If Muhammad claimed to stand in the line of Abraham, Moses and Jesus, there is a straightforward test worth making: compare the conduct attributed to Muhammad in Islam's own sources with the earlier biblical standards he claimed to confirm..
Marriage and sexual ethics
Muhammad's marital life differed substantially from the Christian model around Jesus' teaching.
Sahih al-Bukhari records Muhammad having nine wives simultaneously. The New Testament, by contrast, requires an overseer to be the “husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2).
Bukhari also records Aisha reporting that Muhammad married her at six and consummated the marriage when she was nine. Whatever arguments are made about seventh-century marriage customs, that is what the canonical Sunni hadith collection reports.
Then there is Zaynab bint Jahsh. She was not Muhammad's biological son's wife, as is sometimes claimed. She was married to Zayd ibn Haritha, Muhammad's adopted son. After their divorce, Muhammad married her. Remarkably, Qur'an 33:37 itself says that God married Zaynab to Muhammad specifically to establish that believers could marry the divorced wives of their adopted sons. Qur'an 33:4–5 simultaneously rejects treating adopted sons as biological sons.
Jesus established that marriage is forever and this very act was detesteble and cursed as per the laws of Moses..
Safiyya was captured following Khaybar. Bukhari says Muhammad freed her and married her, with her emancipation constituting her dowry. Another Bukhari narration records the marriage being consummated between Khaybar and Medina.
Christians can certainly raise difficult ethical questions about consent when a recently captured woman becomes the wife of the victorious military leader.
Muhammad allowed beating wives for correction as per his doctrines
“Qur'an 4:34 permits striking in a marital disciplinary sequence according to the traditional reading.”
Apostasy carried capital punishment
Sahih al-Bukhari 3017 attributes to Muhammad the command concerning a Muslim who changes religion: “If somebody discards his religion, kill him.”
Contrast the New Testament's treatment of rejection. Jesus permits disciples to walk away (John 6:66–67); his kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36); the apostolic mission proceeds through preaching and persuasion rather than execution for abandoning Christianity.
Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf and deception
Sahih al-Bukhari 4037.
Muhammad asks who will kill Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf because Kaʿb had harmed Muhammad and Allah. Muhammad ibn Maslama volunteers and specifically asks permission to say something false in order to deceive Kaʿb.
Muhammad permits it.
Kaʿb is subsequently killed.
Jesus' command:
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” — Matthew 5:44
Kaʿb was merely someone “executed for criticism,” however, oversimplifies a politically and militarily charged episode. The stronger criticism is simply to quote Bukhari's own account of authorized deception leading to his killing.
Banu Qurayza
The massacre/execution of Banu Qurayza is also grounded in Islamic sources,.
Bukhari reports that after their surrender, Saʿd ibn Muʿadh judged that their warriors should be killed and their women and children taken captive. Muhammad approved the judgment.
The frequently repeated figure of 600–900 killed comes from later biographical traditions rather than these Bukhari reports. The documented event itself is serious enough.
Jizya and religious inequality
The Qur'an also establishes a political distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Qur'an 9:29 commands fighting specified People of the Book until they pay jizya while being ṣāghirūn, translated variously as subdued/humbled.
This differs considerably from Paul's statement concerning Christian identity:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek … for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” — Galatians 3:28
Galatians 3:28 concerns equality in Christ.
“Forced conversions” is too broad
“"When the sacred months have passed, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they should repent, establish prayer, and give charity, let them go on their way. Verily, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."” — Qur'an 9:5.
This is called the sword verse, the repent and establish prayer denotes forced conversions.
The deeper question: what does “confirming Scripture” mean?
This brings us to the more important issue.
Muhammad didn't merely claim to introduce an unrelated Arabian religion. The Qur'an repeatedly places him within the history of Abraham, Moses, David, Mary and Jesus not of his origin or the Qurashi tribe and practices.
Jesus commands love of enemies.
Muhammad's canonical tradition contains military campaigns and sanctioned executions.
Jesus establishes no earthly religious taxation system.
Islam develops jizya.
The New Testament church possesses no judicial death penalty for apostasy.
Bukhari attributes precisely such a command to Muhammad.
Jesus lived unmarried.
Muhammad had numerous wives; Bukhari records nine concurrently.
Most fundamentally, Christianity places Jesus himself at the centre of salvation—his crucifixion, resurrection and identity as Son—whereas the Qur'an rejects crucial elements of that Christian proclamation.
These aren't minor cultural differences.
They represent two substantially different theological systems.
So, did Muhammad follow the Scriptures?
Did Muhammad simply live according to the previously existing Jewish and Christian scriptures, the answer is No.
Islam reinterprets biblical personalities, changes important theological conclusions, establishes its own religious law and attributes new teachings and actions to figures already known from earlier Jewish and Christian tradition handed down and preserved for many centuries.
The authenticated Islamic sources themselves provide the comparison.
And that leaves the decisive question:
If Muhammad claimed to confirm the revelation that came before him, why does following Muhammad ultimately lead to teachings about God, Jesus, salvation, marriage, religious authority, apostasy and warfare that differ so profoundly from the Christianity that existed centuries before him?
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