عِمْرَٰنَ

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Important Words:

عمران (‘Imran) may possibly refer to two persons: (1) Amram of the Bible, who was a son of Kohath and a grandson of Levi. He was the father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam, Moses being the youngest of the three (Jew. Enc. under Amram; also Exod. 6:18-20). (2) ‘Imran, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus. This ‘Imran was the son of Yoshhim or Yoshim (Jarir & Kathir).

Commentary:

From this verse onward the Quranic narration narrows down specifically to the Christian people, the present verse beautifully beginning with the mention of Adam and ending with that of "the Family of ‘Imran". ‘Imran, as stated above, was (1) the name of the father of Moses and (2) of the father of Mary. The Quran has chosen this name with a twofold purpose: (1) to include, besides Moses, a reference to Aaron, the elder brother of Moses, and (2) to use it as a sort of preamble for introducing the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and, through it, that of Jesus himself. The repetition of the name "‘Imran" in the verse following the succeeding one also points to the same conclusion.

It is significant that whereas the verse mentions the names of Adam and Noah singly and individually, it refers to Abraham and ‘Imran as heads of families. This has been done in order to point out that the latter names include references to certain individuals from among their progeny. Thus the expression "family of Abraham" not only refers to Abraham personally but also to his sons and grandsons, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. It may also include a reference to the Holy Prophet of Islam who was likewise descended from Abraham. Similarly, the words "Family of ‘Imran" refer to Aaron, Moses and Jesus. ‘Imran himself is not included, as he was not a Prophet. See also 3:36.

The verse also helps to clarify the meaning of such Quranic expressions as "Allah chose or exalted this or that person or this or that people above all peoples", for, here Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of ‘Imran have all been spoken of as being chosen above all peoples. As all these cannot possibly be above all others, for that would be a contradiction in terms, the only inference is that each one of the above-mentioned individuals and families was exalted above the men or the peoples of his or their age only and not above the peoples of all ages.

The verse also serves to point out that just as Adam, Noah, Abraham and the children of ‘Imran were successful in spite of the opposition of the people, so will God make the Prophet of Islam successful in spite of the hostility of the enemies of Islam and will prove that he and his Companions were His chosen people.

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Important Words:

محررا (dedicated to special service) is derived from حر i.e. it became hot; or he became free. حرر means, he wrote; or he wrote well and elegantly and accurately. حرر رقبة means, he freed a slave. حرر ابنه means, he dedicated his son for the worship of God and the service of the church or the temple; or he devoted him to that service as long as he should live. محرر means, freed from slavery; emancipated; a child devoted by the parent to the service of the church or the temple; or one divorced from all affairs of the world and dedicated to the service of the temple (Lane, Mufradat & Jarir). It was a custom among the Israelites that those who were dedicated to the service of the temple remained unmarried (Gospel of Mary, 5:6; and Bayan under 3:36).

امرأة (woman) is derived from مرأ i.e. it (the food) was wholesome. مرء or امرأ means, a man. مرأة or امرأة means, a woman; a perfect woman; a wife (Lane).

عمران (‘Imran). In the present verse the word is either the abbreviated form of آل عمران (the family of ‘Imran, father of Moses) just as they use the word "Israel" for "the Children of Israel" (see 2:41), or it refers to ‘Imran, the father of Mary. See also 3:34.

Commentary:

In this verse the mother of Mary whose name was Hanna (Enc. Bib.) has been spoken of as امرأة عمران (woman of ‘Imran), while in 19:29 Mary herself has been addressed as اخت ھارون (sister of Aaron). ‘Imran (Amram) and Aaron were respectively the father and brother of Moses, while he had also a sister named Miriam. Being ignorant of Arabic idiom and Quranic style, Christian writers, who ascribe the authorship of the Quran to the Holy Prophet, think that in his ignorance he confused Mary, mother of Jesus, with Mary or Miriam, the sister of Moses. Thus they pretend to have discovered a serious anachronism in the Quran––an absurd charge, inasmuch as quite a number of passages can be cited to show that the Quran considers Moses and Jesus as two Prophets separated from each other by a long line of Prophets (e.g. 2:88; 5:44-46).

