Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter
The following are a few examples of stories found in the Qur’an that were lifted from Gnostic texts.
1. Jesus turns clay into birds
And having made some soft clay, He fashioned out of it twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when He did these things. And there were also many other children playing with Him. And a certain Jew, seeing what Jesus was doing, playing on the Sabbath, went off immediately, and said to his father Joseph: Behold, thy son is at the stream, and has taken clay, and made of it twelve birds, and has profaned the Sabbath. And Joseph, coming to the place and seeing, cried out to Him, saying: Wherefore doest thou on the Sabbath what it is not lawful to do? And Jesus clapped His hands, and cried out to the sparrows, and said to them: Off you go! And the sparrows flew, and went off crying. And the Jews seeing this were amazed, and went away and reported to their chief men what they had seen Jesus doing.
Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Section 2)
^ Written ca. 180 AD, circulated predominantly in Arabia during the time of Muhammad in Syriac (the lingua franca of the day).
And [make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], ‘Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allah . And I cure the blind and the leper, and I give life to the dead – by permission of Allah . And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.
Surah 3:49
^ Recited by Muhammad ca. 600 AD (and I’m being very generous about the date of the recitation of the Qur’an)
2. Jesus speaks from the cradle
Jesus spake even when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother: “Mary, I am Jesus the Son of God, that word which thou didst bring forth according to the declaration of the angel Gabriel to thee”
The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus (1:2-3)
^ Written ca. 100 AD, an Arabic fable from Egypt
He shall preach to men in his cradle and in the prime of manhood, and shall lead a righteous life.
Surah 3:46
O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle? He said: “I am indeed a servant of Allah. He has given me the Book and has made me a prophet. And has made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, And (has made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
Surah 19:28-34
^ Recited by Muhammad ca. 600 AD
3. Jesus was not crucified, someone took his place on the cross
The Savior said to me, “He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me.”
The Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter
^ Written ca. 180 AD, circulated predominantly in Arabia during the time of Muhammad in Syriac (the lingua franca of the day).
And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah .” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.
Surah 4:157
^ Recited by Muhammad ca. 600 AD
I find this all quite interesting in light of the fact that Islam claims to be the continuation of Christianity and Judaism, not contradicting the original messages of these faiths*, but fulfilling them. Yet here we see obvious gnostic influences on the Qur’an (and these are only three off the top of my head). Gnosticisim, mind you, teaches that Christ was not human at all—but fully God, which contradicts the Islamic teaching that Christ was fully human and in no way God.
Isn’t it strange that a faith that claims Jesus is only human and not at all God, is lifting stories from gnostic texts? The miracles the Qur’an attributes to Christ that are taken from these texts are, according to the Gnostics, reasons Christ is not human at all, but fully and only God.
All very interesting.
* ”not contradicting the original messages of these faiths”: by “original message” I mean here the “non-corrupted” messages of Judaism and Christianity. Islam teaches that these faiths have been corrupted over time, which is not historically accurate, but is another issue all together. Either way, even if Islam is correct in saying that Christianity and Judaism as they are today are corrupted, this still does not explain the gnostic influence. If the original messages of Christianity and Judaism are pure and true according to Islam, they cannot teach what Gnosticism teaches, which is that Christ is fully and only God.
Islam Meets Orthodoxy 