“Her and Her Son”
The Nativity Scene from the film Saint Mary (2000), inspired by the Quran's account in the Chapter of Mary (#19)
By 2050, Christians and Muslims will make up nearly equal shares of the world’s population (assuming current trends continue, according to the Pew Research Center). With ongoing developments in means of communication and accelerating rates of technological advancement, it has become and is reasonably expected to become even more practical to develop a more lucid understanding of different identities, and religious beliefs.
Christmas time is not only an occasion cherishing the spirit of good-will values shared by many world religions and philosophies, but an annual invitation to discuss what Jesus Christ means to different peoples across the globe. I aim to sketch a broadly accessible outline here, from the perspective of intellectual history as well as present-day religious identities. Perhaps a bit unexpectedly, I will do so not through the figure of Jesus directly but through his mother, Mary, as she is described in the Quran.
Saint Mary is apparently the only woman mentioned by name in Islam’s holy book, the Quran (“the recitation”). Not only is she named, but is named several times, and an entire chapter of the Quran is dedicated in her name. She is honored as the leading woman of all the worlds in her day and age, and a distinctly virtuous saint in the eyes of God. In fact, sometimes God refers to Jesus without naming him, but by referring to him as the son of Mary. The Quran, which Muslims hold as the inimitable challenge the Prophet Muhammad presented to the world as a miracle attesting to his truth, refers to Lady Mary’s remarkable chastity, describing how God breathed of His spirit into her and, “made her and her son a sign for all the worlds.” (Quran 21:91).
The Quran portrays Lady Mary (Maryam in Arabic) as having been dedicated to the service of God from the time she was in her mother’s womb. According to the third chapter of the Quran (Chapter/Surah Aal Imraan), God had the Prophet Zachariah take care of Mary from a young age. Whenever he would enter the sanctuary to see her he would find she had a form of sustenance (of seemingly unknown origin). He would ask her, “O Mary, whence do you have this?” She would respond, “It is from God. Truly God provides for whomsoever He will without reckoning.” Islamic tradition has understood this to be a reference to saintly honors bestowed upon Lady Mary. To deliver the news that she would conceive Jesus while remaining a virgin, in Chapter 19 (the Surah of Maryam) God says that He sent her His spirit, which assumed for her the likeness of a perfect human. When Mary wonders how she could have a baby boy when no human has touched her and she has not been unchaste, the projection of God’s spirit responds, “Thus shall it be. Your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me’…” (Quran 19:16-21). The Quran also describes the context of Saint Mary’s labor in miraculous terms, which I will leave for the interested reader to look up. After giving birth, God commands her to tell those she will see that she has taken a vow to observe a fast of silence. What happens next, according to the Quran, is the Islamic version of the nativity scene, which inspired the film clip below:
More on Jesus in the Quran
Reading the Quran with a historian’s lens, it becomes clear that Islam’s holy book refers to Jesus with much of the same language that appears in the Bible: messenger of God, word of God, spirit proceeding from God, prophet appointed by God, the Messiah, etc. To say the least, for a common believer, or even a monk and religious leader untrained in intricate theological debates, this would have arguably meant that the Quran’s portrayal of Jesus was no stranger to some of the trends in the early history of Christianity, which likely survived until the rise of Prophet Muhammad’s Islam. (Follow up for references and further resources on how things developed afterward).
The Quran also appears to have something to say about those debates in the early history of Christianity, albeit in subtleties that arguably require exegetical interpretation. But the Quran’s language describing Jesus generally reads as straightforward enough for an ordinary person of faith (one not necessarily initiated into complex theological disagreements) to relate to. For instance, the Quran’s language is insistent on describing God as the Owner to whom all things belong, and upon whom all things depend for their very being and subsistence. Thus, while Jesus is indeed described as God’s word, God’s word belongs to God, is owned by God, and in that sense depends on God: a dependent of God, even the distinguished Dependent/Slave/Servant of God, reflecting God’s beauty and majesty so uniquely… but not the “Son” of God in the sense that there could ever be another independent Owner as a counterpart to God. (I will not delve further into the theology behind this now, but please follow up for further explanation and references from Islamic intellectual history if you wish).
Another perceived sticking point between Christians and Muslims today is the crucifixion. This may come as a surprise to many of today’s Muslims, let alone Christians, who have not delved into Islamic exegetical literature, but it must be noted for the sake of mutual understanding: From an Islamic perspective, the text of the Quran can apparently be reconciled with a number of different views on the historical details of the crucifixion, and it is not considered an essential aspect of the Muslim worldview to commit to one particular view on those details unless that view has become authoritatively established to the individual. The Quran does proclaim that Jesus lives on, “they” have not killed him, “they” have not crucified him, but he has been taken back up to the vicinity of God, and that those who have disagreed over the details pertaining to him are “in doubt.” If you are interested in learning about ways to reconcile this with your convictions about the crucifixion, drawing on Islamic intellectual history and/or recent academic research, please follow up for more details (You can book a consultation session through my Columbia blog site here).
Bethlehem, the reported birthplace of Jesus Christ, has been mourning the children of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in that part of the world this Christmas. Yes, Jesus was from “over there.” Those who honor him look for his signs under the rubble, rising from the ashes, soothing the broken hearts of those innocent souls, promising of better days ahead. If you can make a difference today, do not delay. Make Saint Mary proud.
Intro to this Blog
I have been considering the pros and cons of focusing this blog on a particular theme or intended readership. With all the merits of specialization, I submit that my academic specialization has me niched enough for the rest of my time on Earth, and that I will be looking forward to this blog as a more diversified avenue of expression. It will still be me, just not always the PhD dissertation mode of me. For that, I beg your pardon, you will have to wait for the occasional academic study I announce here, or read parts of my dissertation (hint to fellow academics, in particular). So you can expect this blog to shed light on the more far-reaching implications of my work as an academic, tailored to a diverse and broad readership, weighing in on current events while also contextualizing and drawing lessons from history. Without further ado, welcome to Ali Moughania’s blog!
