(Disclaimer: I know little about the Muslim faith or the historical context of the Koran. This post is based on my personal reading of the Koran and the Book of Mormon.)

The following is part II of a larger list of doctrinal and content similarities between the Koran and the Book of Mormon. These similarities are not presented in any particular order and I do not attempt to make any conclusions about the significance or insignificance of the similarities.

1. The sacred book will be revealed to an uneducated man.

“Say to them: O men! Verily I am God’s apostle to you all; Whose is the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! There is no God but He! He maketh alive and killeth! Therefore believe on God, and his Apostle– the unlettered Prophet– who believeth in God and his word. And follow him that ye may be guided aright.” (Sura 7:158)

“Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say; I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.” (2 Nephi 27:19-20)

2. God can give small armies power over large armies

“And when they had passed it, he and those who believed with him, the former said, ‘We have no strength this day against (Djalout) Goliath and his forces:’ But they who held it as certain that they must meet God, said, ‘How oft, by God’s will, hath a small host vanquished a numerous host! and God is with the steadfastly enduring.” (Sura 2:250)

“Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us? And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold, he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?” (1 Nephi 3:31-1 Nephi 4:1)

3. Believers are commanded to fast.

“O believers! a Fast is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may fear God…” (Sura 2:179)

“Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God.” (Alma 6:6)

4. Believers must be patient in their afflictions.

“Who observeth prayer, and payeth the legal alms, and who is of those who are faithful to their engagements when they have engaged in them, and patient under ills and hardships, and in time of trouble: these are they who are just, and these are they who fear the Lord.” (Sura 2:172)

“Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.” (Alma 26:27)

5. We will be judged by our works

“On a certain day shall every soul come to plead for itself, and every soul shall be repaid according to its deeds; and they shall not be wronged.” (Sura 16:112)

“And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.” (1 Nephi 15:32)

6. Give alms, but do so judiciously

“And to him who is of kin render his due, and also to the poor and to the wayfarer…But if thou turn away from them, while thou thyself seekest boons from thy Lord for which thou hopest, at least speak to them with kindly speech: and let not thy hand be tied up to the neck; nor yet open it with all openness, lest thou sit thee down in rebuke, in beggary.” (Sura 17:28-32)

“For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have…all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give…I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath…And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” (Mosiah 4:19, 24-27)

7. Satan is the source of contentions

“Enjoin my servants to speak in kindly sort: Verily Satan would stir up strifes among them, for Satan is man’s avowed foe.” (Sura 17:55)

“For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.” (3 Nephi 11:29)

8. The sacred books speak in direct language to be easy to understand

“Praise be to God, who hath sent down the Book to his servant, and hath not made it torturous, but direct; that it may warn of a grievous woe from him, and announce to the faithful who do the things that are right, that a goodly reward, wherein they shall abide for ever, awaiteth them” (Sura 18:1-2)

“For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.” (2 Nephi 31:3)