Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an
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Mary (Miriam) the sister of Aaron (and of Moses), is mentioned in the Quran, in passing, in reference to Mary (Mariam) the mother of Jesus.[1] Many critics of the Quran as far back as Muhammad's time regard this as a simple but revealing error.[2] In Arabic both Marys are called by the same name مريم (Maryam). Skeptical Jewish and Christian scholars at the time believed Muhammad had mistook Jesus' mother for Moses' sister.[2] While they share a common name, they lived more than a thousand years apart. When confronted, in the hadith Muhammad explains that their perception is a misunderstanding, however, many remained unconvinced.[2] Ultimately, it seems, Muhammad came to assert that Aaron and Moses had a sister whose name was Kulthum rather than Miriam, though this too seemed to many a poor cover-up.[3][4][5]
Mention of Mary in the Quran
Qur'an
Mary, the mother of Jesus is called sister of Aaron in sura 19:
(19:28) O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.
Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?
He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,
And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,
And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.
Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!
Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.
The Qur'an also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus.
And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.
And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.
Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.
And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.
He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.
He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.
And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.
O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).
This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).
(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).
He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.
She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
The Quran mentions prominent families:
Relevants Quotations
And when she was delivered she said: My Lord! Lo! I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and lo! I have named her Mary, and lo! I crave Thy protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.
And her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Allah giveth without stint to whom He will.
Then Zachariah prayed unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Bestow upon me of Thy bounty goodly offspring. Lo! Thou art the Hearer of Prayer.
And the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: Allah giveth thee glad tidings of (a son whose name is) John, (who cometh) to confirm a word from Allah lordly, chaste, a prophet of the righteous.
He said: My Lord! How can I have a son when age hath overtaken me already and my wife is barren? (The angel) answered: So (it will be). Allah doeth what He will.
He said: My Lord! Appoint a token for me. (The angel) said: The token unto thee (shall be) that thou shalt not speak unto mankind three days except by signs. Remember thy Lord much, and praise (Him) in the early hours of night and morning.
And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.
O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).
This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).
(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah).
He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous.
She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.
Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the daughter of Joachim and she was from the family of David (not Aaron):
Apologetic Arguments
Ibn Kathir gave the following explanation in his tafsir:
That he mentioned two alternative explanations suggests he was unsure regarding the certainty of either of them
"Sister of Aaron means a descendant of Aaron"
The Qur'an says "sister (أُخْتَ) of Aaron" and people understood the verse to literally mean "sister of Aaron". Only when Muhammad came to know that it was wrong, the meaning changed into "a descendant of Aaron". In the Christian sources she is said to be from the family of David, so many wondered why the Qur'an would describe her as being from the family of Aaron? Some point out that in Luke 1:5, Elizabeth is said to be a descendant of Aaron and in Luke 1:36 Mary is said to be a cousin or relative of Mary [7]. But, as it stands, being related to a descendant doesn't guarantee one's own descendancy from the same ancestor (Aaron in this case).
Furthermore, if she was a known descendant of Aaron, then one wonders why the learned Arab Christians (and Aisha and Mughira b. Shu'ba) of Muhammad's time were unaware of this.
The additional description of her as the "daughter of Amram (Imran)" in Surahs 3 and 66 appears to make the matter even foggier and more clearly problematic.
"Mary coincidentally had a father called Imran and a brother called Aaron"
Christian sources say her father was named Joachim and they don't mention she had a brother called Aaron. And if she had a brother called Aaron, then the question still is, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If her brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is more probable that the author of the Qur'an thought that she really is the sister of Aaron and Moses and so in the Qur'an people called her "sister of Aaron" to emphasize her social status.
In other words, the people asked "How can you have a baby without a husband, when you are from such a moral family".
Moses' Father
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter mem (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter meem (م) at the end:
أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ
The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam.
In Islam he is called Imran (عمران). Although English translation chose to translate it as Amram:
The Genealogy of Moses b. Amram
the Arabic original has the letter nun (ن) at the end:
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text.
When Christians criticized the verse which calls Mary "sister of Aaron" in the Quran, Muhammad's response was that "people were named after pious persons who lived before them". Islamic scholars concluded that Mary was either called "sister of Aaron" because she was his descendant or she had a brother coincidentally called Aaron. Both these solutions seem to be inventions, because Mary was not known to be a descendant of Aaron and she was not known to have a brother called "Aaron". On the other hand Miriam was well-known to be a sister of Aaron.
Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems probable, that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,[9] mixed these two women into one person, when he was making up the Qur'an.
See Also
- Imran in Islam
- Contradictions and Errors - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Contradictions and Errors
- Scientific Errors in the Quran
- Contradictions in the Quran
Translations
- A version of this page is also available in the following languages: Czech. For additional languages, see the sidebar on the left.
References
- ↑ Quran 19:27-34
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mughira b. Shu'ba reported: When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them. Sahih Muslim 28:13
- ↑ Quran 19:27-28.
- ↑ Sahih Muslim 25:5326.
- ↑ Majlisi, Hayat al-Qulub 2:26.
- ↑ http://quran.al-islam.com/Page.aspx?pageid=221&BookID=11&Page=1
- ↑ https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1
- ↑ https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383
- ↑ For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.