(part 1 of 2): Who is Maria?
It might surprise some people to learn that Maria is one of the most valued and respected women in Islam and that the Quran is very important to her. Maryam is the name of the 19th chapter of the Quran and the third chapter is Aali Imran, named after her family. Islam looks highly on the whole Imran family. The Quran tells us that:
„Verily, God chose Adam and Noah and the House of Abraham and the House of Imran before all worlds.“ (Quran 3:33)
God chose Adam and Noah in detail, but he chose the Abraham family and the Imran family.
„A gender from which one comes from the other.“ (Quran 3:34)
The Imran family is from the descendants of Abraham, the Abraham family is from the descendants of Noah, and Noah is from the descendants of Adam. The Imran family also includes many people who are known and respected by Christians: the prophets Zacharias and John (known as the Baptist), the prophet and messenger Jesus and his mother Mary.
God chose Mary from all women in the world. He says,
„And then the angels said,“ O Mary, behold, God chose you and purified and chose you before the women of the worlds. „“ (Quran 3:42)
Ali ibn Abu Talib said:
„I heard the prophet of God say Maria, the daughter of Imran, was the best of women. ” (Sahieh Al-Bukhari)
In Arabic, the name Maria means „Servant of God“, and as we will see, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was dedicated to God even before she was born.
The birth of Mary
The Bible is unable to give us details of Mary’s birth, but the Quran tells us that Imran’s wife has dedicated her unborn child to the service of God. Maria’s mother, Imran’s wife, was Hannah [1]. She was the sister of the wife of the Prophet Zacharias.
Hannah and her husband Imran thought they would never have children, but one day Hannah spoke heartfelt supplications to God and asked for a child, and she swore that her offspring would serve in the house of God in Jerusalem. God heard Hannah’s prayers and she got pregnant. When Hannah became aware of the good news, she turned to God and said:
“Sir, behold, I vow to consecrate what is in my body; so take it from me; see you are the all-hearing, the all-knowing. ” (Quran 3:35)
There are lessons to be learned from Hannah’s pledge to God, one of which is that we have to provide religious education for our children. Hannah didn’t think of worldly things, she tried to make sure that her child was close to God and was serving.
These select friends of God, like the Imran family, are parents that we should take as an example. God says in many places in the Quran that He is the only one who cares for us and He warns us to save ourselves and our families from the fire of hell.
In her prayer, Hannah asked that her child be freed from worldly things. By promising that her child should become a servant of God, Hannah protected her child’s freedom. Freedom is a quality of life that every person strives for, but Hannah understood that true freedom only comes into God’s will through complete submission. This was what she wanted for her unborn child.
Hannah wanted her child to be a free person, not a slave to another person and not a slave to his desires, just a slave to God.
When the time came, Hannah gave birth to a girl and again turned to God in prayer and said:
“’Sir, I gave birth to a girl,‘ and God knew well what she had born; because the boy is not like the girl. „And I called her Maria, and behold, I want her and her descendants to take refuge with you from stoned Satan.“ (Quran 3:36)
Hannah called her child Maria. Hannah was faced with a dilemma about her vow to God. It was unthinkable for women to serve in the house of prayer. Maria’s father, Imran, had died before she was born, so Hannah turned to her brother-in-law Zacharias.
He comforted Hannah and helped her understand that God knew she had given birth to a girl. This girl, Maria, was one of the best in creation. The Prophet Muhammad mentioned [2] that whenever a child is born, Satan stings it and that is why it cries out loud. This is a sign of the great enmity between humanity and Satan; however there were two exceptions. Satan did not stab Mary or her son Jesus [3] because of Mary’s mother’s supplication.
When the time came for Maria to go to the house of prayer, everyone wanted to take care of this pious daughter of Imran. As was the custom, the men pulled lots and God made the Prophet Zacharias their guardian.
„And so she graciously accepted God and let her grow up beautifully under the care of Zacharias.“ (Quran 3:37)
The prophet Zacharias served in the house of God and was a wise and knowing man who was devoted to the teachings. He had Maria build her own room so that she could worship God and carry out her daily duties in peace. As her guardian, the Prophet visited Zacharias Maria every day and one day he was surprised to see fresh fruits in her room. It is said that she had fruits of summer in winter and fruits of winter in summer. [4] The prophet Zacharias asked her where she got the fruit from, and Mary replied that it was God who cared for her. She said:
“It is from God; behold, God provides unlimited. ” (Quran 3:37)
Mary’s devotion to God was incomparable, but her faith should be put to the test.
Footnotes:
[1] From the table by Ibn Katheer.
[2] Sahieh Al-Bukhari.
[3] Sahieh Muslim.
The basis is the work of Al Imam ibn Katheer. The Stories of the Prophets.
