What Was Mary's Reaction When the Angel Told Her She Would Have a Son?
كيف كان موقف مريم عليها السلام حين بشّرها المَلَك بغلام زكي؟
She was very surprised because she was completely chaste and no mortal man had touched her. But the angel told her that his birth was the command of Allah, a miracle birth, a thing already ordained. When Allah orders a thing to happen, He only has to say "Be," and it is.
("She wondered, 'How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me, nor am I unchaste?' He replied, 'So will it be! Your Lord says, "It is easy for Me. And so will We make him a sign for humanity and a mercy from Us." It is a matter already decreed.'") (Maryam 19:20-21)
("Mary wondered, 'My Lord! How can I have a child when no man has ever touched me?'") (Al-Imran 3:47)
استغربت لأنها كانت عذراء وطاهرة ولم يلمسها أي رجل، ولكن قال لها المَلَك إن الله سبحانه أراد ذلك، وإذا أراد شيئًا فهو سبحانه يقول له: "كن" فيكون.
(قَالَتْ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا ﴿٢٠﴾ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ ۖ وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرًا مَّقْضِيًّا) مريم 19: 20- 21
(قَالَتْ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ) آل عمران 3: 47
1. Nor Am I Unchaste | وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا
In Surah Al-Imran, Mary asks only how she could have a child when no man had touched her (3:47). In Surah Maryam she adds: "nor am I unchaste" (19:20). Ibn Kathir explains her wonder: how could this boy come from her, when she had no husband and indecency could not be imagined of her; baghiyy, he notes, is a woman who commits zina. So she denied in plain words the very charge her people hinted at later, when she came to them carrying her son: "O sister of Aaron! Your father was not an indecent man, nor was your mother unchaste" (19:28).
في سورة آل عمران قالت مريم عليها السلام: (رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ) (آل عمران 3: 47)، وزادت في سورة مريم: (وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا) (مريم 19: 20)، فنفت عن نفسها الفاحشة، وهي التي عرّض بها قومها حين أتتهم بولدها تحمله، فقالوا: (يَا أُخْتَ هَارُونَ مَا كَانَ أَبُوكِ امْرَأَ سَوْءٍ وَمَا كَانَتْ أُمُّكِ بَغِيًّا) (مريم 19: 28). قال ابن كثير رحمه الله: فتعجبت مريم من هذا وقالت: كيف يكون لي غلام؟ أي: على أي صفة يُوجَد هذا الغلام مني، ولست بذات زوج، ولا يُتصوَّر مني الفجور، ولهذا قالت: (ولم يمسسني بشر ولم أك بغيا)، والبغي: هي الزانية.
2. A Sign for Humanity and a Mercy | آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا
Allah says He will make this child "a sign for humanity and a mercy from Us" (19:21). Ibn Kathir explains the sign: proof for people of the power of their Maker and Creator, who varied the way He created them. He created their father Adam from neither male nor female, Eve from a male without a female, the rest of mankind from a male and a female, and Jesus from a female without a male, completing the four ways that show the perfection of His power and the greatness of His dominion. The mercy, he explains, is that this child would be a prophet calling people to worship Allah alone, and he cites Al-Imran: "And he will speak to people in his infancy and adulthood and will be one of the righteous" (3:46), that is, he would call people to Allah in his cradle and in his maturity.
قال الله تعالى: (وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا) (مريم 19: 21). قال ابن كثير رحمه الله: أي: دلالة وعلامة للناس على قدرة بارئهم وخالقهم، الذي نوّع في خلقهم، فخلق أباهم آدم من غير ذكر ولا أنثى، وخلق حواء من ذكر بلا أنثى، وخلق بقية الذرية من ذكر وأنثى، إلا عيسى فإنه أوجده من أنثى بلا ذكر، فتمّت القسمة الرباعية الدالة على كمال قدرته وعظيم سلطانه. وقال في قوله تعالى: (وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا): أي ونجعل هذا الغلام رحمة من الله نبيا من الأنبياء يدعو إلى عبادة الله تعالى وتوحيده، ثم استشهد بقوله تعالى في سورة آل عمران: (وَيُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِي الْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًا وَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ) (آل عمران 3: 46)، وقال: أي: يدعو إلى عبادة الله ربه في مهده وكهولته.
3. It Is Easy for Me | هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ
"It is easy for Me" was said to Zachariah before it was said to Mary. Earlier in the same surah the angel used these words to answer Zachariah's astonishment that he could have a son at his old age: "It is easy for Me, just as I created you before, when you were nothing!" (19:9). Ibn Kathir explains: bringing about a son from you and from this wife of yours, not another, is easy and simple for Allah; then He reminded him of something more wondrous than what he had asked about, his own creation from nothing. In Al-Imran the two answers differ in one word: to Zachariah, "Allah does what He wills" (3:40); to Mary, "Allah creates what He wills" (3:47). Ibn Kathir notes that "creates" was stated plainly for Mary, not "does" as in the story of Zachariah, so that no doubt would remain. What immediately followed this announcement is covered in how Mary got pregnant and how she gave birth.
وقد قيلت كلمة (هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ) لزكريا عليه السلام قبل أن تُقال لمريم عليها السلام، ففي السورة نفسها أجابه المَلَك لمّا تعجّب أن يُرزق الولد على كِبَره: (قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئًا) (مريم 19: 9). قال ابن كثير رحمه الله: أي: إيجاد الولد منك ومن زوجتك هذه لا من غيرها (هين) أي: يسير سهل على الله، ثم ذكر له ما هو أعجب مما سأل عنه. وفي سورة آل عمران جاء الجواب لزكريا: (كَذَٰلِكَ اللَّهُ يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَاءُ) (آل عمران 3: 40)، وجاء لمريم: (كَذَٰلِكِ اللَّهُ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ) (آل عمران 3: 47)، قال ابن كثير: وصرّح هاهنا بقوله: (يخلق) ولم يقل: "يفعل" كما في قصة زكريا، بل نصّ هاهنا على أنه يخلق، لئلا يبقى شبهة.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
What was Mary's reaction to the angel's news?
She was astonished and asked how she could have a son when no man had touched her and she was not unchaste.
Why did Mary specifically deny being unchaste?
To rule out the explanation people might otherwise assume: her words in Maryam 19:20 defend her chastity as well as ask how the birth could happen.
What purpose did Allah give for this birth?
To make her son a sign for humanity and a mercy from Allah.
Was a similar promise made to anyone else in the same surah?
Yes, Zachariah (peace be upon him) was told the same words, "It is easy for Me," when he wondered how he could have a son at his old age.