Maria, mother of Jesus, heroine of the Quran.

One who opens the Quran for the first time expects to find a clear and elaborate account of the life, actions, and words of Muhammad. To their great surprise, they will find that Muhammad is entirely absent from the Quran. The Quranic narratives highlight their own heroine, Maryam (Mary), the mother of Jesus. In contrast, Mary remains a relatively marginal figure in the Gospels and fades away in other books of the New Testament. Thus, the relationship between Jesus and his mother is surprisingly obscure, even ambiguous. In the Quran, Mary occupies a central place, raising theological questions. What is the significance of this phenomenon, and is there a connection to the context of the Quran’s emergence?

The Gospels describe the birth of Jesus, while the Quran delves into the narrative of the birth of its heroine, Mary. In the Quran, she is presented as the mother of Jesus, the daughter of Imran, and the “sister of Aaron.” Many scholars have pondered the unique identification of Jesus’s mother as the sister of Aaron (Miriam). Some have considered it an extrapolation, a misunderstanding, or an error. In reality, it is a quotation from the book of Exodus: “Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambourine in her hand” (15:20). The use of the term “sister of Aaron” became common because it opens the Song of Miriam. References to biblical figures in the Quran are anecdotal, assuming that the audience is familiar with the Torah’s stories and characters, and thus, there is no need to detail them. The author of the passage takes the term “sister of Aaron” as is and uses it prestigiously to refer to Mary, even if it creates an anachronism. It is a common literary technique in biblical literature.

The wife of Imran (the mother of Moses and Aaron) speaks in her own name about the birth of her daughter Mary: “O Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.” When she gave birth to a girl, she said, “My Lord, I have delivered a female,” and Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, and the male is not like the female. “And I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in You and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah]” (Surah Al-Imran 3:35-36). Two years later, the angels informed Mary: “Allah gives you the good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah]. He will speak to the people in the cradle and in maturity and will be of the righteous.” She said, “My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?” He said, “Such is Allah; He creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is” (Surah Al-Imran 3:47-45).

In another passage, the angel of Rahman (God) informs Mary that she will give birth to a pure son, and she responds, “How can I have a son when no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?” (Surah Maryam 19:20). When she returned to her people, they reproached her and accused her of lewdness: “O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste!” (Surah Maryam 19:27). The Quran attributes the slander against Mary to the Jews: “And for their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain” (Surah An-Nisa 4:157).

Mary holds a significant place in the Quran, and her portrayal differs from that in the New Testament. In two passages, Mary is mentioned as the mother of Jesus, or more precisely, “Jesus, son of Mary.” Mary’s place seems to surpass that of Jesus in popular classes, where Christians prefer to address Mary rather than Jesus. For example, the most prestigious cathedral in France is named “Notre-Dame,” referring to Mary and not Jesus. Mary is mentioned 34 times in the Quran, compared to 24 occurrences in the New Testament, while Jesus is mentioned only 23 times. Two chapters of the Quran, “The Family of Imran” (Surah 3) and “Mary” (Surah 19), are specifically dedicated to her. Five other women appear in the Quran but remain anonymous in relation to their spouses: Adam, Noah, Lot, Imran, and Pharaoh.

Contrary to the Trinitarian dogma established at the Council of Constantinople in 381, the authors of the Quran elevated Mary to such a distinguished status that they seem to have outlined a new implicit trinity, including God alongside two secondary divine entities, Mary and Jesus. God addresses Jesus in these terms: “God said: ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people: Take me and my mother as two deities besides God?’ Jesus replied: ‘Exalted are You! It was not for me to say what I have no right to. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within You. Indeed, You are the Knower of the unseen.'” (Surah Al-Ma’idah 116). This elevation of Mary to an almost divine status led popular belief to transform her into a virgin, symbolizing a pure and faultless woman, almost on par with a goddess. This popular movement emerged parallel to the debates between Christians and Hellenes from the year 126 onward and evolved into a dominant conviction alongside official Christianity after its recognition by Constantine.

In contrast to popular beliefs, the Gospels have an extremely reserved attitude towards Mary. It is striking to note Jesus’ indifference towards his mother, refusing to meet her when someone informs him that his mother and brothers wish to see him. He responds, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” before pointing to his disciples and declaring, “Here are my mother and my brothers” (Matthew 12:46-50). Another scene depicts a woman praising his mother before Jesus, and his rather blunt response, almost treating her like a servant: “When there was no more wine, the mother of Jesus said to him: They have no wine. Jesus said to her: Woman, what does that have to do with me?” (John 2:3-4). Jesus’ rejection of his mother persists even on the eve of his crucifixion: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!'” (John 19:25-27).