(part 2 of 2): The Birth of Jesus
Cherished and loved by all Muslims and known as a pious and devoted woman – Mary, the mother of Jesus was chosen before all other women. Islam rejects the view of Christians that Jesus is part of the Trinity, which is God, and firmly rejects that Jesus or his mother are worthy of worship. The Quran categorically states that there is no god but God:
“He is God, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the creator of all things; so worship Him … ”(Quran 6: 102)
However, Muslims are obliged to believe in and love all the prophets, including the prophet Jesus, who has a special place in the Islamic faith. His mother holds an honorable place. As a young woman, Maria went to the House of Prayer in Jerusalem, devoting her entire life to worship and worship.
Mary gets the news from Jesus
When she had withdrawn from everyone, a man appeared before Mary. God said,
„She shielded herself from them, when We sent Our Angel Gabriel to her and he appeared to her in the form of a perfect human being …“ (Quran 19:17)
Maria became afraid and tried to flee. She begged God:
“´I take refuge from you with the most merciful if you have fear of God.´ The angel said: ´I am the messenger of your Lord. (He sent me to you) to give you a pure son.´ ”(Quran 19: 18-19)
Maria was amazed and confused by these words. She was not married, but a virgin who behaved decently. She asked skeptically:
„My Lord, should I be born a son when no man touched me?“ He said: „God does what He wants; when He has decided something, He only says to Him, „Be!“ and it is. „(Quran 3:47)
God created Adam from the dust of the earth, without mother or father. He created Eva from Adam’s rib; and Jesus, he was created without a father, but with a mother, the pious Virgin Mary. God, who only needs to say: ‚Be!‘ To something to bring it to existence, blew the soul of Jesus through the angel Gabriel in Mary.
“Then We breathed into it from Our Spirit; and she believed in her Lord’s words … ”(Quran 66:12)
Although the stories of Maria in the Bible and in the Quran have something in common, the view that Maria was engaged or married is completely rejected in Islam. Some time passed and Maria was afraid of what the people around her would say. She wondered how she could possibly believe that no man had touched her. The majority of Islamic scholars agree that the duration of Mary’s pregnancy has been normal. [1] When the time came for childbirth, Mary decided to leave Jerusalem and went to the city of Bethlehem. Although she must have remembered the words of God, because her faith was strong and unshakable, this young woman was anxious and worried. But the angel Gabriel assured her again:
“O Mary, behold, God announces a word from Him to you; his name is the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, viewed in this world and in the hereafter, and one of those who are close to (God). ” (Quran 3:45)
Jesus is born
The contractions of birth drove her to the trunk of a date palm and she cried out in fear:
„Oh, I would have died before and would be completely forgotten!“ (Quran 19:23)
Maria gave birth to her child right there, at the foot of the date palm. She was exhausted after birth and filled with grief and fear, but still she heard a voice calling for her.
„Do not be sad. Your Lord has given you a brook to flow; and shake the trunk of the palm towards you, and it will drop ripe dates on you. So eat and drink and be of good cheer …. ”(Quran 19: 24-26)
God provided Mary with water when a spring suddenly sprang up from where she was sitting. He also provided them with food; all that had to be done was to shake the trunk of the date palm. Maria was scared and scared. She felt so weak just after giving birth, how was she going to shake this huge trunk? But God continued to take care of them.
The next event was indeed another miracle and as humans we learn a great lesson from it. Maria didn’t have to shake the date palm, which would have been impossible, she just had to try. When she tried to follow God’s command, fresh, ripe dates fell from the palm and God said to Maria: „… So eat and drink and be of good cheer ….“ (Quran 19:26)
Maria had to take her newborn child and return to their family. Of course she was afraid and God knew that. Then he instructed her not to speak. It would not have been possible for Maria to explain how she suddenly became the mother of a newborn child. Since she was unmarried, her people would not believe the explanations. God said:
“And if you see a person, say: ‚I have praised the merciful (God) to fast, so I don’t want to talk to anyone today.‘ ‚” (Quran 19:26)
Maria came with the baby in her arms to their people, and they immediately began to accuse them; they exclaimed: “What have you done? You are from a good family and your parents were pious. ”
As God instructed her, Maria didn’t speak, she just pointed to the baby in her arms. Then spoke Jesus, Mary’s son. As a newborn baby, Jesus the prophet of God accomplished his first miracle. With God’s permission, he said:
“I am a servant of God, He gave me the book and made me a prophet. And He gave me His blessing wherever I may be, and He commanded me to pray and to do benevolence as long as I live; and deferential to my mother (to be); He didn’t make me violent and unhappy. And peace was upon me on the day I was born and (peace will be on me) on the day I die and the day I come back to life. ” (Quran 19: 30-34)
Maria is called a siddqa (Truthful) in the Quran (5:75), but the Arabic word siddiqa contains more than just speaking the truth. It means that someone has achieved a very high level of righteousness. It means that someone is honest not only with themselves and the people around them, but also with God. Maria was a woman who fulfilled her agreement with God whom she worshiped with humility. She was pious, chaste, and humble; the woman chosen before all other women to become the mother of Jesus: was Maria, the daughter of Imran.
Footnotes:
[1] Sheikh al Shanqeeti in (Adwaa ‚al-Bayaan, 4/264)
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/maria-die-mutter-von-jesus