Religion and Theology

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned as Maryam, more in the Qur'an than in the entire New Testament. She enjoys a singularly distinguished and honored position among women in the Qur'an. A chapter in the Qur'an is titled "Maryam" (Mary), which is the only chapter in the Qur'an named after a woman, in which the story of Mary (Maryam) and Jesus(Isa) is recounted according to the Islamic view of Jesus.

Manuscript of the Chapter Mary from a 9th century Qur'an, Turkey. She is mentioned in the Qur'an with the honorific title of "our lady" (syyidatuna) as the daughter of Imran and Hannah.

She is the only woman directly named in the Qur'an; declared (uniquely along with Jesus) to be a Sign of God to mankind [Qur'an 23:50]; as one who "guarded her chastity" [Qur'an 66:12]; an obedient one [Qur'an 66:12]; chosen of her mother and dedicated to God whilst still in the womb [Qur'an 3:36]; uniquely (amongst women) Accepted into service by God [Qur'an 3:37]; cared for by (one of the prophets as per Islam) Zakariya (Zacharias) [Qur'an 3:37]; that in her childhood she resided in the Temple and uniquely had access to Al-Mihrab (understood to be the Holy of Holies), and was provided with heavenly 'provisions' by God [Qur'an 3:37].

Mary is also called a Chosen One [Qur'an 3:42]; a Purified One [Qur'an 3:42]; a Truthful one [Qur'an 5:75]; her child conceived through "a Word from God" [Qur'an 3:45]; and "exalted above all women of The Worlds/Universes (the material and heavenly worlds)" [Qur'an 3:42].

The Qur'an relates detailed narrative accounts of Maryam (Mary) in two places Sura 3[Qur'an 3:35] and Sura 19[Qur'an 19:16]. These state beliefs in both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Virgin birth of Jesus. The account given in Sura 19 [Qur'an 19:1] of the Qur'an is nearly identical with that in the Gospel according to Luke, and both of these (Luke, Sura 19) begin with an account of the visitation of an angel upon Zakariya (Zecharias) and Good News of the birth of Yahya (John), followed by the account of the annunciation. It mentions how Mary was informed by an angel that she would become the mother of Jesus through the actions of God alone.

In the Islamic tradition, Mary and Jesus were the only children who could not be touched by Satan at the moment of their birth, for God imposed a veil between them and Satan. According to author Shabbir Akhtar, the Islamic perspective on Mary's Immaculate Conception is compatible with the Catholic doctrine of the same topic.

The Qur'an says that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth. The most detailed account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus is provided in Sura 3 and 19 of The Qur'an wherein it is written that God sent an angel to announce that she could shortly expect to bear a son, despite being a virgin.

The Medinan suras of the Qur'an are those suras which, according to Islamic tration, were revealed at Medina, after Muhammad's hijra from ...