Autochecked users, em-bypass-1, em-bypass-2, recentchangescleanup
158
edits
Mary, Sister of Aaron: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
<br /> | <br /> | ||
== Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary == | ==Biblical and Talmudic accounts of Mary== | ||
Miriam, Aaron, and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 |The children of Amram: | Miriam, Aaron, and Moses were the children of Amram (Imran in Arabic):{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 |The children of Amram: | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}} | Her father's name was Joachim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.}} | ||
== Moses' Father == | ==Moses' Father== | ||
In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible|أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ | In Hebrew he is called Amram (עַמְרָם) with the letter ''mem'' (ם) at the end. In the Arabic Bible he is also called Amram (عمرام), with the letter ''meem'' (م) at the end:{{Quote|1 Chronicles 6:3 in Arabic Bible|أبْناءُ عَمْرامَ هُمْ هارُونُ وَمُوسَى وَمَرْيَمُ | ||
| Line 44: | Line 44: | ||
The Qur'an calls Mary the daughter of Imran{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient. | The Qur'an calls Mary the daughter of Imran{{Quote|{{Quran|66|12}}|And '''Mary, daughter of 'Imran, whose body was chaste, therefor We breathed therein something of Our Spirit.''' And she put faith in the words of her Lord and His scriptures, and was of the obedient. | ||
}}The Quran also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus. "Wife of 'Imran" is here | }}The Quran also says the wife of Imran gave birth to the virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus. "Wife of 'Imran" is here imra'atu ʿim'rān, literally woman of Imran, though the same construction certainly means "wife" a few verses later (Quran 3:40), and in several other verses. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|36}}|[Mention, O Muhammad], '''when the wife of 'Imran said ''', "My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You '''what is in my womb ''', consecrated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing."<br>But when she delivered her, she said, "My Lord, I have delivered a female." And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, "And the male is not like the female. '''And I have named her Mary ''', and I seek refuge for her in You and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah]." | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|3|35|36}}|[Mention, O Muhammad], '''when the wife of 'Imran said ''', "My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You '''what is in my womb ''', consecrated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing."<br>But when she delivered her, she said, "My Lord, I have delivered a female." And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, "And the male is not like the female. '''And I have named her Mary ''', and I seek refuge for her in You and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah]." | ||
}}The Quran mentions prominent families:{{Quote|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}} | }}The Quran mentions prominent families:{{Quote|{{Quran|3|33}}|Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds -}} | ||
==The case for a confusion mistake== | ==The case for a confusion mistake== | ||
The confusion shows itself in two ways: Calling Mary the sister of Aaron and calling her the daughter of Imarn. This makes the confusion mistake | The confusion shows itself in two ways: Calling Mary the sister of Aaron and calling her the daughter of Imarn. This makes the confusion mistake the most obvious and the simplest explanation: Since that Miriam and Mary are called the same name in Arabic "Maryam”, the author of the Quran confused Mary the mother of Jesus with Miriam the sister of Aaron and the daughter of Imran. | ||
