Hazrat Mariyum

Hazrat Ali may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
I heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The best of the women of her time was Mary bint ‘Imran, and the best of the women of her time was Hazrat Khadijah bint Khuwailid

Abu Musa may Allah be pleased with him, reported:
Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: There are many persons amongst men who are quite perfect but there are not perfect amongst women except Mary bint ‘Imran, Asiya wife of Pharaoh, and the excellence of ‘Aiesha as compared to women is that of Tharid over all other foods
Genealogy
Mary’s father is called Imran in the Quran, Joachim in Christian tradition: Ibn Khaldun is also acquainted with the name Joachim. Mariyum is called a sister of Aaron (Haroon) and the use of these three names Imran, Haroon, and Mariyum has led to the supposition that the Quran does not clearly distinguish between the two Mariyums, of the old and the new Testaments. The Quran Names two families as being especially chosen: those of Abraham and Imran. It is the family of Imran, which is important because of Moses, and Haroon to which Mariyum belongs. It is not necessary to assume that these Kinship links are of to be interpreted in modern terms. The words sister and daughter like their male counterparts in Arabic usage can indicate extended kinship, descendant or spiritual affinity. This second Imran together with Haroon can be taken as purely Quranic. Muslim tradition is clear that there are eighteen centuries between the Biblical Imran and the father of Mariyum.

Imran’s wife Isa’s (Jesus) grandmother is not mentioned by name in the Quran. In Christian as well as in Muslim tradition she is called Hanna. It is only in Muslim tradition that her genealogy is worked out. She is a daughter of Fakudh and a sister of Ishba the Biblical Elisabeth:

                                   Fakudh
                   Hanna                      Ishba
               Married Imran             Married Zakariya
                Mariyum                    Yahya
                  Isa (Jesus)

However according to a different genealogy 1Ishba and Mariyum were sisters, daughter of Imran and Hanna.

                                      Imran
                            Ishba            Mariyum
                           Yahya                Isa

Parents of Mariyum
Hazrat Imran was a very pious and stead fast individual and for this reason he was also given the responsibility of performing the duties of Imam in the Masjid-e-Iqsa. His wife Hanna was also considered to be a very respectable lady in the society. According to Muslim history Imran and Hanna were old and childless. One day the sight of a bird in a tree, which was feeding her young, aroused Hanna’s desire for a child. She prayed to God Almighty for fulfillment of her desire and vowed if her prayer would be heard, she would dedicate the child to the temple. She had, however, forgotten that according to Jewish law this would be impossible if she gave birth to a female child. Surah -Al Imran (3: 35)

Behold! a woman of Imran said: “O my Lord! I do dedicate unto thee what is in my womb for Thy special service so accept this of me for Thou hearest and knowest all things. (3:35)

Birth of Mariyum
The Arabic from of the name is identical with the word used in the Syraic and the Greek Bible in the New as well as the Old Testament. In the later it corresponds to the: Al-Baydawi considers the name to be Hebrew, but the voweling would seem to indicate a Christian source (According to A Jeffery, Foreign vocabulary of the Qur’an) The name Mariyum, like the others with the same suffix, such as “Amram, Bil’am’ points to the region between Palestine and Northwestern Arabia as its home. According to Muslim interpretation, the name means “the pious”

Hanna the mother of Mariyum expected a male child. Was she disappointed that it was a female child? No, for she had Faith, and she knew that Allah’s plan was better than any wish of her. Mariyum was no ordinary girl and only Allah knew what it was that her mother brought forth. Surah -Al Imran (3:36)

When she was delivered she said: “O my Lord! behold! I am delivered of a female child!” And Allah knew best what she brought forth, “and nowise is the male like the female. I have named her Mary and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One the Rejected.”(3:36)

The female child could not be devoted to Temple service under the Mosaic Law, as she intended. But she was marked out for a special destiny to be the mother of the miracle child: Jesus. She was content to seek Allah’s protection for her against all evil and there is a certain sense of pride in the girl on the part of the mother.

