What is the Islamic Dilemma? And why it is so Damning
What in the heck is the Islamic Dilemma?
If you have been listening to in-person and online debates about anything related to the legitimacy of Islam's claim of being the true religion from this year (2026) and last year (2025), then you might have encountered or heard of the Islamic Dilemma.
This was a term I was not familiar with myself until last year, and I've only begun trying to actually understand it this year.
Basically, the Islamic Dilemma takes a jab on Islam's claim that the Old Testament and New Testament are "corrupted" and therefore unreliable.
If you aren't familiar with Islam's claims on the Bible being corrupted or if you already are, here's a reminder of the so called "evidences" for their claim.
Islam's "evidences" on the Bible being corrupted:
- Translation upon translation upon translation
- Contradictions claims
- Jesus spoke Aramaic not Greek or Latin
- The Injeel (Gospel in Arabic) that the Christians have is not the "real" Gospel
- The Torah (Old testament) is corrupted
- etc.
Though the evidence they use to claim the Bible is corrupted is incredibly weak and can be refuted (I will attempt to refute the claims in another blog post), for the sake of being able to talk about the dilemma, let us assume that the Bible is corrupted.
Okay sure, the Bible is corrupted, now what?
The Bible is corrupted, that means it's a victory for Islam yes? ERR WRONG!
There are a few verses IN the Quran that becomes incredibly problematic if that was the case (Bible being corrupted).
MAIN VERSE: Chapter 10:94
Supporting Verse: Chapter 5:47
Main Problamatic Verse
1.) Legitimacy of what was revealed to Muhammad is based on the Scriptures [Chapter 10:94]
If the Bible IS corrupted then why would the Muslim God or Allah tell Muhammad that if he is in doubt on what the Quran REVEALED to him then he ought to ask the Christians and Jews that knows the Scripture for confirmation?
فَإِن كُنتَ فِى شَكٍّۢ مِّمَّآ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ فَسْـَٔلِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ مِن قَبْلِكَ ۚ لَقَدْ جَآءَكَ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْمُمْتَرِينَ ٩٤
If you ˹O Prophet˺ are in doubt about ˹these stories˺ that We have revealed to you, then ask those who read the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so do not be one of those who doubt,
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
(If you want the context, you can read the whole chapter. But in short, chapter 10 mostly retells Old Testament stories and includes verses that affirms Muhammad as a prophet.)
As clearly stated in Chapter 10:94, Allah told Muhammad that when in doubt, then ask those who read the Scripture before you, A.K.A. Jews and Christians.
From this verse of the Quran, the Muslim God has confirmed that the Christians and Jews knows the Scripture, at the very least during in Muhammad's time.
So what does this mean? This means that the claim of the Bible being corrupted can only work if the corruption happens AFTER Muhammad's death, otherwise this would mean that Allah, the Muslim God, just told Muhammad to base the legitimacy of his revelations on corrupted scripture.
Unfortunately for the Muslims, manuscripts and proto-manuscripts of the Gospels (or Injeel) long before Muhammad was born, exists.
Muslims are left with two choices, either keep on insisting that the Bible is still corrupted or the Bible is not corrupted.
IF the Bible is corrupted (What Islam claims) then Allah just told Muhammad to check the legitimacy of his revelations base on corrupted scriptures.
IF the Bible is NOT corrupted then the Bible contradicts the Quran in historical facts and theological beliefs, which makes Islam false.
Welcome to the Islamic Dilemma.
Supporting Verse
2. The Quran tells us to judge using the Gospel [Chapter 5:47]
Another verse which supports the Islamic Dilemma is Chapter 5:47. I'll show you the verse first, then I'll explain.
وَلْيَحْكُمْ أَهْلُ ٱلْإِنجِيلِ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِ ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ ٤٧
So let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are ˹truly˺ the rebellious.
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
This verse commands the people of the Gospel A.K.A Christians, judge by what was REVEALED TO THEM.
This is a huge problem for Islam since the Quran contradicts the Bible in many essential theological facts like the crucifixion of Christ.
So if Christians were to FOLLOW what Chapter 5:47 from the Quran commands, then Christians have to judge the Quran itself as false, since it contradicts essential doctrines of Catholic faith like the divinity of Christ and His crucifixion.
So of course the Muslims may claim that the Gospel we have today is not the original and/or is corrupted, but if it is corrupted, then they have to deal with the same problem back in Chapter 10:94.
IF the Gospel IS corrupted then Allah just told the Christians to judge using corrupted scripture.
IF the Gospel IS NOT corrupted, then as Christians, we must conclude that Islam is false because the Quran contradicts the Bible.
Copyright ©2026 by Marshall Vulta
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