And since that the confusion is showing itself in two ways, this makes any apologetic attempt | And since that the confusion is showing itself in two ways, this makes any apologetic attempt almost impossible to be convincing since that one not only needs to explain why Mary was called the sister of Aaron, but also needs to explain why she was called the daughter of Imran. | ||
==Traditional Muslim Explanations== | ==Traditional Muslim Explanations== | ||
'''Mary the daughter of Imran:''' | '''Mary the daughter of Imran:''' | ||
Apologetic explanations focus on why Mary was called the sister of Aaron. But not much is said about why she was called the daughter of Imran since that the solution to this issue is straightforward from an Islamic perspective: The bible is a corrupted book and not everything in it is true. So when the Quran says that Mary’s father’s name is Imran then that is his true name despite what the bible says. The works of Muslim historians clearly show that they consider Imran, the father of Mary, to be a different person than Imran the father of Aaron and Moses. The earliest mention of Mary’s lineage and Aaron’s linage in Islamic sources goes back to Ibn Ishaq (d. 768 AD) who says that Mary is the daughter of Imran the son yashhim. While he says that the father of Moses and Aaron was Imran the son of Yashar.{{Quote|1=[https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383 History of Al-Tabari, vol1. p.358]<BR>تاريخ الطبري، دار التراث، ج1 ص385|2=فولدت له يصهر بن قاهث فتزوج يصهر شميث ابنه بناديت بن بركيا ابن يقسان بن إبراهيم فولدت له عمران بن يصهر، وقارون بن يصهر، فنكح عمران يحيب ابنة شمويل بن بركيا بن يقسان بن إبراهيم فولدت له هارون بن عمران وموسى بن عمران}} | Apologetic explanations focus on why Mary was called the sister of Aaron. But not much is said about why she was called the daughter of Imran since that the solution to this issue is straightforward from an Islamic perspective: The bible is a corrupted book and not everything in it is true. So when the Quran says that Mary’s father’s name is Imran then that is his true name despite what the bible or Christian sources says. The works of Muslim historians clearly show that they consider Imran, the father of Mary, to be a different person than Imran the father of Aaron and Moses. The earliest mention of Mary’s lineage and Aaron’s linage in Islamic sources goes back to Ibn Ishaq (d.768 AD) who says that Mary is the daughter of Imran the son of yashhim. While he says that the father of Moses and Aaron was Imran the son of Yashar.{{Quote|1=[https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383 History of Al-Tabari, vol1. p.358]<BR>تاريخ الطبري، دار التراث، ج1 ص385|2=فولدت له يصهر بن قاهث فتزوج يصهر شميث ابنه بناديت بن بركيا ابن يقسان بن إبراهيم فولدت له عمران بن يصهر، وقارون بن يصهر، فنكح عمران يحيب ابنة شمويل بن بركيا بن يقسان بن إبراهيم فولدت له هارون بن عمران وموسى بن عمران}} | ||
{{Quote|1=[https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383 History of Al-Tabari, vol1. p.586]<BR>تاريخ الطبري، دار التراث، ج1 ص586|2=وأما ابن حميد، فإنه حَدَّثَنَا عن سلمة، عَنِ ابْنِ إِسْحَاقَ، أنه قَالَ | {{Quote|1=[https://al-maktaba.org/book/9783/383 History of Al-Tabari, vol1. p.586]<BR>تاريخ الطبري، دار التراث، ج1 ص586|2=وأما ابن حميد، فإنه حَدَّثَنَا عن سلمة، عَنِ ابْنِ إِسْحَاقَ، أنه قَالَ | ||
مريم- فيما بلغني عن نسبها- ابنة عمران بن ياشهم بن أمون}} | مريم- فيما بلغني عن نسبها- ابنة عمران بن ياشهم بن أمون}} | ||
This Islamic take on Mary’s father hugely undermines the apologetic attempts trying to explain why she was called the sister of Aaron because there’s already a big | This Islamic take on Mary’s father hugely undermines the apologetic attempts trying to explain why she was called the sister of Aaron because there’s already a big assumptions being made: That the Christian sources mistook the name of Mary’s father. And that out of sheer coincidence, Mary’s father’s name is the same as the name of the father of Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron. | ||
'''Mary the sister of Aaron:''' | '''Mary the sister of Aaron:''' | ||
| Line 103: | Line 103: | ||
