Chapter Three : Mother And Son

Mary Honored

The birth of Jesus Christ is described in two places of the Quran -chapter 3 and chapter 19. Reading from the beginning of his birth, wecomeacross the story of Mary, and the esteemed position which she occupiesin the House of Islam, before the actual annunciation of the birth ofJesusis given:

“‘Behold’! the angels said: ‘O Mary! God hath chosen thee andpurifiedthee, and chosen thee above the women of all nations” (3:42)

“Chosen thee above the women of all nations.” Such an honoris not to be found given to Mary even in the Christian Bible! The versecontinues:

“O Mary! Worship thy Lord devoutly: prostrate thyself, and bowdown (in prayer) with those who bow down.” (3:43)

Divine Revelation

What is the source of this beautiful and sublime recitation which,inits original Arabic, moves men to ecstasy and tears? verse 44 belowexplains:

“This is part of the tidings, of the things unseen, which We revealunto thee (O Muhammad!) by inspiration: Thou wast not with them whentheycast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with thecareof Mary: nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point).”(3:44)

Mary’s Birth

The story is that the maternal grandmother of Jesus, Hannah, hadhithertobeen barren. She poured out her heart to God: If only God will granthera child, she would surely dedicate such a child for the service of Godin the temple.

God granted her prayer and Mary was born. Hannah was disappointed.Shewas yearning for a son, but instead she delivered a daughter; and in noway is the female like the male, for what she had in mind. What was sheto do? She had made a vow to God. She waited for Mary to be big enoughto fend for herself.

When the time came, Hannah took her darling daughter to the temple,to hand over for temple services. Every priest wanted to be thegod-fatherof this child. They cast lots with arrows for her – like the tossing ofthe coin – head or tail? eventually she fell to the lot of Zakariya, but not without a dispute.

The Source of His Message

This was the story. But where did Muhammed, salla Allah u alihiwasallam, get this knowledge from? He was an Ummi, Arabic for”unlettered”. He did not low how to read or write. He is madeby God Almighty to answer this very question in the verse above, bysayingthat it was all by divine inspiration. “No!”, says thecontroversialist. “This is Muhammed’s own concoction. He copied hisrevelations from the Jews and Christians. He plagiarized it. He forgedit.”

Knowing full-well, and believing as we do, that the whole Quran istheveritable Word of God, we will nevertheless agree, for the sake ofargument,with the enemies of Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam,fora moment, that he wrote it. We can now expect some cooperation from theunbelievers.

Ask him: “Have you any qualms in agreeing that Muhammed was anArab?” Only an ignorant will hesitate to agree. In that case thereis no sense in pursuing any discussion. Cut short the talk. Close thebook!

With the man of reason, we proceed. “That this Arab, in the firstinstance, was addressing other Arabs. He was not talking to IndianMuslims,Chinese Muslims, or Nigerian Muslims. He was addressing his own people,the Arabs. Whether they agreed with him or not, he told them in themostsublime form, words that were seared into the hearts and minds of hislistenersthat Mary the mother of Jesus, a Jewess, was chosen above thewomenof all nations. Not his own mother, nor his wife nor his daughter, norany other Arab woman, but a Jewess! Can one explain this? Because toeveryonehis own mother or wife, or daughters would come before other women.

Why would the prophet of Islam honor a woman from his opposition!anda Jewess at that! belonging to a race which had been looking down uponhis people for three thousand years? Just as they still look down upontheir Arab brethren today.”

Sarah and Hagar

The Jews learn, from the Bible, that their father, Abraham, had twowives Sarah and Hagar. They say that they are the children of AbrahamthroughSarah his legitimate wife; that their Arab brethren have descendedthroughHagar, a “bondwoman”, and that as such, the Arabs are an inferiorbreed.

Will anyone please explain the anomaly as to why Muhammed, sallaAllah u alihi wa sallam, if he is the author, chose this Jewess forsuch high honor? The answer is simple, he had no choice he hadnoright to speak of his own desire. “It is no less than aninspirationsent down to him.” (53:4)

The Chapter of Maryam

There is a Chapter in the Holy Quran, named Surat u Maryam”ChapterMary”, named in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, peace andblessings of Allah be upon him; again, such an honor is not to be foundgiven to Mary in the Christian Bible. Out of the 66 books of theProtestantsand 73 of the Roman Catholics, not one is named after Mary or her son.You will find books named after Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Pauland two score more obscure names, but not a single one is that of Mary!

If Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, was the authorofthe Holy Quran, then he would not have failed to include in it withMary,the mother of Jesus, his own mother Aamina, his dear wife Khadija, orhisbeloved daughter Fatima. But No! No! This can never be. The Quran isnothis handiwork!.