From among the countless billions of women that have ever walked this planet
and breathed its air,
only one woman had a chapter named after her
in God's final revelation – the Quran,
only one woman has been mentioned in that Quran an unmatched 34 times.
Only one woman had a remarkable birth
and then she herself gave birth to her child in a unique miraculous way.
This was none other than the wondrous Mary Maryam (peace be upon her).
Whose story of profound faith and virtue the Quran confirms time and time again and immortalizes.
In one authentic naration the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
included her in such elite company that he identified her among the very select human beings
that have ever perfected their faith.
The similarities between her times and ours and her challenges and ours,
make the account of Mary (peace be upon her) so relevant for us.
Consider her circumstances, her society, her culture.
Mary was born among the latter generations of the israelites
whose regard for religion had largely disintegrated.
She was born in a world riddled with disbelief,
a world that mocked God's signs and dismissed God's guidance.
Kind of similar to our secular, a religious world today.
But none of that fazed Mary, she remained unwavering in her conviction
despite the world that mocked her beliefs.
She was a beacon of light and a torchbearer for faith
in a world that was in abyss of darkness and doubts.
In any case this woman has a particularly esteemed rank with Almighty God.
And that is why muslims are called to rehearse her virtues
and to quench their thirst for guidance through the fountain that is her story.
So who was Mary? What were her roots?
Where did she stem from?
Allah speaks about this in the Quran and He says
So from the line of Adam God chose Noah and from the line of Noah God chose the family of Abraham
and from the family of Abraham through the line of Isaac then Jacob,
God chose the family of Imran.
All as the best of humanity in their respective times.
The wife of Imran was Hannah known in english as Saint Anne,
a righteous virtuous woman who had longed for a child but could never have one.
Historians mention that one day she saw a scene that she could not bear.
It was a mother bird placing food inside the mouth
of her helpless hatchlings the chicks and so her heart broke at that moment
and she earnestly appealed to God to grant her the blessing of motherhood.
And ultimately and eventually she found out that her prayer was in fact answered and that she was now pregnant.
Allah says about this in the Quran
In an authentic tradition, Abu Hurairah the great companion narrates
that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that every newborn
comes out from their mother's womb screaming and that is because the devil
pokes at them as they are born except for two.
Except for Mary and her child meaning Jesus Christ peace be upon them both.
Abu Hurairah the narrator says,
"And if you want the confirmation of this you can find it in God's words",
and he would recite that previous verse.
In other words it was the prayer of the mother of Mary
that armored Mary and her offspring
from being poked by the devil and thus Mary was born in a very unique remarkably peaceful tranquil way.
But how would Hannah now uphold her vow?
Because as she said the male is not like the female.
In other words she had promised to dedicate her child
in the service of God's house, the Holy house in Jerusalem.
But this was an occupation that was customarily for the males,
they were the priests that were the caretakers of the house.
However in due time signs kept surfacing that mary was no ordinary child,
there was something very special about this girl,
so much so that these scholars of scripture the Torah of the time,
would compete with one another as to who would become the caretaker of Mary.
This was an extraordinary scene folded away in human history lost knowledge
but Allah insisted to revive it in the Quran.
Historians gather that these scholars of scripture
all competing for the honor of mentoring her,
and said "We will cast our pens, the pens that we only use to transcribe God's sacred word
in the Jordanian river.
Whatever pen does not float away is the pen of the man that God wants
to take care of this precious girl.
And lo and behold all of their pens float away except that of one man
to cause them all to understand that God did not want her in the care of just any scholar
not even a scholar of sacred scripture
but the scholar who was himself a prophet Zechariah peace and blessings be upon him.
About this Allah says,
In the shade of prophet Zechariah peace be upon him
and under his tutelage, Mary grew to learn the sacred sciences of devotion to Almighty God.
He had the exclusive honor of entering her chamber
only he had the keys to it which allowed him the privilege of serving her
but even allowed him an opportunity at times
to learn from his own student and apprentice.
Allah captures this in the Quran as well and says,
It was reported that when Zechariah peace and blessings be upon him
entered her quarters he would find something very strange there.
He would find food in there that he didn't bring
and even if someone were to have a set of keys that he was exclusively entitled to,
he was finding fruits there in the winter that are only available in the summer
and fruits there in the summer that are only available in the winter.
And so he was perplexed and asked Mary how is this possible.
And she reminded him not to calculate when it comes to God's Grace.
The Quran says that it was at that very moment
that Zechariah turned in supplication to God for a child.
Dismissing the factor of his old age,
refusing to calculate the elderly infertility of his wife at that moment.
And it was at that moment that God granted him
with a miraculous child Yahya, John the Baptist peace and blessings be upon him.
Let us now move to the height of Mary's story itself
in the chapter Maryam, the chapter Mary and let us reflect on it
uninterrupted as God asks us to do in this passage.
There is so much to learn from this single day in the life of Maryam (peace and blessings be upon her)
Such as clarifying that the Holy Spirit was in reality
the Archangel Messenger Gabriel peace and blessings be upon him.
Who carried the message of God to the messengers on earth but was not God himself.
It also reiterates that Jesus Christ peace and blessings be upon him,
his central message was delivering people to God, not to himself.
Of course through him meaning through his teachings and through his example.
But there are two powerful lessons from the story of Mary herself
that we wish to conclude with.
First and foremost God told Mary to shake towards yourself
the trunk of the palm-tree,
ripe edible dates will fall upon you to eat.
He is telling a woman to shake the trunk of a palm-tree
after delivering a child when the strongest of men
do not shake palm trees to bring dates down, that's just not how it works.
The profound lesson here is engaging your reality
while relying on God.
You see, one of the great Imam of islam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
heard about a group of people that stay in the house of worship all day in the mosque
and say we've put our full trust in God.
He said, "These people have no trace of knowledge whatsoever,
they are so shallow on their understanding of religion."
He said, "Do they not hear God saying to Mary
shake towards you the trunk of the palm-tree?"
Do what is in your hands as if it's all up to you
while knowing that you and everything in your hands is all up to God.
Secondly Mary peace be upon her, witnessed a powerful miracle.
Jesus Christ peace be upon him as an infant speaking in the cradle
and that was enough for her to feel reassured to dispel her anxieties,
to bolster her faith,
that God is going to be with me no matter what I have to encounter right now
of accusations or otherwise.
A few hours later her people heard the infant speaking in the cradle
and it only increased them in rejection of Mary and they disbelieved in God.
Here God reminds us that proofs are useless,
miracles are ineffective for people not willing to believe.
Mary sought faith and so she found it.
And her people thinking it was convenient sought doubt
and so they found it.
Just as blind faith is imprudent, unwise un-islamic even,
stubborn rejection can lead a person into blindness, into faithlessness,
into destruction and hence Allah says in more than one place in the Quran.
We ask allah to further honor Mary, our mother in faith and in modesty.
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