acmilan said:
I'm interested, what's the qurans viewpoint of who Mary was? What she did, who she descended from etc.
Upon Veterandoggy's request, I will try my best to provide u with details of what the Quran says about Mary (Maryam) (peace be upon her) and hopefully answer ur question.
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Mary, is known as Maryam in the Quran (Im not 100% sure but i think Arab chritians call 'Mary', Maryam, but don't take my word for it).
Maryam meaning
'to abide', in other words
'someone who incessantly worships Allah'.
1.The Almighty reveals Maryam's mother's prayers (i.e the Wife of Imran, Imran being Maryam's father) in the following verse:
Remember when the wife of 'Imran said: "My Lord, I have vowed to You whatever is in my womb, to be devoted [to Your service]. Please accept it from me. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." When she gave birth, she said: "My Lord! I have given birth to a girl"-and Allah knew very well what she had given birth to, male and female are not the same-"and I have named her Maryam and placed her and her children in Your safekeeping from Satan, the accursed." (Surah Al 'Imran: 35-36)
There's a bit of history in regards to Maryams family being exalted in the Quran, as well who educated Maryam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon her) ,but theres no need to go into too much detail. Her father was Imran, and her educator was Zakaarriyah.
2. Mary (Maryam) was exalted over ALL women, or rather, The Almighty Preferred Maryam over All Other Women. The Almighty relates her superiority in the following verse:
And when the angels said: "Maryam, Allah has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen you over all other women. Maryam, obey your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow." (Surah Al 'Imran: 42-43)
And as
Harun Yahya in his book entitiled
Maryam: An Exemplary Muslims Woman"writes:
"Maryam, like the rest of her family, was known among her people for her devotion to Allah as well as her religiosity, chastity, and sincerity. Allah speaks of her as someone obedient to Him.
And Maryam, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity-We breathed Our Spirit into her. She confirmed the Words of her Lord and His Book, and was one of the obedient. (Surat at-Tahrim: 12)
… and she who guarded her chastity. We breathed into her some of Our Spirit and made her and her son a Sign for all the worlds. (Surat al-Anbiya': 91)"
3.Maryam experienced quite a number of miracles in her life, one of them was meeting the angel Gabriel (Jibril in Arabic, as it appears in the Quran):
...Then We sent Our Spirit to her, and it took on for her the form of a handsome, well-built man. (Surah Maryam: 16-17)
Not knowing who this man was:
"She said: 'I seek refuge from you with the All-Merciful, [leave me] if you have fear [and respect] of Allah'" (Surah Maryam: 18).
Jibril introduced himself and told her he was an angel sent from the Almighty:
"I am only your Lord's messenger [an angel] so that He can give you a pure boy" (Surah Maryam: 19).
4.The birth of Jesus:
As the Qur'an recounts:
When the angels said:
"Maryam, your Lord gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, 'Isa, son of Maryam, of high esteem in this world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near." (Surah Al 'Imran: 45)
We believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus (Isaa) (peace be upon him) to Maryam (peace an blessings be upon her). Mary questions how she could have a child, without having been touched by a man:
"How can I have a boy when no man has touched me and I am not an unchaste woman?" (Surah Maryam: 20)
He [Jibril] said: "It will be so." Allah creates whatever He wills. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. (Surah Al 'Imran: 47)
He said: "It will be so." Your Lord says: "That is easy for Me. It is so that We can make him a Sign for humanity and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already decreed." So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. (Surah Maryam: 21-22).
In fact there's a whole Surah (chapter) entitled ' Surah Maryam' (which as u can see above, Ive quoted verses from)
5. conidtions (or location) of Maryam during the birth:
The conditions at the time when she gave birth to Jesus (peace be upon him) are also mentioned in the Quran, as well as the Almighty's advice that she should 'eat dates' whilst she was in a distant place to which she had retreated. She retreated and withdrew from her people due to the criticism of the miraculous birth, as well as for peace and calmness during her time of birth. A women goes through hard times during birth, the last thing she needed was people criticising her pregnancy.
The pains of labor drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She exclaimed:
"Oh, if only I had died before this time and was something discarded and forgotten!" A voice called out to her from under her: "Do not grieve. Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet. Shake the trunk of the palm toward you, and fresh, ripe dates will drop down to you. Eat and drink, and delight your eyes. If you should see anyone at all, just say: 'I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful, and [so] today I will not speak to any human being.' " (Surah Maryam: 23-26)
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sorry for the long post, but theres just so much on Mary (Maryam) (peace be upon her) and Jesus (Isaa) (peace be upon him) in the Quran, it'll take pages to list everything the Quran says about them both.
however, I think the main points are that, according to the Quran:
1. Maryam gave birth to Isaa without a father.
2. Issa was the Son of Maryam, who also experienced many miracles, one was his ability to speak whilst in the cradle, another was bringing the dead back to life.
3. Maryam is very important in Islam, she's an exemplary Muslim women, one whom all muslims should look up to and respect.