Refuting Islam

If Muhammad Borrowed from Jewish and Christian Sources, Can Islam Still Claim to Be Original?

April 15, 2025

One of the central claims of Islam is that it is the final, complete, and original revelation of God. Muslims believe the Qur’an is not only perfect but also unique and inimitable, untouched by human invention.

“This Qur’an could not have been produced by anyone other than Allah… It is a confirmation of what came before it and a full explanation of the Scripture — there is no doubt in it — from the Lord of the worlds.”
— Qur’an 10:37

But when we actually analyze the content of the Qur’an and Islamic tradition, a striking pattern emerges:

A significant portion of Islamic scripture and theology appears to be borrowed — or heavily influenced — by earlier Jewish and Christian texts.

This raises an uncomfortable but essential question for critical inquiry:

If so much of Islam’s content already existed in Jewish and Christian lore, can it still be called original?

1. The Qur’an Admits It Echoes Earlier Texts

First, it's important to note that the Qur’an openly claims to "confirm" the Torah and Gospel:

“He has sent down upon you the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.”
— Qur’an 3:3

“We sent Jesus son of Mary, and We gave him the Gospel… and We sent after them our messengers, and We sent down to you the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it of the Scripture…”
— Qur’an 5:46–48

So the Qur’an acknowledges a continuity with past revelations — but claims that it both confirms and supersedes them.

This, however, leads to a major problem:

When we compare the Qur’anic versions of these stories to the Biblical originals, we find not confirmation — but distortion, embellishment, and contradiction.

2. Borrowed Stories with a Qur’anic Twist

Let’s examine a few examples where the Qur’an mirrors earlier Jewish or Christian texts, sometimes even apocryphal sources — and often with unexplained changes.

❖ The Story of Joseph (Surah 12)

The story of Joseph (Yusuf) in the Qur’an parallels the Biblical account in Genesis 37–50, but with notable embellishments:

The Qur’an adds the scene where Joseph is seduced by the wife of his master, and her clothing is torn (12:25). This appears in the Jewish Midrash, not in the Bible itself.
The Quranic narrative of Joseph's prison experience and his dream interpretation closely mirrors the Genesis account, though with Arabic stylistic flourishes.

There is no clear theological reason for the changes — suggesting the source is not divine originality, but oral borrowing with modification.

❖ The Seven Sleepers of the Cave (Surah 18:9–26)

The story of the Sleepers of the Cave is not found in the Bible — but it is present in Christian folklore, specifically the Syriac legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.

This tale, popular in the Eastern Roman Empire, describes Christian youths who fled persecution and miraculously slept in a cave for centuries.

Muhammad adopts this tale wholesale, adds a dog, and claims ambiguity in their number — but does not indicate it’s a parable. The Qur’an treats it as literal history.

Is this divine revelation — or local storytelling?

❖ The Infancy Gospel of Thomas and Baby Jesus

In Surah 3:46 and Surah 5:110, the Qur’an says that Jesus spoke from the cradle as an infant.

This detail does not appear in the New Testament — but does appear in the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, written in the 2nd century CE.

The Qur’an borrows a miraculous moment from a non-canonical Christian text, and presents it as divine truth.

This is not originality. It’s adaptation.

3. Theological Borrowing and Adaptation

Islam did not just adopt stories — it also absorbed theological concepts:

❖ Monotheism (Tawheed)

Islam emphasizes absolute monotheism, but this is not a novel concept. Jewish Shema (“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one,” — Deuteronomy 6:4) predates the Qur’an by centuries.

Islam’s idea of tawheed is, in many ways, a reaction against Christian Trinitarianism — but it borrows Jewish theology without contributing meaningful innovation.

❖ Prophethood and Law

The Qur’an presents Muhammad as the seal of the prophets (33:40), continuing a long line of figures from Adam to Moses to Jesus.

But this structure — a lineage of prophets — already exists in Judaism. Islam simply inherits this model, with a few added names and altered genealogies.

4. The Problem of Selective Confirmation

If the Qur’an were truly confirming previous scriptures, it should agree with their core teachings.

Yet:

The Jesus of the Qur’an denies divinity and the crucifixion — in direct contradiction to the New Testament.
The Qur’an denies the fatherhood of God, a foundational Jewish and Christian theme.
It alters basic details of stories — like confusing Mary, mother of Jesus, with Miriam, sister of Aaron (19:28).

These are not clarifications — they are corruptions or conflations, often with no theological coherence.

5. Is the Qur’an a Patchwork of Earlier Religions?

When we step back, a pattern becomes clear:

Islam borrows the monotheism of Judaism.
It borrows the prophetology of Judaism and Christianity.
It borrows eschatology (Day of Judgment, Heaven and Hell) from Christian teachings.
It borrows rituals — like prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — which existed in Jewish and Christian practice.

And in places, it borrows legends and myths from Midrash, apocrypha, and folklore.

But it modifies them, often inconsistently, and claims this as “confirmation.”

This suggests that Muhammad’s religious framework was not revealed in a vacuum — but crafted from the religious currents of his time, reassembled under a new banner.

6. Conclusion: A Recycled Religion, Not a Revelation

If Islam’s scripture and theology borrow extensively from earlier faiths — often without credit, context, or consistency — can it still claim to be original?

The answer is no.

The Qur’an:

Echoes pre-existing stories and theology,
Contradicts the very texts it claims to confirm,
And lacks true innovation beyond political consolidation.

This doesn’t look like divine revelation.

It looks like religious rebranding — a patchwork of borrowed ideas, woven together by a 7th-century Arab prophet seeking to unify a fractured region.

In light of this, the claim that Islam is the final, original, and perfect revelation rings hollow.