Surah Maryam 19:34

ذَ‌ٰلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ ۚ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ

19:34 Ibn Maryamابْنُ مَرْيَمَ  - The Son of Mary is Jesus distinctive name. This is an allusion to the many conflicting views about Jesus, ranging from the blasphemous assertion that he was a false Prophet and a product of an illicit union (as Mary was living alone with Jesus and her other children), to the belief that he was the son of God. The Gospels have also used the epithet “son of man” to describe Jesus. The expression ibn ابْنُ (son of) appears in numerous contexts in the Bible and “son of man” means nothing but “human”, as if to emphasis Jesus being of human nature as opposed to be of divine nature. The epithet “son of man” has been used in the Bible for others as well.

Great honour was bestowed on Mary by the All-Mighty Allâh to name Jesus as Ibn Maryam (ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ ). Allâh also designates Mary as Saddîqah صدٌيقة – the Truthful (5:75), a rank not of a Prophet but very close to it (cf. 4:69; 19:56; 12:46). The Arabs call any action that leads to excellent results siddîq. Abû Bakr(rz) was given the same rank; he is remembered as Abû Bakr Siddîq(rz). Neither Ishâq nor Ismâ‘îl received a similar title (19:41; 19:56) although their mother is likewise respected, and the rituals carried out between Saffa and Marwâ– the two hilltops near Ka‘aba in Makkah, are performed by millions of devotees in remembrance of Hager, mother of Ismâîl. Mary was the recipient of Divine Revelations, and the true believers are likened to her (66:11-12).

The supposed virgin birth of Jesus is topic of an unnecessary, but ongoing debate among Muslims. For Muslims, it does not add to spirituality or morality if he believes in the virgin birth, nor will it affect the morality and spirituality of a Muslim if he rejects the virgin birth of Jesus. If we make this a crucial issue, it becomes a source of discord. Allâh has not made this issue a part of the Muslim belief (imân إيمان). The alleged virgin birth of Jesus is also not an argument for the sonship of Jesus.

If the virgin birth is brought by Christians as an argument to prove the divinity of Jesus before Muslims, the Holy Qur’ân has come forward with much greater and stronger arguments than this to disprove the divinity of Jesus (3:2-7; 72:116; 19:88; 21:21; 43:15,81; 9:19; 23:31; 6:165). The Qur’ân describes Mary as being virgin and still unmarried while in the Temple at the time she received the Divine Revelation of the future birth of a son (19:21). Compare also with Zachariah, who received a similar announcement of the future birth of a son who will be a Prophet (3:38-40, 19:7-9). It was a great Prophetic Revelation that a young, virgin women and still not in wedlock, receives the news of giving birth to a pure son (Ghulâm Zakiyya غلاماًزكٌيا 19:19) who will be worthy of regard in this world and the Hereafter (Wajîhan fi al-Dunyâ wa al-Âkhirah وجيهاالدنياءً و فئ ألآخرة 3:45), who will be one of the nearest ones (Muqrrabîn 3:45) to Allâh, the All-Mighty, and who will reach old age (kahlan كَهلاً).

This reference to his old age is again a soothing prophecy for Mary that her son will escape all of his enemies attempts to murder him. What great news for Mary! This was the mighty prophecy, a “Word of Promise” (3:45) given to Mary by Allâh, a great wonder, if one wants to call it a wonder. Giving birth as a virgin, if at all, is not that great as compared to what Mary was told. There is no direct mentioning of a virgin birth anywhere in the Holy Qur’ân. The concept of virgin birth is deduced from some Qur’ânic verses, and this deduction could be right or wrong. It cannot be taken as an indication of virgin birth that the father of Jesus is not mentioned in the Holy Qur’ân. It is not the habit of our Lord to mention the names of the parents of His apostles in His Holy Book and it is still understood that they had their fathers and mothers. Regardless, this debate has no moral or spiritual value. For those who are still curious to know the answer, they should ponder over verse 3:44. Perhaps they will find an answer there.

Questions of the virgin birth or of his talking while still a baby, or restoring life to the dead in the literal sense was never an issue at the time of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and in early Muslim history. It became an issue soon after the colonization of Muslim lands by the Christian powers and renewed attempts by Christian missionaries to convert the Muslims back to Christianity.