According to Muslim traditions Imran had died before the birth of Mariyum and Zakariya claimed authority over her on account of his being her uncle. However the rabbis did not recognize his claim, his right was proved by an contest, consisting in the parties throwing their pens or arrows in a river; the only one that floated was that of Zakariya. The Qur’an relates this in the following verse of Surah -Al Imran (3:37)
Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty; to the care of Zakariya was she assigned. “(3:37)

Mariyum was 3 years old when she entered Masjid-e-Iqsa for its upkeep. She was allotted a chamber and whenever Zakariya visited her in the chambers he found ample food and unseasoned fruits. The Qur’an relates this in the following verse of Surah -Al Imran (3:37)
Every time that he entered (her) chamber to see her he found her supplied with sustenance. He said: “O Mary! whence (comes) this to you?” She said: “From Allah: for Allah provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure.”(3:37)

The Annunciation of Hazrat Isa
The annunciation and the conception, we may suppose, took place in Nazareth (of Galilee), about 65 miles north of Jerusalem. According to various traditions the annunciation took place in the following way:

“Jibrail appeared to Mariyum in the shape of a beardless youth with a shinning face and curling hair announcing to her the birth of a male child. She expressed her amazement but on the angel’s reassuring answer she complied with the will of the God. There upon the angel blew his breath into the fold of her shirt, which she had put off. When the angel had withdrawn she put on the shirt and became pregnant. The annunciation took place in the cavern of the well of Silwan, whither Mariyum had gone as usual to fill her pitcher: she was 10 or 13 years old. According to another tradition the spirit of Isa entered Mariyum through her mouth (al Tabari Tafsir vi 22). The Qur’an relates this in the following verses: of Surah At-Tahrim (66:12) and Surah Mariyum (19:16 to 21):

And Mary 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)(66:12)

Surah Mariyum (19:16 to 21)

Relate in the Book the story of Mary when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East.(19:16)
She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them: then We sent to her Our angel and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.(19:17)
She said: “I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah.(19:18)
He said: “Nay I am only a messenger from thy Lord (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.(19:19)
She said: “How shall I have a son seeing that no man has touched me and I am not unchaste? (19:20)
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. (19:21)
The Birth of Hazrat Isa
When her pregnancy started to be visible she became afraid and disturbed as to what the people would say. To avoid a bad name for her and her family she decided to leave Masjid -e- Iqsa and move to some remote area till the time she gave birth to the child she was carrying. Finally the delivery took place in Bethlehem about 6 miles south of Jerusalem. It was a remote place, not only with reference to the distance of 71 miles, but because in Bethlehem itself the birth was in an obscure corner under a palm-tree, from which perhaps the babe was afterwards removed to a manger in a stable.

According to Muslim tradition Mariyum was 16 years old when the pains of childbirth started. At that time she was near the trunk of a Palm tree. The pain was so intense that she wished that had she died before this she would have become a thing forgotten and lost in oblivion. After the birth of Hazrat Isa she stayed for forty days in the cavern (Cave) The Quran states this entire episode from the time of labour pains to the birth of Hazrat Isa in the following verses of surah Mariyum (19:23 to 26):

And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: she cried (in her anguish): “Ah! would that I had died before this! Would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!”(19:23)

But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-free): “Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee(19:24)

And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. (19:25)

So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man say `I have vowed a fast to (Allah) Most Gracious and this day will I enter into no talk with any human being.’ (19:26)

This story may be considered as parallel to the Christian story in which it is related that during the flight to Egypt, the babe Jesus ordered the palm in the desert to bow down to refresh Mary by its dates: where upon the palm obeyed and stayed with its head down at Mary’s feet until the child ordered to stand upright again and to open a vein between its roots in ordered to quench the thirst of the holy family. (Encyclopedia of Islam New edition by Leider E. J. Brill).

