Abstract

This study develops a critical framework for evaluating ad hoc inflation in Qur’anic borrowing theories—explanations that multiply hypothetical intermediaries, lost sources, or selective adaptations in order to sustain the claim that the Qur’an derives its narratives from Jewish or Christian precedent. By systematically comparing the Qur’anic portrayals of Moses, Pharaoh, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, Lot, and Solomon with the spectrum of Late Antique traditions, archaeological evidence, linguistic data, and ancient Near Eastern cultural contexts, the analysis identifies domains where the Qur’anic material diverges sharply from known Christian, Jewish, Gnostic, and folkloric accounts while exhibiting internal coherence and historically resonant detail. These divergences occur precisely in places where borrowing models would predict dependence or replication. The study argues that, methodologically, each additional layer of hypothetical transmission required to explain such divergences increases model complexity without increasing explanatory power. A more disciplined comparative approach reveals that the Qur’anic narratives often preserve structural, legal, linguistic, and geographical patterns unattested in the alleged source traditions, while avoiding their contradictions, anachronisms, and theological motivations. The proposed framework provides a clearer set of criteria for distinguishing genuine literary dependence from conjectural reconstruction, thereby offering a more rigorous basis for future work in Qur’anic historiography and Late Antique textual interactions.