Mary, the sister of Aaron, in the Qur'an
|
The author of the Qur'an seems to understand Mary the mother of Jesus to be Miriam the sister of Aaron (and of Moses), which is not possible, because Miriam lived about a thousand years before Mary. It seems that Muhammad confused Mary and Miriam when he was making up the Qur'an.
Sources
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 says that 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.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also called "daughter of Imran" in sura 66:
Imran is an Arabic form of the name Amram. Amram was the father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam [1]. So the Qur'an mentions Mary in the same family relationship as Miriam.
Hadith
The Christians of Najran found this mistake in the time of Muhammad. They asked Muhammad's companion about it and he didn't have a clue. He asked Muhammad and he gave him this answer:
Harun is an Arabic form of Aaron. His answer was that she was only called "sister of Aaron" and the reason is that Aaron was a pious man who lived a thousand years before her.
His answer seems to be an excuse, because the Christians, Muhammad's companions and even Aisha, all understood the Qur'an to mean she is literally the sister of Aaron. Tafsir Ibn Kathir in its non-abridged Arabic version says this:
So even Aisha understood the Qur'an to mean that Mary, the mother of Jesus was a sister of Aaron and Moses.
Apologetic arguments
Throughout history Muslims have formed two main arguments to refute claims by critics, that Muhammad (or whoever wrote the Qur'an) mixed up two Mary's by copying the wrong genealogy from the circling Christian and Jewish teachings during the Islamic prophet's time.
Muslim argument 1: "The Qur'anic text in reality refers to Imran as the ancestor of Mary, mother of Jesus"
Here the Muslim apologists claim that Mary is the ancestor of Imran, and more specific, his son Aaron.
proof of scholarly claim(s) needed on to-do list
Refutation:
This Islamic argument seems to be refuted by Quran 3:35-36 which, as seen above, makes it clear that the wife of Imran had a daughter named Mary, seemingly erasing the possibility of her being a far descendant of Imran.
Also, just a few verses down the line, this same Mary bears a child of her own, called Jesus, the Messiah, according to the Quran:
Muslim argument 2: "Imran is really Joachim"
Some Muslim scholars have tried to refute the controversy surrounding Imran by arguing that he is in fact the Catholic Joachim, who is the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, according to non-Biblical Catholic and Orthodox Christian teachings. In fact, these two denominations of Christianity call this father of Mary 'Saint Joachim'.
proof of scholarly claim(s) needed on to-do list
However the above mentioned verse in the Quran 19:28 states clearly that she is the sister of Haroun (Aaron), again placing her 1400 years prior to her actual life.
Muslim argument 3: "Sister of Aaron really means descendant of Aaron"
Ibn Kathir (a 14th century scholar, generally considered the best scholar of all time by Sunni's) gave the following explanation in his tafsir:
This argument seems far fetched, since even the given comparisons are not even one-on-one. In the comparing sayings the associated name is that of the founding father of that tribe. But in the case of Mary and Aaron, the latter is not a 'tribe starter' but the actual ancestor of Mary.