Mary - peace be upon her - as mentioned in the Qur’an

 Praise be to God, and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of God. As for what follows,

the debate over the character of Mary - peace be upon her - is taking place between two parties and a middle of humanity. One group of people went to extremes regarding her to the point of raising her above the rank of humans, so they worshipped her instead of God - the Most High - and made her the mother of God and a source of goodness and growth. Another group went too far and accused her of heinous charges that are not befitting of a woman whom God honored and chose over the women of the worlds.

Amidst this pile of disbelief, the star of the people of truth and faith rises, who raised the banner of monotheism and servitude to God; so they placed Mary and her son - peace be upon them - in their correct position.

Talking about Mary - peace be upon her - is inseparable from talking about Jesus - peace be upon him - because whoever goes astray in his belief in Jesus - peace be upon him - is undoubtedly going astray in his belief in Mary, and vice versa. The Jews who accused Mary (peace be upon her) of adultery are the ones who tried to kill Jesus (peace be upon him) until Allah saved him from them and raised him alive to heaven. The Christians who went to extremes regarding Mary (peace be upon her) deified Jesus (peace be upon him) and worshipped him instead of Allah. The connection between them, as you can see, is strong and without a doubt.

We will not find anything more truthful than the Qur’an that tells us about these details and clearly presents to us the belief of the misguided regarding Mary and her son Jesus (peace be upon them), then refutes these false claims, while establishing the correct belief with clear and wonderful evidence that proves the belief of the believer and addresses the doubts of the disbeliever if he has a sincere desire for guidance and righteousness.

1- The story of the birth of Mary (peace be upon her):

Although this issue is not the crux of the matter of deifying Jesus (peace be upon him), the Qur’an began with it. To prove that Maryam - peace be upon her - was not just born in the womb of a mother, but her birth was completely natural as other children are born, the Qur’an narrated on the tongue of Maryam’s mother - peace be upon her - her saying: (When the wife of Imran said: “My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb, dedicated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.”) (Al Imran: 35). Here is the ascetic, worshipping woman who took a pledge upon herself to dedicate her newborn to God - the Almighty - and not to occupy him with any of the affairs of life. However, the surprise happened when this newborn was a female, and a female is not fit to devote herself to worship because of the deficiency in her religion that God created her with. God - the Almighty - said: (So when she gave birth to her, she said: “My Lord, Indeed, I have delivered a female, and Allah knows best what she has delivered. And the male is not like the female. And indeed, I have named her Mary, and indeed, I seek refuge for her and her offspring in You from Satan, the accursed. (Al Imran: 36)

2- The superiority of Mary - peace be upon her - over the women of the worlds:

The Qur’an clarified that Mary - peace be upon her - was a woman from among the human beings, and the same applies to her as applies to them exactly, except that God - the Most High - chose her and distinguished her with some advantages that made her superior to other women, including:

A- The miracles that occurred at her hands regarding food: Zakariya - who was her aunt’s husband and her teacher in the sanctuary, peace be upon him - would find summer fruits with her in the winter and vice versa, so the Qur’an recorded his astonishment at this in His saying: (Whenever Zakariya entered upon her in the sanctuary, he found with her provision. He said, “O Mary, from where did you get this?” She said, “It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills.” Without account (Al Imran: 37).

B- Guardianship and closeness to Allah: Allah - the Almighty - said: (And when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds. O Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow." (Al Imran: 42-43).

3- The story of the birth of Jesus - peace be upon him -:

The events of the story begin with the good news that Mary - peace be upon her - received from the angels, the gist of which was that Allah would bless her with a blessed child full of goodness, and they explained to her that the existence of this child would be by a word from Allah, which is the word: "Be"; Allah the Almighty said: (When the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary - distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah]”) (Al Imran: 45). However, Mary, peace be upon her, found this matter difficult to understand because of its strangeness and deviation from the norm, so she said: (My Lord, how can I have a son while no man has touched me?) (Al Imran: 47).

