﷽
*Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 35:*
إِذْ قَالَتِ امْرَأَتُ عِمْرَانَ رَبِّ إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِي بَطْنِي مُحَرَّرًا فَتَقَبَّلْ مِنِّي إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
(Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: "O my Lord! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services (free from all worldly work; to serve Your Place of worship), so accept this, from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing."
*COMMENTARY*
Now we begin the story of Jesus. As a prelude we have the birth of Mary and the parallel story of John the Baptist, Yahya the son of Zakariyyah. Yahya's mother Elisabeth was a cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke chapter I, verse 36), and therefore John and Jesus were cousins by blood, and there was a spiritual cousinhood in their birth and career. Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke, chapter i, verse 5), of a priestly family which went back to Aaron the of Moses and son of 'Imrān. Her husband Zakariyyah was actually a priest, and her cousin Mary was presumably also of a priestly family. By tradition Mary's mother was called Hannah (in Latin, Anna, and in English, Anne), and her father was called 'Imrān. Hannah is therefore both a descendant of the priestly house of 'Imrān and the wife of 'Imrān, - "a woman of 'Imrān" in a double sense.
Muharrar = freed from all worldly affairs and specially dedicated to Allāh's service. She expected a son, who was to be a special devotee, a miraculous son of the old age of his parents, but Allāh gave her instead a daughter. But that daughter was Mary the mother of Jesus, the chosen one among the women: Sūra Āl-'Imrān, verse 42.
﷽
*Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 36:*
فَلَمَّا وَضَعَتْهَا قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُهَا أُنثَىٰ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا وَضَعَتْ وَلَيْسَ الذَّكَرُ كَالْأُنثَىٰ وَإِنِّي سَمَّيْتُهَا مَرْيَمَ وَإِنِّي أُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
Then when she delivered her [child Maryam (Mary)], she said: "O my Lord! I have delivered a female child," - and Allah knew better what she delivered, - "And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam (Mary), and I seek refuge with You (Allah) for her and for her offspring from Shaitan (Satan), the outcast."
*COMMENTARY*
The mother of Mary expected a male child. Was she disappointed that it was a female child? No, for she had Faith, and she knew that Allāh's Plan was better than any wishes of hers. Mary was no ordinary girl: only Allāh knew what it was that her mother brought forth.
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 as a miracle-child, to be the mother of the miracle-child Jesus. She was content to seek Allāh's protection for her against all evil. There is a certain sense of pride in the girl on the part of the mother.
*Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 35:*
إِذْ قَالَتِ امْرَأَتُ عِمْرَانَ رَبِّ إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِي بَطْنِي مُحَرَّرًا فَتَقَبَّلْ مِنِّي إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
(Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: "O my Lord! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services (free from all worldly work; to serve Your Place of worship), so accept this, from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing."
*COMMENTARY*
Now we begin the story of Jesus. As a prelude we have the birth of Mary and the parallel story of John the Baptist, Yahya the son of Zakariyyah. Yahya's mother Elisabeth was a cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke chapter I, verse 36), and therefore John and Jesus were cousins by blood, and there was a spiritual cousinhood in their birth and career. Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke, chapter i, verse 5), of a priestly family which went back to Aaron the of Moses and son of 'Imrān. Her husband Zakariyyah was actually a priest, and her cousin Mary was presumably also of a priestly family. By tradition Mary's mother was called Hannah (in Latin, Anna, and in English, Anne), and her father was called 'Imrān. Hannah is therefore both a descendant of the priestly house of 'Imrān and the wife of 'Imrān, - "a woman of 'Imrān" in a double sense.
Muharrar = freed from all worldly affairs and specially dedicated to Allāh's service. She expected a son, who was to be a special devotee, a miraculous son of the old age of his parents, but Allāh gave her instead a daughter. But that daughter was Mary the mother of Jesus, the chosen one among the women: Sūra Āl-'Imrān, verse 42.
﷽
*Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 36:*
فَلَمَّا وَضَعَتْهَا قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُهَا أُنثَىٰ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا وَضَعَتْ وَلَيْسَ الذَّكَرُ كَالْأُنثَىٰ وَإِنِّي سَمَّيْتُهَا مَرْيَمَ وَإِنِّي أُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
Then when she delivered her [child Maryam (Mary)], she said: "O my Lord! I have delivered a female child," - and Allah knew better what she delivered, - "And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam (Mary), and I seek refuge with You (Allah) for her and for her offspring from Shaitan (Satan), the outcast."
*COMMENTARY*
The mother of Mary expected a male child. Was she disappointed that it was a female child? No, for she had Faith, and she knew that Allāh's Plan was better than any wishes of hers. Mary was no ordinary girl: only Allāh knew what it was that her mother brought forth.
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 as a miracle-child, to be the mother of the miracle-child Jesus. She was content to seek Allāh's protection for her against all evil. There is a certain sense of pride in the girl on the part of the mother.
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