Taking The Child to Her People
The amazement of the people knew no bounds. In any case they were ready to think the worst of her, as she had disappeared from her kin for some time. But now she came, shamelessly parading a babe in her arms! How she had disgraced the house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood! It is supposed that this scene took place in the Temple in Jerusalem, or in Nazareth. Surah Mariyum (19.27,28)

At length she brought the (babe) to her people carrying him (in her arms). They said: “O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! (19:27)

“O sister of Aaron! thy father was not a man of evil nor thy mother a woman unchaste!”(19:28)

By the fountain of priesthood it was meant that Aaron the brother of Hazrat Musa (Moses) was the first in the line of Israelite priesthood. Mary and her cousin Elisabeth (mother of Yahya) came of a priestly family, and were therefore, “sisters of Aaron” or daughters of ‘Imran (who was Aaron’s father). See n. 375 to iii. 35. Mary is reminded of her high lineage and the unexceptionable morals of her father and mother. How, they said, she had fallen, and disgraced the name of her progenitors! The Holy Qur’an relates as to what happened afterwards in the following verses of (Surah Mariyum 19:29 to 34):

But she pointed to the babe. They said: “How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?” (19:29)

He said: “I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; (19:30)

And He hath made me Blessed where so ever I be and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live. (19:31)

(He) hath made me kind to my mother and not overbearing or miserable;(19:32)

So Peace is on me the day I was born the day that I die and the Day that I shall be raised up to life (again)! (19:33)

Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth about which they (vainly) dispute. (19:34)

Religious Importance of Hazrat Mariyum
The Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, venerated by Christians since apostolic times. Islam also venerates her as the sinless virgin Mariyum. The Gospels give only a fragmentary account of Mary, mentioning her chiefly in connection with the beginning and the end of Jesus’ life. Matthew speaks of Mary as Joseph’s wife, who is “with child of the Holy Spirit” before they “came together” as husband and wife (see Matthew 1:18). In Christianity there is a belief that Mariyum was considered as a third deity, or a divine person: and that she and her son were venerated together as gods. But the Quran reflects the following in Surah Al-Maida (5:75.)

Christ the son of Mary was no more than an Apostle; many were the Apostles that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth makes His Signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth! (5:75)

This verse refutes any veneration of Jesus and his mother as divine persons, elevated above human needs. This is further emphasized and made clear in Surah An Nissa (4:171)

O people of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an Apostle of Allah and His Word which He bestowed on Mary and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Apostles. Say not “Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One Allah: glory be to him: (for Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. (4:171)

Just as a foolish servant may go wrong by excess of zeal for his master, so in religion people’s excesses may lead them to blasphemy or a spirit the very opposite of religion. The Jewish excesses in the direction of formalism, racialism, exclusiveness, and rejection of Christ Jesus have been denounced in many places. Here the Christian attitude is condemned, which raises Jesus to an equality with Allah: in some cases venerates Mary almost to idolatry: attributes a physical son to Allah: and invents the doctrine of the Trinity, opposed to all reason, which according to the Athanasian Creed, unless a man believes, he is doomed to hell for ever. Let our Muslims also beware lest they fall into excesses either in doctrine or in formalism.

Christ’s attributes are mentioned:
(1) That he was the son of a woman, Mary, and therefore a man;
(2) But a messenger, a man with a mission from Allah, and therefore
entitled to honour;
(3) A Word bestowed on Mary, for he was created by Allah’s word “Be” (kun),
and he was: (3:59)
(4) A spirit proceeding from Allah, but not Allah: his life and his mission were
more limited than in the case of some other Messengers, though we must pay
equal honour to him as a Prophet of Allah.

The doctrines of Trinity, equality with Allah, and son ship, are repudiated as blasphemies. Allah is independent of all needs and has no need of a son to manage His affairs. The Gospel of John (whoever wrote it) has put in a great deal of Alexandrian and Gnostic mysticism round the doctrine of the Word (Greek, Logos), but it is simply explained here.

Joining The Life Hereafter
After Hazrat Isa’s alleged death he consoled his mother from heaven. According to Christian calendar Mariyum died in 48 AC.

End Notes
1 Al Masudi and Al Tabari.