Hi! I would like to ask you about the story of Jesus creating clay birds, which is referred to in Quran. This story comes from an apocryphal Gospel called Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which all scholars and historians consider to be a forgery and unreliable, historically speaking. So why does the Quran use a story from such a document?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Far exalted is Allah, the Almighty, above such a false and unfounded claim. The Quran is the Speech of Allah that is based on His knowledge; it does not use stories from any distorted or undistorted books. Allah, the Exalted, refutes this false claim in many verses. He says (what means):

- {And We certainly know that they say, "It is only a human being who teaches the Prophet." The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this Quran is (in) a clear Arabic language.} [Quran 16:103]

- {And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe one with your right hand. Otherwise, the falsifiers would have had (cause for) doubt.} [Quran 29:48]

Allah revealed the Quran to His Messenger Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and took it upon Himself to preserve it from distortion and alteration; He says (what means):

- {The revelation of the Quran is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.} [Quran 39:1]

- {Indeed, it is We Who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian.} [Quran 15:9]

- {Indeed, it is We Who have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Quran progressively.} [Quran 76:23]

Please refer to fatwas 85307, 27986, and 90449, in which we underlined that all the Christian scriptures have been distorted. Rather, the history of Christianity was victim to forgery at the hands of Paul and others, who distorted the Christian tenets and deceived the Christians.

Allah knows best.