Maryam (Mary)

Maryam is the mother of the prophet 'Isa (Jesus). A descendant of the lineage of Dawud, dedicated to God even before her birth, she is honoured in the Quran as the Chosen One, the Truthful (al-Siddiqah), a model of purity and submission to God's will.

Dedicated by her mother to the service of God, Maryam was raised under the guardianship of the prophet Zakariyya, living in seclusion in the sanctuary. The Quran reports that she received her sustenance through God's grace, which astonished Zakariyya.

One day the angel Jibril appeared to her in the form of a perfect man to announce to her a pure son. She replied: 'How can I have a son when no man has touched me?' It was revealed to her that God creates what He wills: His command when He intends a thing is only to say 'Be,' and it is. Maryam submitted.

When the time of birth came, she withdrew alone near a palm tree. In the pain, she was told to shake the trunk: fresh dates fell towards her, and a spring gushed at her feet. Then she was told to maintain silence, a fast of speech.

Returning to her people with the child, she was accused. True to her silence, she pointed to the infant. Then 'Isa spoke from the cradle, declaring himself a servant of God and a prophet, thus clearing his mother of all suspicion.

Maryam is among those women who 'attained perfection' (Bukhari no. 3411) and was named 'the best of women' (Bukhari no. 3432); the hadith about Fatima even sets her apart ('except Maryam,' al-Mustadrak vol. 3 p. 164). The hadith also names them together: 'It suffices you among the women of the world: Maryam, Khadija, Fatima and Asiya, wife of Pharaoh' (Tirmidhi, from Anas — authenticated).

Maryam shows that faith can traverse solitude, trial and slander without breaking. Her strength lay not in demonstration, but in patience, silence and total trust in God, who defended her where no human could.

يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَٱصْطَفَاكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَاءِ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ

Les anges dirent : « Marie ! En vérité, Allah t’a élue, purifiée et préférée à toutes les femmes de l’univers.

3:42

فَأَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهَا رُوحَنَا فَتَمَثَّلَ لَهَا بَشَرًا سَوِيًّا

où elle se déroba aux regards. Nous lui envoyâmes alors Notre Esprit qui se présenta à elle sous la forme d’un homme accompli.

19:17

وَهُزِّي إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ ٱلنَّخْلَةِ تُسَاقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا

Tire vers toi le tronc du palmier qui laissera tomber sur toi des dattes fraîches.

19:25