Mary the Mother of Jesus in the Quran.

Mary in the Quran

The Quran (and Muhammad) confuses Maryam, the Mother of the Lord Jesus, with Miriam (same Hebrew name of Maryam) the sister of Aaron and Moses. The Quran pretends to be the Last Revelation from God (Allah) that confirms the previous Scriptures (Read Surah 3:3) and also challenge the Kafir (Infidels) كفار to read the Quran and see by ourselves that the Quran is a miracle (the only miracle attributed to Muhammad) and that the only way this Quran could exist is if it really came from the Almighty God.  I accepted the challenge and I´ve spent many hours studying and I’ve immersed myself in Islamic literature, Quran and the Sunnah of the prophet of Islam. Next I will address for you one of the few “issues” that I found on the Quran, that needs to be revised and explained, which is the case of Mary the mother of the Lord Jesus in the Quran.

Let us begin by reading the same text we´re testing, the Quran, to see what it has to say about it. We read in Surat Ali-Imram 3:35-36

• 3:35 “[Mention, O Muhammad], when the wife of 'Imran said, "My Lord, indeed I have pledged to you what is in my womb, consecrated [for your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, you are the Hearing, the Knowing.

• (36) “But when she delivered her, she said, "My Lord, I have delivered a female." And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, "And the male is not like the female. And I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in you and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah]."

The Quran says Mary was born from Imram and his wife (V.35), it is very clear that this states that Mary is the daughter of Imram, which will make Mary “Maryam Ibnta Imram” (Maryam Daughter of Imram). But is this ayyat (v.) referring to Maryam the mother of Jesus, or it is referring to Miriam the sister of Aaron (Harun) and Moses (Mosa), the daughter of Imram? As the Bible says in the Torah:

• Num. 26:59  "The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister.

وَاسْمُ امْرَأَةِ عَمْرَامَ يُوكَابَدُ بِنْتُ لاوِي التِي وُلِدَتْ لِلاوِي فِي مِصْرَ. فَوَلدَتْ لِعَمْرَامَ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمَ أُخْتَهُمَا

The Bible gives even more information and tells us the [real] name of Imram´s wife, the father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. We have to keep in mind that the Miriam the Bible is referring to lived 1400 years before Maryam the mother of Jesus, but the Quran says that she “Om Yaso3 (Eesa´)” [Jesus ‘Mother] was actually the daughter of Imram, the father of Moses and Aaron as well.

 Muslims can say that this ayyat (Verse) is not referring to Maryam the mother of Jesus, but the real daughter of Imram, Miriam. If that’s the case, we can let the Quran to talks by itself and tell us who this Mary really is, we continue reading the next ayyat, Ali-Imram 3:37 say:

• 3:37 “So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, "O Mary, from where is this [coming] to you?" She said, "It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account."

The above ayyat shows us by reading in the context, that when Maryam grew, Allah put her in care of Zakariyya (Zechariah). If we are following the text, we will agree that the Zakariyya that this ayyat is talking about, is indeed the Father of John (The Baptist) also here is a mistake, because what Allah is saying here is that they were contemporaries, this is a terrible mistake, and also proves us that the Quran confuse Mary with Miriam, because Zakariyya (Zechariah) was a contemporary of Jesus and Mary, and this leads to a huge error.



Muslims cannot say that this Zakariyya is not the one who lived in time of Jesus and Mary, because describes very clear to us the biblical character of Zakariyya the father of Yochanan (John), and the next ayyat agrees:

• 3:39 “So the angel called him while he was standing in prayer in the chamber, "Indeed, Allah gives you good tidings of John, confirming a word from Allah and [who will be] honorable, abstaining [from women], and a prophet from among the righteous."

Now, this is getting interesting, because the Quran tell us that Maryam the daughter of Imram, grew and that a man named Zakariyya took care of her, and even we can know who this Zakariyya was, because in verse 39, it says that Allah (by the angel Jibril) promised him that he will have a son, and also called him Yahya (John) which is a clear identification of Zechariah and John (the Baptist) and both were contemporaries of Jesus and Maryam.  So Muslims have to believe that Maryam Ibnta Imram, is indeed the Mother of Jesus!, which cause the Quran to be in a terrible conflict, an historical error. 

I do not want us to get lost in the process of analyzing the text of the Quran, so let us pay attention to the points that are been presented in this article.

Now, this is a clear mistake in the Quran, and these claims provoke the Muslims to interpret (Tafsir) what the Quran is really saying, to try to explain why is this apparent error in a book which Muhammad and Muslims claimed to be “Inspired by Allah” which is free of errors and any mistake.

