In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The story of Maryam, daughter of ‘Imran, peace be upon her.
The stance of the Jews and the Christians regarding Maryam.
The Jews and the Christians fell into two extreme, misguided positions regarding Maryam, peace be upon her.
As for the Jews, they approached Maryam and her son according to their characteristic path of knowing the truth yet turning away from it.
This is the same path they took in killing the prophets and accusing them of grave matters.
This group of Jews, during the time of ‘Isa, peace be upon him,
witnessed the great signs indicating the purity and chastity of Maryam,
as well as the signs indicating the prophethood of ‘Isa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him.
Yet, they did not believe in them.
Instead, they accused Maryam of adultery.
And they said of ‘Isa ibn Maryam that he was a child of adultery.
That is why Allah described their stance in His Book.
“And because of their disbelief and of their speaking against Mary a tremendous calumny;” (4:156)
Ibn ‘Atiyyah al-Andalusi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Meaning their accusation of her regarding adultery.
This was despite their witnessing the miracle of ‘Isa speaking from the cradle.
For had it not been for that miracle,
they would have been applying the standard human judgment regarding a pregnancy without a father.
If the Jews dared to kill their prophets and slander their honor,
it is no surprise that they would slander the chaste and pure Maryam, peace be upon her.
This is their established way of dealing with the allies of Allah.
Allah the Almighty says:
“And verily We gave unto Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), and We supported him with the Holy spirit. Is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?” (2:87)
"And We gave ‘Isa ibn Maryam clear proofs,"
"and supported him with the Holy Spirit."
“And verily We gave unto Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), and We supported him with the Holy spirit. Is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?” (2:87)
“And verily We gave unto Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), and We supported him with the Holy spirit. Is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?” (2:87)
"And they said, 'Our hearts are wrapped.'"
“And they say: Our hearts are hardened. Nay, but Allah hath cursed them for their unbelief. Little is that which they believe.” (2:88)
And ‘Isa ibn Maryam was among those they sought to kill.
Allah the Almighty says:
“And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.” (4:157)
“And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.” (4:157)
“And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.” (4:157)
“And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.” (4:157)
"And they did not kill him, certainly."
"Rather, Allah raised him to Himself."
"And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise."
Indeed, they even sought to kill our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,
with a poisoned sheep.
On the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him:
A Jewish woman came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
with a poisoned sheep, and he ate from it.
She was brought to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and he questioned her about it.
She said, "I intended to kill you."
He said,
"Allah would not give you power over that."
He said,
or he said regarding it:
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
And on the authority of Abu Salamah, he said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, used to accept gifts,
but he would not eat charity.
A Jewish woman gifted him a roasted sheep in Khaybar that she had poisoned.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, ate from it,
and the people ate as well.
Then he said,
"Lift your hands,
for it has informed me that it is poisoned."
Bishr ibn al-Bara’ ibn Ma‘rur al-Ansari died from it.
He sent for the Jewish woman
and asked, "What drove you to do what you did?"
She said,
"If you are a prophet,
what I did will not harm you.
And if you are a king,
I would have rid the people of you."
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, ordered that she be executed.
Then he said during the illness from which he died,
"I still feel the effect of the food I ate at Khaybar;
this is the time my aorta is being severed."
Narrated by Abu Dawud.
The Jews are the killers of the prophets,
the callers to evil and corruption on earth.
Whoever reads their history in Europe,
and how they drove Christian women out of their homes after the World War,
and sought to corrupt and exploit them,
until the situation reached the absolute permissiveness we see today
among the Christians in all its forms.
And if this is the stance of the Jews
toward the chaste and pure Maryam, daughter of ‘Imran, peace be upon her,
then do not expect, my noble sister, from the Jews today
that they will be concerned for your purity and chastity.
If the beginning of the corruption the Jews brought about in Europe
was driving women out of their homes into the fields of labor in factories and elsewhere,
then exploiting them in the vilest ways,
until they cast them into the streets, lost and wandering,
knowing no path to purity,
and their lives becoming no different from the lives of animals,
until their status fell to the lowest depths—
if this is what they did to the Christians,
then do not think that the calls demanding
the employment of women and their departure from their homes in Muslim societies
are righteous calls, far removed from the schemes of the Jews.
Those who killed the prophets
will not hesitate to kill others
once their interest in them has ended.
Therefore, appeasement and normalization with the Jews
never brings good to anyone.
As for the stance of the Christians toward Maryam, daughter of ‘Imran, peace be upon her,
it is the exact opposite of the stance of the Jews.
They exaggerated regarding Maryam and her son,
to the point of taking them as gods besides Allah.
Allah the Almighty says:
"And when Allah said,"
"'O ‘Isa ibn Maryam,'"
"'did you say to the people...'"
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
"'Indeed, You are the Knower of the unseen.'"
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Allah recounts that they sometimes say,
"The Messiah is the son of Allah,"
and other times they say,
"Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam."
As for His account of them saying:
“They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve.” (5:73)
The exegetes say:
"Allah, the Messiah, and his mother."
As He said:
"O ‘Isa ibn Maryam,"
"did you say to the people..."
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
That is why He said in the context of the speech:
“The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food. See how We make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!” (5:75)
"He is not but a messenger; other messengers have passed on before him."
"And his mother was a truthful woman."
Meaning, the end of the Messiah is the message,
and the end of his mother is truthfulness.
Neither of them reaches the level of divinity.
This is an argument against that,
and it is clear.
Some people claim that what is meant by that
are the three persons of the Trinity:
the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
This view is subject to scrutiny.
Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
This is also part of what Allah will address His servant and messenger ‘Isa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him, with,
saying to him on the Day of Resurrection,
in the presence of those who took him and his mother as two gods besides Allah:
"O ‘Isa ibn Maryam,"
"did you say to the people..."
“And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?” (5:116)
This is a threat to the Christians,
and a rebuke and scolding before all of creation.
As for the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him,
it has believed in what Allah described Maryam, daughter of ‘Imran, peace be upon her, with,
and has not raised her above the status that Allah defined for us,
and which His Messenger, peace be upon him, clarified.
She is a human being among humans,
whom Allah favored over the women of the worlds,
and she is among those women who attained perfection,
as the Prophet, peace be upon him, informed us about her.
My noble sister,
Allah the Almighty related stories to us in the Qur'an
so that we may reflect upon them.
He said:
"So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought."
And so that we may take a lesson from them.
He said:
“In their history verily there is a lesson for men of understanding. It is no invented story but a confirmation of the existing (Scripture) and a detailed explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for folk who believe.” (12:111)
“In their history verily there is a lesson for men of understanding. It is no invented story but a confirmation of the existing (Scripture) and a detailed explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for folk who believe.” (12:111)
"But [it is] a confirmation of what was before it."
“In their history verily there is a lesson for men of understanding. It is no invented story but a confirmation of the existing (Scripture) and a detailed explanation of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for folk who believe.” (12:111)
The story of Maryam, daughter of ‘Imran, peace be upon her, is full of lessons.
Some of which Allah has facilitated mentioning in this series,
and some of which were not mentioned.
Everyone who contemplates the story and reflects upon it
will be guided by Allah the Almighty to the lessons and wisdom it contains.
I ask Allah the Almighty to make us among those who benefited from this story
and learned from it.
And our final prayer is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
The story of Maryam, daughter of ‘Imran.