4- Out of coincidence, Mary’s father’s true name matches the name of Miriam’s father. | 4- Out of coincidence, Mary’s father’s true name matches the name of Miriam’s father. | ||
| Line 112: | Line 113: | ||
And the mere fact we have a report attributed to Muhammad trying to explain the confusion means that the verse was understood literally. | And the mere fact we have a report attributed to Muhammad trying to explain the confusion means that the verse was understood literally. | ||
The only reason for not taking the verse literally is to avoid the confusion mistake. Which violates the scientific methodology since that these metaphorical interpretations already assume the conclusion: The Quran cannot | The only reason for not taking the verse literally is to avoid the confusion mistake. Which violates the scientific methodology since that these metaphorical interpretations already assume the conclusion: The Quran cannot be making a mistake. | ||
Plus, where did this “Aaron the righteous man” come from? There’s no mention of him whatsoever in the Quran. He’s only mentioned in Islamic interpretations of this verse. If there’s no mention of him in Christian or Jewish sources then it’s clear he was made up by Muslims to solve the mistake in the verse. | Plus, where did this “Aaron the righteous man” come from? There’s no mention of him whatsoever in the Quran. He’s only mentioned in Islamic interpretations of this verse. If there’s no mention of him in Christian or Jewish sources then it’s clear he was made up by Muslims to solve the mistake in the verse. | ||
| Line 121: | Line 122: | ||
حدثنا الحسن، قال: أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، قال: أخبرنا معمر، عن قتادة، في قوله (يَاأُخْتَ هَارُونَ) قال: كان رجلا صالحًا في بني إسرائيل يسمى هارون، فشبَّهوها به، فقالوا: يا شبيهة هارون في الصلاح. | حدثنا الحسن، قال: أخبرنا عبد الرزاق، قال: أخبرنا معمر، عن قتادة، في قوله (يَاأُخْتَ هَارُونَ) قال: كان رجلا صالحًا في بني إسرائيل يسمى هارون، فشبَّهوها به، فقالوا: يا شبيهة هارون في الصلاح. | ||
حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله (يَاأُخْتَ هَارُونَ مَا كَانَ أَبُوكِ امْرَأَ سَوْءٍ وَمَا كَانَتْ أُمُّكِ بَغِيًّا) قال: كانت من أهل بيت يُعرفون بالصلاح، ولا يُعرفون بالفساد ومن الناس من يُعرفون بالصلاح ويتوالدون به، وآخرون يُعرفون بالفساد ويتوالدون به، وكان هارون مصلحا محببا في عشيرته، وليس بهارون أخي موسى، ولكنه هارون آخر. قال: وذُكر لنا أنه شيع جنازته يوم مات أربعون ألفا، كلهم يسمون هارون من بني إسرائيل}} | حدثنا بشر، قال: ثنا يزيد، قال: ثنا سعيد، عن قتادة، قوله (يَاأُخْتَ هَارُونَ مَا كَانَ أَبُوكِ امْرَأَ سَوْءٍ وَمَا كَانَتْ أُمُّكِ بَغِيًّا) قال: كانت من أهل بيت يُعرفون بالصلاح، ولا يُعرفون بالفساد ومن الناس من يُعرفون بالصلاح ويتوالدون به، وآخرون يُعرفون بالفساد ويتوالدون به، وكان هارون مصلحا محببا في عشيرته، وليس بهارون أخي موسى، ولكنه هارون آخر. قال: وذُكر لنا أنه شيع جنازته يوم مات أربعون ألفا، كلهم يسمون هارون من بني إسرائيل}} | ||
| Line 143: | Line 145: | ||
But the Muslim tradition makes this distinction thanks to the bible and the Christian sources, not the Quran. Any straightforward reading of the Quran shows clearly that Mary is the sister of Moses and Aaron and their father is Imran. Of course, the Muslim tradition will not adopt this view since it means that the Quran has made a mistake. | But the Muslim tradition makes this distinction thanks to the bible and the Christian sources, not the Quran. Any straightforward reading of the Quran shows clearly that Mary is the sister of Moses and Aaron and their father is Imran. Of course, the Muslim tradition will not adopt this view since it means that the Quran has made a mistake. | ||
<br /> | <br /> | ||
==A summary == | ==A summary== | ||
Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text. | Miriam was the daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron. The Qur'an describes Mary, the mother of Jesus, as being a daughter of Amram and a sister of Aaron - in the same family relationship as Miriam. Many people, including Aisha, understood Mary and Miriam to be the same person, based on their understanding of the Qur'anic text. | ||