Islamic heritage considers Jesus Christ to be among the five great prophets in whom they believe, while the other four are: Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad. Christ and his mother, Mary, were mentioned in many Qur’anic verses that dealt with their lives, deeds, and miracles from the birth of Mary until Christ was raised to heaven and returned as a sign of the Hour. Maryam is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an, and an entire surah of the Qur’an has been dedicated to her. We will try here to present the Qur’an’s account of the birth of Christ and compare it with what was mentioned in the pre-Islamic Christian heritage, especially in the apocryphal Gospel literature, which is the literature that the Church did not recognize as a reliable source of faith and did not, therefore, consider the apocryphal Gospels to be authentic Gospels.
The Islamic heritage believes in Mary’s virginity and purity when the angel came to her giving her good news of a pure (i.e., pure) boy who would be born from her: “The angel said to her: ‘I am only a messenger of your Lord to give you a pure boy.’ She (Mary) said, ‘How can I have a boy, since no human has touched me, and I have not been unjust?’” (Surat Maryam, 19-20). The Qur’an denies any human intervention in Mary’s pregnancy of Christ, as he was miraculously born from her. The Qur’an even curses the Jews who doubted Mary’s virginal conception and falsely accused her of adultery, saying: “And because of their disbelief (meaning the Jews) and their saying against Mary a great slander” (Surat An-Nisa, 156). Here it is worth noting that the Jewish Talmud contains many fabricated narratives and stories about Lady Maryam and her son that we are ashamed to mention here or cite.
One of the interpreters of the Qur’an says that Mary became pregnant with Christ as soon as the angel breathed on her, and naturally, she went through all stages of pregnancy until she gave birth to him. Another commentator says that the duration of pregnancy was nine months, or seven, or six, or eight, “and no child born to eight lived except him,” and it was said that one hour carried him and gave birth to him. This disagreement regarding the duration of pregnancy is due to the Qur’an not specifying this period. As for his birth, it took place with a miracle that the Qur’an narrates as follows: “Then labor brought her to the trunk of the palm tree. She (Maryam) said, ‘I wish I had died before this and had been forgotten and forgotten. So he called to her from beneath her: Do not be sad, for your Lord has placed a stream beneath you (a small stream with its water flowing). And shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, and it will drop on you fresh (fresh) dates and ripe (soft, ripe) dates. So eat and drink and give comfort to your eyes” (Surat Maryam, 23-26).
Islamic interpretation dealt with this Qur’anic account of the birth of Christ in many details. It was said that the time of birth was a time of winter and the palm tree was withered, so she shook it, so God gave it a head and produced fruit for it to eat from. Commentators point out that Arab women who were giving birth ate fresh dates because it was “the best food for the mother.” As for the one who called Mary from below, there are two stories: the angel Gabriel, who “was in a place lower than her place,” or the Lord Christ, whom we will see shortly speaking in the cradle. As for the stream of water, it is so that she can drink after she eats the fresh fruits and soothe her eyes, and so that she may also know that God, who created for her the fresh fruits from the dry palm tree and caused the stream to spring for her in the desert, is able to turn away from her the faults of those who reproach her and the reproaches of those who reproach her.
The incident of the palm tree and the stream is reminiscent of the scene of the escape to Egypt that was mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel of Matthew (which is not the correct Gospel of Matthew). The apocryphal story says that Mary, who was tired of traveling, sat by a palm tree to rest. She saw dates at the top of the tree and wished to eat from them, while Joseph was suffering from thirst. “Then it happened that the child Jesus, who was resting quietly on his mother’s knees, said to the palm tree: “O tree, bend down and feed my mother with your fruit.” Upon this request, the palm tree inclined its head to Mary’s feet, and they picked fruits that satisfied them all. After they picked all the fruits, the tree remained bent, waiting, before it straightened, for the command of the One who had commanded it to bend. Then Jesus said to her: Stand up, O palm tree, and regain your strength and be a companion of my trees in my Father’s garden. And open, with the power of your origin, the spring hidden under the earth, and let enough water come down to quench our thirst.” In the Qur’an, Mary is mentioned alone, but in the apocryphal Gospel of Matthew, Joseph is present with her.
Then the Qur’an mentions that God asked Mary to fast from speaking until the miracle of Christ’s words in the cradle came to acquit her of the accusation of adultery with which the Jews were accusing her: “So if you see any human being, say, ‘Indeed, I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful, and I will not speak to any human being today.’” (Surat Maryam, 26) . When her people asked her why she did what she did? The answer came from Christ, “and she pointed to him (to the newborn Christ). They said, ‘How can we speak to someone who was a child in the cradle?’” The newborn answered them: “I am the servant of God. He gave me the Book (i.e. the Gospel) and made me a prophet and made me blessed... And peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I die and the day I am resurrected alive” (Surat Maryam, 29-33). For Christ to speak in a cradle or as a young child is a miracle mentioned in the apocryphal Gospels, as stated in the incident of the palm tree mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel of Matthew.
What we want to say is that the Qur’anic account of the birth of Christ has roots deep in Christian history and heritage. It contains what confirms some Orthodox Christian beliefs, such as Mary’s virginity and her birth of her son without human mediation. It contains what confirms the love of Muslims for Christ and his mother, such as the Qur’an’s defense of Mary against the Jews and the slander they said about her. However, there are some details in this Qur’anic narration that Christian logic did not accept, such as the incident of the palm tree mentioned in the apocryphal Gospel of Matthew and restored here in Surat Maryam.
From my parish bulletin 2002
