#37 Mary and Jesus for Muslims

As Christmas approaches, it is a good time to contemplate the special significance that Jesus and his blessed mother hold both in Christianity and Islam.

The Quran recounts the prayer of Mary’s mother: “My Lord! I have dedicated to You what is in my womb…, so please accept this from me, indeed, You are the all-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” Yet when she delivered a girl, she turned to her Lord: “My Lord! I have delivered a female, and Allah knows best what I have delivered, and male is not like the female, and I have named her Mary (Maryam), and commend her and her offspring to your protection….”(3:33-36)

“So her Lord accepted her with gracious acceptance, and made her grow in purity and beauty and entrusted her to the care of Zakariya.”(3:37)

Mary was raised in the temple, spending her days in devotion, hearing the voices of angels, who said: “O Mary! Allah has chosen you and purified you, chosen you above the women of the worlds. O Mary! Pray to your Lord devoutly, and prostrate yourself, and bow down with those who bow down.”(3:42-43)

One day, Angel Gabriel approached her in the form of a man: “O Mary! Allah gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name is the Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and in the Hereafter, and of those nearest to Allah. He shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of age, and he shall be from the righteous.”

She replied: “My Lord! How can I have a son when no man has touched me?” The angel said: “Even so, Allah creates what He pleases. When He decrees a matter, He says to is: Be,–‎and it is. And He will teach him the Book and the wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel.” (3:45-48)

As God made Adam without any parent, and made Eve from a male without a female, He made Jesus from a female without a male.

After Jesus’ birth, the people were amazed and questioned his mother. She pointed to the newborn child, who spoke in her arms: “I am indeed a servant of God. He has given me revelation and made me a Prophet, and He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined upon me prayers, and to pay the alms, as long as I live…” (19:30-31)

In the Quran, Jesus speaks as one who came as a Messenger to the Children of Israel: “…I heal those born blind and the lepers and I quicken the dead by God’s Permission, and I inform you of what you store up in your houses. Surely, in this is a sign for you if you are believers. And confirming that which is before me of the Torah, and to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from you Lord, so fear God and obey me. Indeed, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him, this is the Straight Path.” (3:49-51)

Prophet Muhammad, referring to Jesus, said: “Prophets are like brothers with different mothers, their religion is one, but their mothers are different.” Although Muslims follow a different religion than Christians, they have revered Mary for over fourteen hundred years are the most blest woman of creation, and love of Mary and Jesus–‎may God’s peace and blessing shower on them both–‎remains forever in their heart.