Traditions: Christian New Testament; Islamic Qur’anic Motif: Healing a stigmatized disease as a sign Connection verdict: Shared Jesus miracle tradition, not an identical scene Article status: Expanded Date: 2026-10-25
Summary
Mark 1:40–45 tells a particular encounter in which Jesus heals a person described as having leprosy. Qur’an 5:110 remembers healing the leper among Jesus’ signs by God’s permission. The shared miracle category is important in connected traditions about Jesus, but the Qur’an does not supply Mark’s patient, dialogue, touch, or aftermath.
The person who approaches in Mark
In Mark 1:40–45, a man comes to Jesus asking to be made clean. Jesus responds with touch and a healing command, then instructs him to show himself to a priest and not spread the news. The man does speak widely, and the resulting crowds change where Jesus can move openly. The scene includes bodily need, social and ritual restoration, and consequences for both men. Translating the ancient disease term as modern Hansen’s disease without qualification can mislead; biblical “leprosy” covered a wider set of conditions.
A divine reminder in the Qur’an
In Qur’an 5:110, God addresses Jesus and enumerates signs, including healing the blind and the leper and raising the dead. The verse repeatedly grounds Jesus’ acts in God’s permission. It does not narrate one individual’s cleansing or tell him to visit a priest. Its purpose is to recall divine favor and Jesus’ mission rather than to reproduce Mark’s scene.
Compare the right level
The texts support a shared miracle tradition about Jesus’ healing power. They do not establish that Qur’an 5 is derived specifically from Mark 1:40–45; other Gospel and oral healing accounts were available within the wider late-antique world. Mark’s narrated encounter and the Qur’an’s theological summary should be compared as different literary forms, not treated as two transcripts of the same appointment.
A conversation worth having
The Markan touch highlights how illness can isolate a person socially as well as physically. Both traditions can encourage care for people who are stigmatized, while rejecting the harmful inference that a sick person lacks faith if healing does not occur.
Sources and reading notes
- Mark 1:40–45, BibleGateway — an individual healing and its aftermath.
- Qur’an 5:110, Quran.com — summary of Jesus’ signs by God’s permission.
Research limit
The shared healing category is clear, but no single Gospel scene can be identified as the Qur’anic verse’s direct source from this evidence.