The Significance of Maryam

In the Quran (Surat Al-Imran 3:42), Allah describes Maryam (Mary), who had not yet borne ‘Isa (Jesus), this way:

وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَىٰ نِسَاءِ الْعَالَمِينَ

And the angels said: “O Maryam, Allah has selected you and cleansed you, and He has selected you over all the women of the worlds.

We shall show in this analysis how Allah has raised her to the level of prophet, how she meets the criteria of that level, and what this means for her gender.

Interpreting the Qur’an with the Qur’an

Tafseer, or interpretation of the Qur’an — and translation is a kind of tafseer — can make or break one’s understanding of the Qur’an. For what is understanding but how one interprets something? Misinterpretation causes misunderstanding. Which can lead to wrongful acts based on that misunderstanding. This is a common human error. But its significance is incalculable when we speak of wrong tafseer of the Qur’an, God’s message to the world…