But let us keep reading what else the Quran have to say about it, in Surat 19:27-28 it reads:

• S. 19:27-28 “Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, 'Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing! Sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a woman unchaste.”

These are other ayyat where Mary is mentioned, we already proved that the Mary in Surat 3:35 it is Maryam the mother of the Lord Jesus, and here we find Mary again, and in this verse the Quran referred to her as “Sister of Aaron”. Now, things are getting really interesting while we read the text of the Quran, now the question that raises in our mind is: ¿Why does the Quran refers to Mary as the Sister of Aaron?, For many years, Muslims who are been confronted with this “issue”, including Muhammad, [they] were confronted by this historical and bizarre error that the Quran contains, and they also provided us with an interpretation, explaining this matter. For example, when one of Muhammad companions was confronted by a group of Jews at Najran, the Sunnah [of Muhammad] recorded:

Narrated Al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah:

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent me to Najran. They said to me: 'Do you people not recite: O sister of Harun (19:28) - while between Musa and 'Eisa there is such (gap) as there is?' I did not know how to respond to them. So when I returned to the Prophet (ﷺ), I told him about that, and he said: 'Why didn't you tell them that they were named after their Prophets and righteous people before them.’?”

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو سَعِيدٍ الأَشَجُّ، وَأَبُو مُوسَى مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ إِدْرِيسَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ وَائِلٍ، عَنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ بْنِ شُعْبَةَ، قَالَ بَعَثَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِلَى نَجْرَانَ فَقَالُوا لِي أَلَسْتُمْ تَقْرَءُونَ ‏:‏ ‏(‏ يَا أُخْتَ هَارُونَ ‏)‏ وَقَدْ كَانَ بَيْنَ عِيسَى وَمُوسَى مَا كَانَ فَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا أُجِيبُهُمْ ‏.‏ فَرَجَعْتُ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَخْبَرْتُهُ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ أَلاَّ أَخْبَرْتَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُسَمُّونَ بِأَنْبِيَائِهِمْ وَالصَّالِحِينَ قَبْلَهُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ حَدِيثِ ابْنِ إِدْرِيسَ ‏.‏

When Al Mughirah bin Su´bah was confronted with the reality that there is a gap of more than 1400 years between Moses and Jesus, he couldn’t gave an explanation for the Jews of Najran, and they were knowing very well about it. What we know so far, is that the Muslims of the first years when Muhammad established Islam were very sure that Mary was the sister of Aaron, and they understood what Muhammad taught to them, but after they were told that this is an error, Muhammad tried to explain by saying that people “were named after their prophets, and righteous people before them” that means that Muhammad want us to believe that the Quran make reference to Mary as sister of Harun but not in a literal way, but symbolic, some others say that when the Quran says that Mary is the sister of Aaron, is because Mary was a descendant of Aaron and even they give examples from the Bible to prove their claims, they claim that as Jesus is called in the Scriptures “Son of David” in the same way the Quran called Mary “Sister of Aaron” but even if Muslims use this argument, it does not change anything, because that is totally wrong, Mary is not a descendant of Aaron (the tribe of Levi) yet many Sheiks use this argument without realizing what they´re saying and the problem that this claim implies for them.

Another question emerges: When Muhammad received the “revelation” of Surat Maryam 19:27-28, why he did not explain for them that the “sister” title is not literal, but an idiom (figurative meaning)? Few Muslims have tried hardly, and have sought to refute the assertion that the Quran is mistaken, but I want to do something here, I want to quote the most trusted Muslims commentators, one of them is Ibn kathir, a Sunni Muslim, and I will use his words to support my assertion that the first Muslims, Muhammad´s companions thought that Maryam, Jesus’ mother, was in fact the literal sister of Aaron and Moses, and that Moses and Aaron were Jesus’ uncles!, and not only his companions but Aisha, Muhammad´s wife!, narrated by Ibn Kathir:

وَقَالَ اِبْن جَرِير حَدَّثَنِي يَعْقُوب حَدَّثَنَا اِبْن عُلَيَّة عَنْ سَعِيد بْن أَبِي صَدَقَة عَنْ مُحَمَّد بْن سِيرِينَ قَالَ أُنْبِئْت أَنَّ كَعْبًا قَالَ إِنَّ قَوْله : " يَا أُخْت هَارُون " لَيْسَ بِهَارُون أَخِي مُوسَى قَالَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ عَائِشَة كَذَبْت قَالَ يَا أُمّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِنْ كَانَ النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَهُ فَهُوَ أَعْلَم وَأَخْبَر وَإِلَّا فَإِنِّي أَجِد بَيْنهمَا سِتّمِائَةِ سَنَة قَالَ فَسَكَتَتْ وَفِي هَذَا التَّارِيخ نَظَر

