(3:35-40)(5:11)(19:7-11)(3:41)(3:43-44)
One of the most amazing and unique events discussed in the Quran is the story of Mary and her son Jesus. This example shows the broad-minded attitude of the Quran that doesn’t make any discrimination against human beings. Whenever someone does something beneficial to the growth of humanity, the Quran picks it up, irrespective of the gender, nation, and place, in order to set an excellent example for the readers. God is the author of the Quran, and all human beings are His creation. He has no grudge or prejudice against anyone. The story of Mary, who was neither related to the prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) nor had she any role in his movement, is a good manifestation of this fact.
Mary lived approximately five to six hundred years before the prophet Mohammad; even though she is a central figure in Christianity she is depicted by the Quran for her extraordinary revolutionary work. In reality, she is the only woman discussed in the Quran in minute detail. The Quran is revealed to the holy prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It is a strange fact that the Quran gives no names, personal characteristics, places of birth, or information about the families of the prophet Mohammad’s mother, daughter, wives, or any other female related to him; but a full sura is named after Mary, with full details about her life from childhood.
Two major religions, Christianity and Islam, pay the greatest respect to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Bible doesn’t portray the early life of Mary or her death. She is first mentioned in the gospel of Matthew 1:18 when she is pregnant with Jesus. She is introduced to the reader as the mother of a supernatural child as if being a mother is the only important event in her life. Nothing is mentioned about her childhood, education, death, or her personality.
After that, in the Gospel of Luke 1:27 and Luke 1:36 Mary is told that she is pregnant and that her cousin Elisabeth, who had been barren previously, had conceived a child. In the ancient times, for a woman not to be able to have children was considered to be the result of her sins. They were only acceptable to the society because they had the capacity to produce and rear children.
In these circumstances, when women had no status, they were only acceptable to the male-dominated society for sexual purposes: to produce children and rear them. The Quran focuses on Mary for her revolutionary work in addition to her motherhood. Although Mary was raised in a synagogue, she revolted against the unrealistic discipline and rules of the synagogue: that she could not marry outside the synagogue’s personnel. The authorities were furious to see her determination and courage to stand by her decision. With unflinching courage, she married an ordinary poor carpenter, left Jerusalem and the temple, where she was enjoying the best of luxuries, and lived with her husband in the small town of Nazareth about 100 miles away from Jerusalem. The authorities of the temple were unable to stop her, but they took revenge by declaring her child illegitimate because she did not marry according to the rules of the synagogue.
In the ancient times for Mary to challenge the authority of orthodox religion required tremendous courage. However, Mary was raised by Zachariah, the head priest of the temple, so she was knowledgeable about the true religion of Moses. Moreover, her cousin John was a prophet and she was well enough educated in theology to know that she had committed no sin, whereas an average Jew was completely under the influence of authorities, could not think independently, and believed that Mary had made a wrong choice.
Mary had to bear the blunt criticism of common men in the community; she tolerated all this with perseverance and lived an admirable, simple, and austere life. Moreover, she broke all the rule of monasticism that a person consecrated to the temple could not lead an ordinary married life. Mary had not chosen to be a nun in the temple; it was her mother who chose a lifestyle for her before her birth. Everyone is given the gift of life once, and he/she is given the choice to live it anyway one likes. As children cannot force their parents to do something, the parents are not justified in making final decisions for their children as Mary’s mother did.
To remain chaste before marriage and to indulge in sex after marriage is a value. The prophet Joseph and Mary are the two champions who upheld this value in extremely dangerous circumstances. The Quran appreciates this aspect of Mary’s character along with her other qualities and declares her to be the best of all women in the universe.
The Quran is not a book of history or geography. It gives no information about these matters; it starts the story from the event which is relevant and exerts great influence on the characters. The first important event in Mary’s life was when her mother, before her birth, took a vow that she would consecrate her child to the service of the temple; she thought that she would have a boy who would serve as a priest in the Jewish temple. She was disappointed when she realized that her baby was a girl and not a boy; still, she stuck to her vow and the girl was named Mary and given to the temple.
Mary grew up to be a girl of bewitching beauty with a voluptuous figure. The priests of the temple were looking at her with lustful eyes. A great dispute started and changed into a rowdy struggle when every one of the priests wanted to have the guardianship of Mary. The final outcome was to decide the matter by throwing arrows. Every time they threw the arrows the name of the head priest Zachariah appeared, so Mary was given to him to be looked after.
Mary became very famous for her virtue and austere style of living. People flocked to her with many presents. Whenever Zachariah visited her he found her with many presents scattered around her.
“How do you get all these things?” he asked.
“All this comes from God,” replied Mary. “When He wants to give, He gives abundantly.”
It did not mean that God was sending a table full of edibles to Marry; it only meant that people who came to the temple gave their presents to Mary and not to the older known priests present in the temple.
