Stories
Mary and Jesus
Honoured in the Qur'an
7 min, Intro
Mary is the only woman named in the Qur'an, and Jesus one of its greatest prophets. The Qur'an tells of Mary's devotion and the virgin birth. Then it tells of Jesus speaking from the cradle, his miracles, and how Muslims understand his end.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Mary, dedicated to God before she was born, is told she will bear a son with no husband. She gives birth alone under a palm tree. The baby speaks from the cradle to defend her. He becomes the Messiah of the Qur'an, whose end Muslims and Christians understand very differently.
Mary, chosen above the women of the worlds
This story begins with the mother of Jesus, before she was even born. Mary (Maryam) was dedicated to God's service by her own mother. When the child came, her mother said: my Lord, I have given birth to a girl. She named her Mary, and asked God to protect her and her offspring from Satan.
Lots were cast over who would look after her. She was raised in the temple, under the care of the prophet Zechariah (Zakariyya). Whenever he came to her prayer niche, he found her provided with food, and she said: it is from God.
She is the only woman the Qur'an names, and surah 19 carries her name. The Qur'an says God chose her and purified her above the women of the worlds.
وَإِذۡ قَالَتِ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ يَٰمَرۡيَمُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصۡطَفَىٰكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَٱصۡطَفَىٰكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَآءِ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ ٤٢
42 And [remember] when the angels said, “O Mary, Allah has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you over all women.
Mary is the only woman the Qur'an names, and a surah carries her name.
Under the palm tree
Then Mary has a visitor. An angel comes to her in the form of a man. She seeks refuge in God from him. He is only a messenger from her Lord, he says, and announces a pure son. She asks how, when no man has touched her. The answer: it is easy for God.
When labour comes, she withdraws to a distant place. She clings to the trunk of a palm tree, saying she wishes she had died before this.
Then a voice tells her not to grieve. A stream flows below her, and she should shake the palm tree so ripe dates will fall. And if she sees anyone, she is to say that she has vowed silence to God, and will speak to no one that day.
So Muslims picture the birth of Jesus not in a stable but under a palm, in the desert.
فَأَجَآءَهَا ٱلۡمَخَاضُ إِلَىٰ جِذۡعِ ٱلنَّخۡلَةِ قَالَتۡ يَٰلَيۡتَنِي مِتُّ قَبۡلَ هَٰذَا وَكُنتُ نَسۡيࣱا مَّنسِيࣱّا ٢٣ فَنَادَىٰهَا مِن تَحۡتِهَآ أَلَّا تَحۡزَنِي قَدۡ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحۡتَكِ سَرِيࣱّا ٢٤ وَهُزِّيٓ إِلَيۡكِ بِجِذۡعِ ٱلنَّخۡلَةِ تُسَٰقِطۡ عَلَيۡكِ رُطَبࣱا جَنِيࣱّا ٢٥
23 The pains of labor drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, “Oh, would that I had died before this and had been completely forgotten!” 24 Then he called her from beneath her, “Do not grieve; your Lord has provided a stream beneath you. 25 Shake the trunk of the palm tree towards yourself; fresh ripe dates will drop upon you.
The Qur'an's nativity: a mother alone, comforted by God.
He spoke from the cradle
Now Mary has to face her people. When she brings the child back to them, they accuse her of a terrible thing. Her father was no man of evil, they say, and her mother was not unchaste.
She points to the baby. They ask how they can speak to an infant in a cradle.
Then Jesus speaks: "I am the servant of God. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet."
His first words in the Qur'an defend his mother, and describe himself as God's servant.
فَأَشَارَتۡ إِلَيۡهِۖ قَالُواْ كَيۡفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِي ٱلۡمَهۡدِ صَبِيࣱّا ٢٩ قَالَ إِنِّي عَبۡدُ ٱللَّهِ ءَاتَىٰنِيَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيࣱّا ٣٠
29 Thereupon she pointed to him. They said, “How can we talk to someone who is still a baby in the cradle?”
30 Jesus said, “I am a slave of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet.
Jesus's first words in the Qur'an were "I am the servant of God."
Messiah and miracle-worker
What did the child from the cradle become? The Qur'an calls Jesus ('Isa) the Messiah, a Word from God and a spirit from Him.
It describes his miracles: healing the blind and the leper, raising the dead, and shaping a bird from clay that became a living bird. Each one came "by God's permission". He also told people what they ate, and what they stored in their houses.
His disciples once asked whether his Lord could send down a table from heaven. They wanted to eat from it, they said, and to have their hearts set at rest. Jesus prayed for it.
He was sent to the Children of Israel, confirming the Torah and bringing the Gospel (Injil).
وَرَسُولًا إِلَىٰ بَنِيٓ إِسۡرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنِّي قَدۡ جِئۡتُكُم بِـَٔايَةࣲ مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ أَنِّيٓ أَخۡلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطِّينِ كَهَيۡـَٔةِ ٱلطَّيۡرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيۡرَۢا بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِۖ وَأُبۡرِئُ ٱلۡأَكۡمَهَ وَٱلۡأَبۡرَصَ وَأُحۡيِ ٱلۡمَوۡتَىٰ بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِۖ وَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا تَأۡكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِي بُيُوتِكُمۡۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَةࣱ لَّكُمۡ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤۡمِنِينَ ٤٩
49 And [will send him as] a messenger to the Children of Israel, ‘I have come to you with a sign from your Lord that I make for you from clay the figure of a bird, then breathe into it, and it will become a bird by Allah’s permission; and I heal the blind and the leper, and bring the dead to life by Allah’s permission; and I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. There is a sign in this for you, if you are believers.
In the Qur'an, every miracle of Jesus came "by God's permission".
The end, as Muslims understand it
Here Muslims and Christians part ways. The Qur'an says of those who claimed to have killed Jesus: they did not kill him, nor crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them; rather, God raised him to Himself.
Most Muslims understand this to mean Jesus did not die on the cross and was raised bodily to heaven, and that he will return before the end of time. Muslim scholars have discussed the details for centuries.
Christians believe Jesus was crucified, died and rose again, and that he is the Son of God, which the Qur'an rejects. These are among the deepest differences between the two faiths. Understanding them is the point here, not settling them.
وَقَوۡلِهِمۡ إِنَّا قَتَلۡنَا ٱلۡمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبۡنَ مَرۡيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمۡۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخۡتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ لَفِي شَكࣲّ مِّنۡهُۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنۡ عِلۡمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينَۢا ١٥٧ بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيۡهِۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمࣱا ١٥٨
157 and for their saying, “We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.” But they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear to them so. Even those who dispute it are in doubt about it; they have no certain knowledge other than conjecture. But they certainly did not kill him.
158 Rather, Allah raised him up to Himself, and Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.
A deep difference between Muslims and Christians, stated honestly on both sides.