Mariam in the Holy Koran
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“Mariam in the holy Koran The holy Koran mentions the Virgin Mary (Mariam) in 34 locations in 12 surah, and devotes a whole surah of 98 verses in her name. In these holy surah and verses, the Koran presents descriptive images of Mariam in the various stages of her life: before she was born, after being chosen to carry the Word of God, during giving birth to Jesus Christ, and with the start of Jesus Christ in the call to worship the One God. Verses 35-37 of surat-Al-Imran show the familial status of Mariam before she was born. These verses say that when the Imran woman knew she is pregnant, she consecrated the child she is carrying to God. And she prayed God to accept her vow. But when she gave birth to her new born and knew that the child is a girl, she was saddened and disappointed. Since she had wished the child to be a boy, so that he would be able to work in serving the call to God. ”The mother of Mariam” showed these sad feelings while calling upon God and said, as came in the holy Koran : "O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!". But the Koranic verse says immediately after that “and Allah knew best what she brought forth”. In this verse exists the first sign that it is in the knowledge of God that the child “Mariam” is not just a female, and is not just an ordinary child. Then the verse mentions that the ´Imran woman chose the name Mariam for her child and she consecrated her to God. So this was the second vow (after the first vow when she was in her mother’s womb); and with this second vow to God, the ´Imran woman asked her Lord to save Mariam and her progeny from Satan. And the verse mentions afterwards that God answered her prayer and call and accepted her vow, i.e. the child Mariam “with right acceptance”; and that He “made her grow a good growth”, i.e. he brought her up a pure good bringing. And He assigned her to Zakariyya so that he takes care of her1. Despite this, the Koranic verse tells us the first miracle that amazed Zakariyya himself, and he is the celibate believer who took care of Mariam by a divine command. That is because Zakariyya was not a stranger to the divine miracle. He is the one whose prayer God answered, and gave him a boy despite the fact that his wife was barren and he has grown quite decrepit from old age. The verse says that :”Every time that he entered (her) chamber to see her, He found her supplied with sustenance” The chamber is a place of prayer and worship of God, showing that Mariam was always in a state of prayer and 1 Zakariyya is the father of the prophet Yahia, peace be on both of them. And Zakariyya, as was mentioned in the holy Koran, is the one who called: “Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret, praying: "O my Lord! infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to Thee! "Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself,- "(One that) will (truly) represent me, and represent the posterity of Jacob; and make him, O my Lord! One with whom Thou art well-pleased!" . The Koran says afterwards that God Almighty answered his prayer: "O Zakariya! We give thee good news of a son: His name shall be Yahya: on none by that name have We conferred distinction before." And Yahya is, in Christianity, John the Baptist who gave the good news of the coming of the Christ and baptized him in the waters of the Jordan River. His tomb is still standing till nowadays inside the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. Pope John-Paul II visited the tomb during his official visit to Syria in May 2001. 1 worship of God. As for the sustenance, it is food, drink and clothes. Zakariyya found this strange to find this sustenance that he has not brought to her, and he knows that she does not go out of the chamber to get sustenance. So it was normal to ask her, as is mentioned in the holy verse:” Whence (comes) this to you?". Mariam’s answer to this question emphasizes the care of God of her through His angels. Mariam answered with the answer of an assured believer: "From Allah. For Allah provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure." Afterwards, the verses 42-44 of surat-Al-´Imran present to us the text of the first glad tidings that the angels carried to Mariam, and that is when the angels said to her: “O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations (and times).” It is necessary here to contemplate the meaning of the first and second selections. The first selection occurred when Mariam was in the womb of her mother. And the second selection came when Christ was in the womb of Mariam, meaning it accompanied the second glad tidings that the angels carried to Mariam saying she is carrying the Word of God the Christ Jesus son of Mariam. After the first selection and before the second, was the purification of God to Mariam through the care of Zakariyya and the angels. And the holy Koranic text of God’s first and second selections of Mariam is a general text that does not bear any exception. It is a selection above the women of all nations and times, meaning it is a selection over all women before and after her. In the verse 12 of surat at-taHrim, The holy Koran singled out Mariam with a special description that clarifies the meaning of her selection and preference over the women of all nations and times. The holy verse says:”And Mariam the daughter of ´Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants). And in this a divine settling of three major issues: First: the virginity of Mariam who guarded her chastity Second: her pregnancy from the spirit of God Third: her belief in God and her submission to His will. Mariam was a pure chaste virgin when the angels came to her to announce to her the glad tidings of God: “Allah giveth thee glad tidings” that she is pregnant. But how can the celibate virgin get pregnant? The question was raised by Mariam herself to God wondering :”O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?”. And the divine answer came, as in the verses 45-47 of surat Al-´Imran: ”He said: Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is! Originally, the glad tidings that the angels carried from God to Mariam say: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mariam”, meaning that Christ is the Word of God. Consequently, he was not an ordinary infant or an ordinary human. 2 The verses 16-21 of surat Mariam present a detailed account of the divine glad tidings and how God sent to Mariam “Our spirit so he appeared before her as a man in all respects”. And these verses narrate the dialogue that occurred between Mariam and God’s spirit in the form of a human, it says: ”Relate in the Book (the story of) Mariam, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our spirit, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son. She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?". He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed." When Mariam felt the pain of labor, she carried her child in her womb, and headed towards a place far from the sight of people. She leaned on the trunk of a date-palm, suffering the pains of labor like any other mother, added to the pains of the moral and psychological embarrassment that she expects to face when people see her with her infant, and they know that she is not married, she even said : “Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!”. The Koran mentions that while she was in this state of physical and psychological suffering, childbirth occurred, and the Word of God, Jesus Christ son of Mariam came out. And here a great divine miracle happens, since this infant who only is few seconds old calls his mother from under her, saying “Grieve not!”.