 7:189 -- Hud 11:61 -- al-Hijr 15:28-43 -- al-Kahf 18:37 -- Mar-yam 19:67 -- Ta Ha 20:55 -- al-Hajj 22:5.65-66 -- al-Mu'minun 23:12-14 -- al-Furqan 25:54 -- al-Rum 30:20-21 -- Luqman 31:20 -- al-Sajda 32:7-9 -- Fatir 35:11 -- Sad 38:71-85 -- al-Zumar 39:6 -- Ghafir 40:67 -- al-Shura 42:12 -- al-Jathiya 45:12 -- al-Taghabun 64:3 -- Nuh 71:14 -- al-Qiyama 75:37-40 -- al-Infitar 82:7-8 -- al-Tin 95:4-6 and al-‘Alaq 96:1-2.
In like manner we have 255 verses in the Koran, which either mention Christ explicitly, using one of his 25 titles of honor in the Koran, or verses, which are indirectly connected to Christ by speaking about his followers or ancestors. You can find these Koran verses about Christ here (some key verses and passages about Christ are underlined): Suras al-Fatiha 1:6-7 -- al-Baqara 2:61-62, 87, 91, 109, 111-113, 117, 120-121, 135-136, 138, 140, 143-145, 153, 174-177, 213, 248, 253 -- Al 'Imran 3:3-4, 19, 21, 33-56, 59 , 64-69, 80-81, 84, 112-114, 181-183, 199 -- al-Nisa' 4:69, 89, 136, 155-159 , 163, 171-172 -- al-Ma'ida 5:14, 17-19 , 28-29, 32, 45-48 , 51, 65-66, 68-78 , 82-83, 89, 95, 110-118 -- al-An'am 6:61, 83-86, 89-90, 161-165 -- al-A'raf 7:120-122, 142, 157-158 -- al-Tawba 9:30-31, 34, 111 -- Yunus 10:19, 75, 94 -- Hud 11:110 -- Yusuf 12:97-98 -- al-Hijr 15:9 -- al-Nahl 16:38-39, 43, 63-64, 92-95, 124 -- al-Isra' 17:15, 55 -- Maryam 19: 2-36 , 51-53, 85-93 -- Ta Ha 20:25-36, 70, 90-94, 109 -- al-Anbiya' 21:48, 89-92 -- al-Hajj 22:17, 78 -- al-Mu'minun 23:45-50 -- al-Furqan 25:4, 35 -- al-Shu'ara' 26:13-15, 46-48 -- al-Qasas 28:34 -- al-Sajda 32:23-25 -- al-Ahzab 33:7 -- Saba' 34:23 -- Fatir 35:18 -- al-Saffat 37:107.114-120 -- al-Zumar 39:3-4, 7, 44-46, 69 -- Fussilat 41:45 -- al-Shura 42:13 -- al-Zukhruf 43: 57-65 , 86 -- al-Jathiyat 45:16-17 -- al-Fath 48:29 -- al-Najm 53:38 -- al-Waqi'at 56:10-13, 88-91 -- al-Hadid 57:27 -- al-Saff 61:6, 14 -- al-Tahrim 66:12 -- al-Mutaffafin 83:12, 28 -- al-Ikhlas 112:1-4
If you study these passages about Christ and Adam in the Koran in detail, then you will discover that there are other points in which Adam and Christ are similar. Here are two examples:
SIMILARITY 3 : Allah spoke with Adam directly, just like Allah spoke with Christ directly. In this they are similar.
We will look at this point in detail (see Chapter 4 below). Also:
SIMILARITY 4 : The angels spoke about Adam, just like the angels spoke about Christ. In this they are also similar.
I will also take up the content of what the angels spoke about Adam and Christ in detail (see Chapter 5 below). But the important point here is the fact that you can find a number of fundamental similarities between Adam and Christ in the Koran. And since Adam is a creature of Allah, his creator, therefore the fact that Christ is like Adam, is taken by Muslims to make it impossible for Christ to be like Allah.
However, the closer I looked at the teachings of the Koran about Adam, comparing them to the teachings of the Koran about Christ, the more I found out that there are not only similarities, but also fundamental differences between Christ and Adam in the Koran. Let us look at these differences one by one in the following pages.