After the crucifixion, Mary’s image gradually improves. Although Jesus’ disciples fled the event for fear of the authorities, the account according to John gives Mary the honor of being present at this dramatic episode: “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25). The Gospel according to Mark mentions Jesus’ brothers and sisters: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3). In this perspective, the presumed father of Jesus and even one of his brothers share the same name, Joseph. The Gospels of Mark and John, as well as all other books of the New Testament, make no mention of Mary’s virginity, and as this notion fades, her children are relegated to being the offspring of Joseph from a previous marriage or cousins of Jesus.

“Christology” has pondered for decades on the definition of the term “son of Mary” obsessively, leading to the formation of opposing currents within Christianity that gave rise to distinct communities throughout the Byzantine Roman Empire. So, who is Mary, and what does this definition mean? The first mention of the combination “son of Mary” appears in the Gospel according to Mark: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (6:3). Throughout history and even today, an individual is always defined as the son of his father. If this is not the case, questions arise about him. Following this definition, many speculations emerged, creating controversies among members of the Christian community. It is not by chance that the Gospel according to Matthew raises the question: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (13:55), after which Luke corrects this statement: “Is not this the son of Joseph?” (4:22), followed by the Gospel according to John, which deliberately asserts: “Do we not know who his father and mother are?” (6:42). The need to protect the existence of the father also contributed to spreading doubts about the morality of the mother. This raised the question: Was Jesus born of his mother’s relationship with a stranger outside of marriage? In the Gospel according to John, the Pharisees strongly accuse Jesus, insinuating serious guilt towards his mother: “We were not born of sexual immorality” (8:41).

Matthew cites the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Greek translation of Alexandria to support Mary’s virginity: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel” (1:23), while in the original text of Isaiah, it says: “Behold, the young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel” (7:14). The word “young woman” was translated into Greek as “parthenos,” reinforcing a birth of Mary by the Holy Spirit. At the Council of Ephesus in 431, Mary was officially proclaimed “Mother of God,” the woman who gave birth to a god, “Theotokos” (Θεοτόκος). Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of Constantinople, delegates to this council, opposed the idea of gods born from a woman’s womb, and their doctrines became heresy.

Subsequently, during the Councils of Constantinople in 553 and 681, and the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, popular beliefs prevailed, and it was declared: “We believe that our Lady Mary is, in all justice and truth, the mother of God, since she gave birth in the flesh to one of the persons of the Trinity, Christ our God, as previously affirmed at the Council of Ephesus, which condemned Nestorius and his supporters for introducing duality into one person.” Nestorius’ duality referred to two natures, one divine and the other human, so that Jesus’ body as the Son of Man could be crucified and die, but his divinity could not be altered. This Christology was clearly expressed in debates with Arius at the Council of Nicaea in 325. In this regard, the Quran somewhat aligns with the positions of Nestorius and Arius of Alexandria.

Theogamy is not a unique phenomenon to Mary. According to a lengthy inscription at the temple of Deir El-Bahari near Luxor in Egypt, a theogamy (Θεογάμια) occurred when Queen Hatshepsut (1507-1458) was born from a relationship between her mother and the god Amun, who presented himself as her father in the form of King Thutmose I. The gods molded her from clay, and Amun promised her royalty. Another theogamy is linked to the birth of Amenhotep III, where the god Amun disguised himself as King Thutmose I and entered Queen Ahmose’s palace to impregnate her in her bed. Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great, also claimed to have been impregnated by Zeus after he slipped into her bed in the form of a serpent. Strange births of heroes like Sargon the Akkadian and Moses the Israelite, found in a floating box on a river, are even more widespread.

The Greek philosopher Celsus used the fictional figure of a Jew to mock Christianity in his book “On the True Doctrine” (177). Although Celsus’s work has not reached us, excerpts are widely quoted in the book “Against Celsus” by Origen of Alexandria (248), who endeavored to refute his arguments. Celsus accuses Jesus, through the fictional Jew, of inventing the story of his virgin birth to conceal the fact that he is the son of a poor Jewish woman expelled by her husband after being accused of adultery with a Roman soldier named Pantera, and thus conceiving Jesus. Celsus questions why Jesus would be chosen among all the prophets of the Bible to be the Messiah. He challenges Jesus’ status as the Son of God, wondering why, if he were the Son of God, he would live a life of poverty and wandering rather than becoming a king.

The Muslim historian Muhammad al-Tabari (839-923) emphasizes, in opposition to the Jews’ claim, that the angel Gabriel was not present during the event and that it was Joseph the carpenter who had relations with Mary. Thus, according to al-Tabari, Jesus is a legitimate child. He asserts that Jesus’ birth is no different from the miraculous births of heroes who preceded him. Although the Quran never mentions Joseph, the Islamic theologian al-Tabari is aware of it and describes a scene where Mary and Joseph are involved: Gabriel appeared to her in the form of Joseph the carpenter. Mary, who had never seen a man other than Joseph and Zachariah, initially confused him with Joseph. The angel tried to reassure her by explaining that her pregnancy was part of the divine plan. Allah would teach his son the book of wisdom, the Torah, and the good news, so that he would become a prophet for the children of Israel. Tabari insists that, contrary to what the Jews claim, the angel Gabriel was not present during the event.

