Mary, Sister of Aaron: Difference between revisions

Apologetic explanations focus on why Mary was called the sister of Aaron. But not much is said about why she was called the daughter of Imran since that the solution to this issue is straightforward from an Islamic perspective: The bible is a corrupted book and not everything in it is true. So when the Quran says that Mary’s father’s name is Imran then that is his true name despite what the bible or Christian sources says. The works of Muslim historians clearly show that they consider Imran, the father of Mary, to be a different person than Imran the father of Aaron and Moses. The earliest mention of Mary’s lineage and Aaron’s linage in Islamic sources goes back to Ibn Ishaq (d.768 AD) who says that Mary is the daughter of Imran the son of yashhim. While he says that the father of Moses and Aaron was Imran the son of Yashar.{{Quote|1=[https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383 History of Al-Tabari, vol1. p.358]<BR>تاريخ الطبري، دار التراث، ج1 ص385|2=فولدت له يصهر بن قاهث فتزوج يصهر شميث ابنه بناديت بن بركيا ابن يقسان بن إبراهيم فولدت له ‌عمران بن يصهر، وقارون بن يصهر، فنكح ‌عمران يحيب ابنة شمويل بن بركيا بن يقسان بن إبراهيم فولدت له هارون بن ‌عمران ‌وموسى بن ‌عمران}}

This Islamic take on Mary’s father hugely undermines the apologetic attempts trying to explain why she was called the sister of Aaron because of a big assumption being made: that the Christian sources mistook the name of Mary’s father. Futhermore it presupposes that out of sheer coincidence, Mary’s father’s name is the same as the name of the father of Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron.

The apparent error in calling Mary a sister of Aaron was noticed very early on that there’s a Hadith attributed to Muhammad explaining this error. This Hadith is most likely a fabrication by early Muslims to resolve the error. The Hadith says as recorded in Sahih Muslim:{{Quote|{{Muslim|25|5326}}| Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:

This authentic Hadith disproves the opinions that say Mary is Aaron’s sister or that she was a descendant of Aaron. And since that the Aaron mentioned in the verse isn’t Aaron the brother of Moses, some scholars say that Mary had a brother called Aaron, and others say that Aaron mentioned in the verse was a man from her tribe who was known for being a righteous man. Which means that “sister of Aaron” means she’s as righteous as him. When two things are similar, it’s a known metaphorical style in the Quran and Arabic to call one of them a brother (or a sister) of the other.}}

Christian sources say Mary’s 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 arises, why is she called "sister of Aaron"? If this brother is so important that he had to be mentioned with her name, why don't we hear more about him? It is much 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.

This explanation is also too convenient and too forced as it includes the following assumptions:

Plus, the questions also arises, "where did 'Aaron the righteous man' come from?" There’s no mention of him whatsoever in the Quran and is only introduced (supposedly) in this verse. He’s only mentioned in Islamic interpretations of this verse. Since the Qur'an arose many centuries after Jesus lived, the introduction of such a character into the story when it is lacking in the original Christian texts would seem to be no more than an apologetic explanation.

 

 

It should be noted that if “sister of Aaron” has room for metaphorical interpretations, then the kinship link between Mary and Imran has no room for that since that the Quran not only states that Mary is the daughter of Imran, but it also states that Mary’s mother is the woman of Imran. This disproves A. J. Wensinck’s claim in the Encyclopaedia Of Islam that “It is not necessary to assume that these kinship links are to interpreted in modern terms. The words "sister" and "daughter", like their male counterparts, in Arabic usage can indicate extended kinship, descendance or spiritual affinity.”<ref>''The Encyclopaedia Of Islam (New Edition)'', 1991, Volume VI, p. 630.</ref>

 

==A summary==

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.

Since Mary and Miriam are both pronounced Maryam in Arabic, it's most likely 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.