Ø  It was narrated from Ibn Jarir, narrated from Yaqub, narrated from Ibn U’laya, narrated from Sa’id Ibn Abi Sadaqa, narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sireen who stated that he was told that Ka’b said the verse that reads, "O sister of Harun (Aaron)!" (Of Surah 19:28) does not refer to Aaron the brother of Moses. Aisha replied to Ka’b, "You have lied. “Ka’b responded, "O Mother of the believers! If the prophet, may Allah’s prayers be upon him, has said it, and he is more knowledgeable, then this is what he related. Besides, I find the difference in time between them (Jesus and Moses) to be 600 years." He said that she remained silent.

Now, one of the arguments that Muslims have, is that the description Aaron as the brother of Mary is not the brother of Moses, but another man who lived in the time of Mary, we can find that argument in the footnote of the Quran published by Darussalam, in page 551, Surah Maryam 19:28

^[1]“[2] (V.19:28) This Harún (Aaron) is not the brother of Müsá (Moses) but he was another pious man at the time of Maryam (Mary)”  

Let me sum up all the evidences, so far, we saw that due to this big error in the Quran, Muslims are forced to give an interpretation, some Muslims say that the title Sister of Aaron is in a figurative meaning, others say that Aaron in the Quran, is referring to another pious man who also is named Aaron, some says that “Daughter of Imram” is referring to another Imram, not the father of Moses and Aaron, but to the father of Mary, who also was named Imram, this argument is hold by a Muslim (Mr. Yahya Snow) who also have an article on this topic, he said in his post about this, quote:

^[2]“ However, the critics [Christians]miss the fact that the name of Mary’s father was in fact Imran thus the Islamic sources do not support their claim as the Islamic sources are completely correct and accurate to call Mary the daughter of Imran as she was the daughter of Imran!

It just so happens that BOTH Aaron and Mary had fathers named “Imran” but Muhammed pointed out that the two were not the same person in his explanation of Surah 19:28 [1] so it would be unscholarly to ignore Muhammad’s explanation in favour of convoluted conjecture.” [] added by me.

Mr. Yahya Snow says that the name of Mary´s father was also Imram, but there is no evidence to prove this, but just mere conjectures [conjecture is an assertion that is likely to be true but has not been formally proven].

Anybody who read Muslims explanations, including Muhammad´s, any unbiased reader will realize how Muhammad tried to cover his gross error and how Muslims until today try hardly to give an explanation, but they´ve failed. It is obvious that Muslims have to say that Imram the Father of Maryam narrated in the Quran is not the father of Moses and Aaron, but another pious man, even though the Quran refers to him as one of Allah´s favorite people:

3:33 “Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds “

Now think on this, why if the Quran refers to Imram and his family, and even points to Adam, Nuh (Noah) and the family of Abraham as important people, Imram together with Adam and Abraham, but Muhammad had to say that this Imram is not the father of Aaron and Moses, how could this be? Is not clear that the Quran is referring indeed for the Imram who was father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam? Is there any other record that points to another “pious” man, as Muhammad used to say? Why Muslims can´t see how their leaders and teachers have to even contradict the Quran, and not only their leaders but Muhammad the prophet of Islam, contradicted himself and his book!, how can Muslims say that the Quran is the Last Revelation of God, and that this book is Miraculous, and even challenge us to prove it wrong. Well, it didn’t take me so much time to realize that Muhammad was lying for people.

Other issue we have to address is the Muslim´s argument about “Sister of Aaron”, Muslims came up with a explanation, not having success at all, but anyway, lets see what they have to say about it. Muslims came up by using Muhammad´s argument on “people were named after their Prophets and righteous people before them” they apply Muhammad´s argument to the Bible, appealing to the Biblical records to make acceptable the argument of Muhammad, so the result is that we have Muslims pointing to the example of Jesus who was called the “Son of David” among others examples, I will quote Yahya Snow as an example:


^[3]“In the Bible, Jesus is described as the son of David, David had certainly lived/died before Jesus yet Jesus is described as the son of David in the BIBLE, thus proving the use of such names (i.e. Muhammed is proven to be correct by the Bible). “

