Isa/Jesus and Maryam in the Quran – their Names and Message

The name of Isa/Jesus is frequently mentioned in the Quran as the son of Maryam/Mary, and so their mentions are linked. This aspect is not often discussed, so I will do it here, as well as analyzing how and where their names are expressed and placed in Quranic architecture. Jesus is referred as “Word” in the Quran, as well as in the Bible, for example in this significant aya, which also mentions the name of prophet Jesus in full:

˹Remember˺ when the angels proclaimed, “O Mary! Allah gives you good news of a Word from Him, his name will be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; honored in this world and the Hereafter, and he will be one of those nearest ˹to Allah˺. (3:45)

In the Company of Prophets: The Raised Status of Mary in the Quran

Mary gave birth to Jesus alone, beneath a date palm, and her pain is described in the Quran.

In order to show how Allah the Exalted raised up the status of Mary/ Maryam the mother of Jesus/ ‘Eissa and why this is significant, it’s imperative to know the characteristics of true prophets. This is because after examining these characteristics and comparing them with Mary’s life as narrated in the Quran, it is clear that she meets all the qualifications of a prophet; all that prevented her from being called a prophet was her gender which in the society of her time could not assume a traditional leadership role or earn the degree of respect required for that role. Both her story and that of the prophets contain fascinating and revealing details often disregarded or not given much study.

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Al-Adha, The Feast of the Sacrifice, commemorates the occasion when Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), in accordance with a dream he saw and interpreted as a divine command, was about to sacrifice his son Isma’il when Allah called him to stop, and replaced Isma’il with a great sacrificial animal, thus sparing the life of his son, a future prophet. There is more to this narrative than meets the eye, more than one usually hears in discussions regarding this event.

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.