The virginity of Mary sparked debates among Syrian philosophers. James of Serug (521-450), a Syrian bishop from the Urfa region on the border of Turkey, was a poet who composed homilies in verse, calling Jesus “the son of the Virgin.” Before him, Ephrem the Syrian (373-306), the author of the book “Hymns Against Heresies,” expressed his difficulty in defining Jesus due to his human and physical nature. He said, “My mouth does not know how to define you, O son of the living God. If I dare to call you the son of Joseph, I tremble because you are not of his lineage.” The term “Son of Mary” was common among Syrian philosophers, but they faced a theological dilemma. On the one hand, Jesus was born of an unknown father, and on the other hand, they had to reject the accusation of adultery against Mary. They distanced themselves from the widely held belief in the Empire that Jesus is not only the son of his mother but above all the son of God.

At the beginning of Islam, Syrian philosophers emphasized the human nature of Jesus and rejected the Christian principle of Jesus’ dual nature, both human and divine. The divergence between canonical Christianity and the Syriac region’s interpretation of the Quran widens concerning the divinity of Jesus. According to Matthew, Peter proclaims that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). John mentions the position of the Judeans: “We have a law, and according to that law, he must die because he made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7); “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33). The Quran continues the Judean perspective rather than that of the canonical gospels. In the Surah “The Table Spread,” it declares: “Indeed, disbelievers are those who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary'” (Surah 5, 17). The Quran unequivocally states in Surah “The Purity of Faith”: “Say, ‘He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent'” (Surah 112:1-4).

The Quranic authors staunchly oppose those who, in their time, persistently claimed that God had a son: “And they say, ‘The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son. You have done an atrocious thing. The heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in devastation” (Surah 19:88-90). The Surah “The Believers” continues to rebuke those asserting that God has a son: “They have no knowledge of it, nor do their forefathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak not except a lie. Then, perhaps, does it await them a Day [when] they will not turn it away, nor will they be helped?” (Surah 43:15-19).

The Quranic authors consistently find it fitting to address the Jews of their time as the People of the Book, conveying to them the belief in the messiahship of Jesus, albeit not according to the Christian trinitarian doctrine: “O People of the Book! Do not exceed limits in your religion, and do not attribute to Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers” (Surah The Table Spread 5:171).

The “Book of the Genealogies of Jesus,” first mentioned in Hebrew by Bishop Agobard of Lyon (849-769), has disappeared, except for fragments from the 15th century. According to this book, a man named Joseph Pandera disguises himself as Yohanan, his fiancé, to violate Mary. Ashamed, Yohanan leaves the region. Jesus, born of adultery, refuses to bow down and cover his head before the Sanhedrin sages, considering them illegitimate. Jesus flees from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he discovers the divine name in the temple, writes it on a piece of paper, hides it in his flesh, arrives in Bethlehem, performs miracles, resurrects the dead, and heals lepers through an enchantment granted by the divine name. He proclaims to be the Son of God and wins the affection of Queen Salome through his sorcery (67-140), but the sages seek to kill him. Later, Jesus is said to have worked as a slave in Egypt, learned the art of magic from the Egyptians, and returned to Judea. Through his magical powers, he proclaimed his divinity. After some time, he baptized himself in the Jordan, purified himself, and returned to perform miracles and walk on water.

The figures of Jesus and especially Mary correspond to apocryphal traditions widespread in ancient Christian communities in Asia Minor. References to James, the brother of Jesus, the Proto-Gospel of James, the Gospel of Barnabas, and the apocryphal Gospel of Matthew directly influenced the Quranic text. In addition to these writings, one can add the relationship of these communities with the Book of Revelation, the Monophysite current regarding the human nature of Jesus, and Docetism, which questions the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross.

At the time of the Quranic composition, Christians in Asia Minor mainly spoke Syriac and Greek, descendants of the populations of the Aramaean and Assyrian kingdoms. Among them were those whom researchers call Judeo-Christians. This term is imprecise because members of these groups, the Nazôreum/Nazarenum (Nassara in the Quran), the Ebionites, and the Alkasa’ites, were neither Christians nor Jews. They were supporters of the messiahship of Jesus who remained faithful to Jewish customs and laws, considered heretical or dissident compared to canonical Christianity and its orthodoxy. They did not accept the dogma of the divinity of Jesus or the principle of the Trinity. Furthermore, they rejected the idea that Jesus was crucified, convinced that the crucifixion never happened and was a mere illusion or deception. Advocates of these currents also claimed that Paul was not Jewish but Greek, that he had joined the Judeans to marry the high priest’s daughter. They rejected his doctrine and epistles and had more affinity with the figure of James, the brother of Jesus