clay birds

And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe; (Quran 3:49)

1 1 When the boy Jesus was five years old, he was playing at the ford of a rushing stream. And he gathered the disturbed water into pools and made them pure and excellent, commanding them by the character of his word alone and not by means of a deed.

2 Then, taking soft clay from the mud, he formed twelve sparrows. It was the Sabbath when he did these things, and many children were with him.

3 And a certain Jew, seeing the boy Jesus with the other children doing these things, went to his father Joseph and falsely accused the boy Jesus, saying that, on the Sabbath he made clay, which is not lawful, and fashioned twelve sparrows.

4 And Joseph came and rebuked him, saying, “Why are you doing these things on the Sabbath?” But Jesus, clapping his hands,  commanded the birds with a shout in front of everyone and said, “Go, take flight, and remember me, living ones.” And the sparrows, taking flight, went away squawking.

- The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

One of the interesting differences between the Quran and the mainstream Bible is the story of Jesus (as) animating clay birds as a child. The story does not exist in Matthew, Mark , Luke or John but it is found in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and also the Arabic Infancy Gospel. So from a Muslim perspective should the later texts be considered as potential places where revelation might be found? Do they contain fragments of the Injeel? Another interesting question: where there Christians in the milieu of the early Muslims who treated either of these texts as scripture?

Allahu alim.

Early Christian Writings: Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Gnosis: Arabic Infancy Gospel