These Christian writers are not the first to make this "discovery". The "credit" for it goes to the Christians of Najran who, as long as 1,350 years ago, raised the same objection and received a prompt reply. It is on record that when the Holy Prophet sent Mughirah to Najran, a Christian of that place asked him: "Do you not read in the Quran Mary (mother of Jesus,) being mentioned as the sister of Aaron, while you know that Jesus was born a long, long time after Moses?" "I did not know the answer," says Mughirah, "and on my return to Medina I enquired about it of the Holy Prophet who readily answered, 'Why did you not tell them that the Israelites used to name their children after their deceased Prophets and saints?' " (Tirmidhi). In fact, there is actually a tradition to the effect that the husband of Hanna and the father of Mary was named ‘Imran whose father, (i.e. Mary’s grandfather) had the name Yoshhim or Yoshim (Jarir & Kathir). Thus this ‘Imran is different from the ‘Imran who was the father of Moses and whose own father was Kohath (Exod. 6:18-20).

The fact that Hanna’s husband, or for that matter Mary’s father, has been named Joachim in the Christian scriptures (Gospel of the Birth of Mary and the Enc. Brit. under Mary) should not perplex us as Joachim is the same as Yoshim mentioned by Ibn Jarir as the father of ‘Imran. The Christian scriptures give the name of the grandfather instead of the father, which is not an uncommon practice. Besides, there are instances in the Bible of one person being known by two names. Gideon, for instance, was also called Jerubbaal (Judg. 7:1). So there should be no surprise if the second name of Joachim happened to be ‘Imran.

Moreover, like individuals, families, too, are sometimes known after the names of their distinguished ancestors. In the Bible, the name Israel sometimes stands for the Israelites (Deut. 6:3, 4) and Kedar for the Ishmaelites (Isa. 21:16; 42:11). Similarly, Jesus has been called the son of David (Matt. 1:1). So the words امرأة عمران may also mean امرأة آل عمرانi.e. a woman from the family of ‘Imran, or a perfect woman from the family of ‘Imran. This explanation finds further strength from the fact that the words آل عمران (family of ‘Imran) have been used by the Quran only two verses before the present one. So the word آل (family) was dropped here owing to the nearness of reference. And it is admitted that Hanna, the mother of Mary, who was the cousin of Elisabeth (John’s mother) belonged to the House of Aaron and through him to that of ‘Imran (Luke 1:5, 36).

The vow of Mary’s mother seems to have been taken under the influence of the Essenes who were generally held in high esteem by the people of that time, and who practised celibacy and excluded women from their membership, and dedicated their lives to the service of religion and their fellow beings (Enc. Bib. and Jew. Enc.). It is remarkable that the teachings of the Gospels have much in common with those of the Essenes. It is also clear from the meaning of the word محرر as given under Important Words above, that Mary’s mother had vowed the dedication of her child’s life to the service of the temple, and as such she intended the child never to marry, which shows that Mary was meant to belong to the priestly class. This is why, elsewhere in the Quran, she is called the sister of Aaron and not of Moses (19:29) though both were real brothers, for whereas Moses was the founder of the Jewish Law, Aaron was the head of the Jewish priestly class (Enc. Bib. and Enc. Brit. under Aaron). Thus Mary, mother of Jesus, was the sister of Aaron not in the sense that she was his real sister but in the sense that, like Aaron, she belonged to the priestly order.

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Commentary:

In this and the preceding two verses, examples of the wives of the Prophets Noah and Lot, of the wife of Pharaoh, and the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, are set forth. The disbelievers are compared to the wives of Noah and Lot in order to show that the companionship of a righteous man, even of a Prophet of God, does not benefit an evilly minded person who is bent upon rejecting truth. Prophet Noah’s wife was of a more wicked disposition than the wife of Lot since the latter only preferred the company of her relatives to that of Lot, while Noah’s son, probably under the corrupting influence of his mother, had rejected his father’s Message. The wife of Pharaoh stands for those believers who, though passionately desiring and praying to get rid of sin, yet cannot fully dissociate themselves from evil influences, represented by Pharaoh, and having arrived at the stage of the self-accusing soul (النفس اللوامة ) sometimes fail and falter. Mary, the mother of Jesus, represents those righteous servants of God, who having closed all avenues of sin and having made peace with God, are blessed with Divine inspiration; the pronoun (masculine gender) in فیه standing for such fortunate believers. Or, the pronoun may stand for فرج which, literally meaning a cleft or fissure, signifies an opening through which sin can find access.