Then came the decisive response indicating that there was a miracle in the matter that exceeded the capabilities of humans. Then the Qur’an began to mention the details of the pregnancy with this child, which began with the appearance of Gabriel - peace be upon him - in the form of a complete human being in a place separate from the people, which was the place of her seclusion by herself to worship God - the Most High -; And He - the Almighty - said: (And mention in the Book, Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. And she took a veil apart from them. Then We sent to her Our Spirit, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man. She said, "Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, if you should be fearing God." He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you a pure boy." She said, "How can I have a boy while no one has touched me?" (A human being, and I was not unchaste.) He said, "Thus says your Lord. It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed." (Maryam: 16-21).

Then Allah - the Most High - commanded Gabriel - peace be upon him - to blow into the cavity of her chest, and the blowing traveled to her vagina, and she became pregnant with Jesus - by Allah's permission - and this pure and innocent child came out into the world to begin a new life calling to Allah, working and striving.

4- Events after birth:

It was natural in a society where immorality prevailed and vice was widespread to try to pin accusations on the righteous; In order to justify to themselves their corruption and immorality, what would they think if they found something that would help them prove the accusation against her, which is giving birth without a husband?!

The Jews, as usual, took over the responsibility for this malicious plot, and began to rebuke Mary maliciously, saying: “O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste.” (Maryam: 28). Here the divine miracle occurs at the hands of Jesus, peace be upon him. Because God Almighty would not have granted Mary, peace be upon her, such a supernatural honor without supporting it with what would clear her of the corrupt suspicion that would undermine her honor and dignity, as she had dedicated herself to worship and asceticism. The Qur’an has narrated this important exchange in His saying: “So she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a child?’ He said, ‘Indeed, I am the servant of God. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am. And He has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I live, and dutifulness to my mother. And He has not made me a sinner.’” (A tyrant, a wretched one. And peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I die and the day I am raised alive) (Maryam: 29-33).

Ibn Kathir - may Allah have mercy on him - said: “In this verse, there is proof from Jesus - peace be upon him - of servitude to Allah - the Almighty - and that he is a creation of Allah’s creation, who lives and dies, and is raised like all other creatures, but peace is due to him in these conditions, which are the most difficult for the servants.”

5- Pauses with the life of Jesus - peace be upon him -:

Jesus - peace be upon him - began his call to Allah - the Most High - which was based on the oneness of Allah and singling Him out in servitude, just like other prophets. The Qur’an mentioned examples of his conversations with the Children of Israel.

Among them: His advice to them to worship Allah - the Most High - and warning them against the consequences of polytheism and misguidance: (And the Messiah said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Indeed, whoever associates others with Allah - Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers." (Al-Ma'idah: 72).

Among them: His testimony about himself that he is a servant created by Allah; He said: (And when Allah said, “O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?’ He said, ‘Glory be to You! It is not for me to say that which I have no right to. If I had said it, You knew it. You know what is within my soul, and I do not know what is within Your soul. Indeed, You are the Knower of the unseen. I said to them nothing except what You commanded me: ‘Worship Allah, my Lord.’) And your Lord) (Al-Ma’idah: 116-117).

Among them: explaining that the miracles that God performed through Jesus - peace be upon him - are among the blessings that He bestowed upon him; He said: (When God said, “O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Holy Spirit so that you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity, and when I taught you the Book and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel, and when you created from clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My permission, then you breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission, and you healed the blind and the leper by My permission. And when you bring forth the dead by My permission (Al-Ma’idah: 110).

Then the Qur’an clearly stated the glad tidings of Jesus (peace be upon him) about Muhammad (peace be upon him) in His statement: “And when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, ‘O Children of Israel, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you, confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name will be Ahmad’” (Al-Saff: 6).

Then the life of Jesus (peace be upon him) on earth ended with the Jews’ conspiracy against him. So that they could kill him out of their arrogance and boldness towards the prophets of Allah, but Allah disappointed their hopes, and saved His servant Jesus - peace be upon him - from being killed, and raised him up to Him in the heavens, so He - the Almighty - said: (And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them as if they did) (An-Nisa: 157).

So here you are, my beloved brother: The story of Jesus and Mary - peace be upon them - has been made clear to you from the beginning; both of them are human beings who are servants of Allah - the Almighty - and neither of them called for the worship of themselves instead of Allah. Rather, the Qur’an stated in more than one place that whoever believes in them other than what the Qur’an mentioned is a disbeliever; Allah the Almighty said: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary’” (Al-Ma’idah: 72). He also said: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who say, ‘Allah is the third of three’” (Al-Ma’idah: 73).