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Mary, Sister of Aaron: Difference between revisions
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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. | 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 | Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it seems possible that Muhammad, based on the Christian stories he heard,<ref>For example from Waraqa ibn Nawfal.</ref> mixed these two women into one person when he was making up the Qur'an. | ||
==Modern Scholarly Interpretations== | ==Modern Scholarly Interpretations== | ||