Mr. Yahya, accuses us the critics [Christians Missionaries], to be ignorant of the Bible (May I laugh for that), and he said that the Bible proves Muhammad´s argument to be true, and made use of “Son of David” in such pathetic way, and yes, Jesus is called the “Son of David” that was a Messianic title long ago Jesus was born, and yes, David lived and died before Jesus is described as the son of David, but there is a huge difference between the Quran calling Mary sister of Aaron, and the Bible using the term Son of David, Muhammad said that Sister of Aaron was a figure of speech, not literally, and Yahya says the Bible also use this idiom, but the reality is that Jesus is called the son of David, because he is a descendant of the royal family of David!, as Mary also was Daughter of David, because she came from the family of David, but why would the people in past, more specific, at Mary´s time, why would they called her “Sister of Aaron” instead of “Daughter of David”? here is Yahya´s example #1:

Ø  ^[4]Example 1

Bible shows the “daughter of Aaron” was used as an idiom to describe Elizabeth, though Elizabeth was not the literal daughter of Aaron:

“…he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth." [Luke 1:5, RSV]

  كَانَ فِي أَيَّامِ هِيرُودُسَ مَلِكِ الْيَهُودِيَّةِ كَاهِنٌ اسْمُهُ زَكَرِيَّا مِنْ فِرْقَةِ أَبِيَّا وَامْرَأَتُهُ مِنْ بَنَاتِ هَارُونَ وَاسْمُهَا أَلِيصَابَاتُ.

Another example, again from Yahya Snow´s blog, quote:

Ø  ^[5]Example 2

Jesus is described as the son of David despite not being his literal son!

“And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!...[Matthew 21:9 RSV]”

 وَالْجُمُوعُ الَّذِينَ تَقَدَّمُوا وَالَّذِينَ تَبِعُوا كَانُوا يَصْرَخُونَ: «أُوصَنَّا لاِبْنِ دَاوُدَ! مُبَارَكٌ الآتِي بِاسْمِ الرَّبِّ! أُوصَنَّا فِي الأَعَالِي!»

Another one, this time came from the Quran:

Ø  ^[6]Example 3

The Quran also shows the use of such idioms as the past Prophet Hud is described as the brother of the people of A’ad (to whom he was sent)

And unto (the tribe of) A'ad (We sent) their brother, Hud… [Qur'an 7:65]

Now let me analyze this arguments, the first argument is that Elizabeth, John´s mother (Yahya), the wife of Imram, is called in the Gospel of Luke “Daughter of Aaron” and that is true, the reason why she is called that way, maybe is because she in fact is descendant of the house of Aaron!, and as I said before, Jesus also is called “Son of David”, if Muslims could just look at Jesus’ Genealogy found in Matthew 1:1, they would realize that Jesus was a descendant of David, from the family of David, also Mr. Yahya gives us a reference from the Quran, where is use the idiom “brother” , but it is used the word “the tribe” to explain that people were called daughter when they came from the same tribe, in the case of Mary sister of Aaron, that is also wrong, because she was not a Levite, but a Jew from the tribe of Judah, the same tribe David came from, and that is what we are talking about, Jesus is Son of David (but yet Greater than David! I will address this in another post) and if we pay attention, none of the examples above, make reference to “Elizabeth sister of Aaron” but “Daughter”, Jesus was not “Brother of David” but “Son” but Mary in the Quran is called “sister of Aaron” Not daughter, even with this arguments, the Quran is still mistaken.

Finally, I want to appeal to the common sense of the Muslims who will read this article, Muslims often accused us to believe in nonsenses, to believe lies, and of having any argument to support Christianity, the fact is that our Muslims friends are those who can´t prove the Quran to be reliable, and they are who believe in inconsistencies and errors, and hold the inconsistent teachings of Muhammad, I would like to ask to my Muslims friends, please read the evidences presented in this post, open your heart and your mind, and May the Lord shine in your hearts, and the Spirit of God may come to reveal the truth to each one of you, Amen.

References:

[1]The Noble Quran translated by Dr Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Islamic University. Al Madinah Al Munawwarah . Darussalam, Page 551 on Surah Maryam 19:28.

[2]Posted by Yahya Snow:  http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.mx/2010/05/re.html

[3] Posted by Yahya Snow:  http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.mx/2010/05/re.html

[4] Posted by Yahya Snow:  http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.mx/2010/05/re.html

[5] Posted by Yahya Snow:  http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.mx/2010/05/re.html

[6] Posted by Yahya Snow:  http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.mx/2010/05/re.html