19:23 Maryam (Mary)

تفسير الايتين 22 و 23 :ـأي: لما حملت بعيسى عليه السلام، خافت من الفضيحة، فتباعدت عن الناس { مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا ْ} فلما قرب ولادها، ألجأها المخاض إلى جذع نخلة، فلما آلمها وجع الولادة، ووجع الانفراد عن الطعام والشراب، ووجع قلبها من قالة الناس، وخافت عدم صبرها، تمنت أنها ماتت قبل هذا الحادث، وكانت نسيا منسيا فلا تذكر. وهذا التمني بناء على ذلك المزعج، وليس في هذه الأمنية خير لها ولا مصلحة، وإنما الخير والمصلحة بتقدير ما حصل.

وقوله "فأجاءها المخاض إلى جذع النخلة" أي فاضطرها وألجأها الطلق إلى جذع نخلة في المكان الذي تنحت إليه وقد اختلفوا فيه فقال السدي كان شرقي محرابها الذي تصلي فيه من بيت المقدس وقال وهب بن منبه ذهبت هاربة فلما كانت بين الشام وبلاد مصر ضربها الطلق وفي رواية عن وهب كان ذلك على ثمانية أميال من بيت المقدس في قرية هناك يقال لها بيت لحم قلت وقد تقدم في أحاديث الإسراء من رواية النسائي عن أنس رضي عنه والبيهقي عن شداد بن أوس رضي الله عنه أن ذلك ببيت لحم فالله أعلم; وهذا هو المشهور الذي تلقاه الناس بعضهم عن بعض ولا يشك فيه النصارى أنه ببيت لحم وقد تلقاه الناس وقد ورد به الحديث إن صح وقوله تعالى إخبارا عنها "قالت يا ليتني مت قبل هذا وكنت نسيا منسيا" فيه دليل على جواز تمني الموت عند الفتنة فإنها عرفت أنها ستبتلى وتمتحن بهذا المولود الذي لا يحمل الناس أمرها فيه على السداد ولا يصدقونها في خبرها وبعد ما كانت عندهم عابدة ناسكة تصبح عندهم فيما يظنون عاهرة زانية فقالت "يا ليتني مت قبل هذا" أي قبل هذا الحال "وكنت نسيا منسيا" أي لم أخلق ولم أك شيئا قاله ابن عباس وقال السدي قالت وهي تطلق من الحبل استحياء من الناس يا ليتني مت قبل هذا الكرب الذي أنا فيه والحزن بولادتي المولود من غير بعل "وكنت نسيا منسيا" نسي فترك طلبه كخرق الحيض إذا ألقيت وطرحت لم تطلب ولم تذكر وكذلك كل شيء نسي وترك فهو نسي وقال قتادة "وكنت نسيا منسيا" أي شيئا لا يعرف ولا يذكر ولا يدري من أنا وقال الربيع بن أنس "وكنت نسيا منسيا" هو السقط وقال ابن زيد لم أكن شيئا قط وقد قدمنا الأحاديث الدالة على النهي عن تمني الموت إلا عند الفتنة عند قوله "توفني مسلما وألحقني بالصالحين".

The Conception and the Birth

Allah, the Exalted, informs about Maryam that when Jibril had spoken to her about what Allah said, she accepted the decree of Allah. Many scholars of the predecessors (Salaf) have mentioned that at this point the angel (who was Jibril) blew into the opening of the garment that she was wearing. Then the breath descended until it entered into her vagina and she conceived the child by the leave of Allah. Muhammad bin Ishaq said, "When she conceived him and filled her water jug (at a well), she returned (to her people). After this, her menstrual bleeding ceased and she experienced what the pregnant woman experiences of sickness, hunger, change of color and there was even a change in the manner of her speech. After this, no people came to visit any house like they did the house of Zakariyya. The word spread among the Children of Israel and the people were saying, `Verily, her partner (in fornication) was Yusuf, because there was no one else in the temple with her except him.' So she hid herself from the people and placed a veil between herself and them. No one saw her and she did not see anyone else." Allah said;

فَأَجَآءَهَا الْمَخَاضُ إِلَى جِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ

(And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date palm.) This means that her pains of labor compelled her to go to the trunk of a date-palm tree that was at the place where she had secluded herself. The scholars differed over its location. As-Suddi said, "Her place of seclusion was to the east and that was where she would pray at the Sacred House of Jerusalem." Wahb bin Munabbih said, "She ran away and when she reached an area between Ash-Sham and Egypt, she was overcome by labor pains." In another narration from Wahb, he said, "This took place eight miles from the Sacred House of Jerusalem in a village that was known as Bayt Al-Lahm (Bethlehem)." I say, there are Hadiths about the Isra' (Night Journey of the Prophet ) that are reported by An-Nasa'i on the authority of Anas, and Al-Bayhaqi on the authority of Shadad bin Aws, that say that this took place at Bait Al-Lahm. Allah knows best. This is what is well known that the people all relate from each other. The Christians have no doubt held that the place of this occurrence was Bethlehem and this is what all the people relate. It has been related in a Hadith also, if the Hadith is authentic. Allah says, informing about her,

قَالَتْ يلَيْتَنِى مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَـذَا وَكُنتُ نَسْياً مَّنسِيّاً

(She said: "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!") In this is an evidence of the permissibility to wish for death when a calamity strikes. She knew that she was going to be tested with the birth, the people would not assist her, and they would not believe her story. After she was known as a devout worshipper among them, they now thought that she had become a fornicating whore. She said,

يلَيْتَنِى مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَـذَا

(Would that I had died before this,) She said this to mean before this situation.

وَكُنتُ نَسْياً مَّنسِيّاً

(and I had been forgotten and out of sight!) This means, "I wish I had not been created and I was nothing." This was mentioned by Ibn `Abbas. Qatadah said,

وَكُنتُ نَسْياً مَّنسِيّاً

(and I had been forgotten and out of sight!) "This means something unknown, forgotten and no one knew who I was."

And the birth pangs the pains of childbirth brought her to the trunk of the palm-tree that she may support herself against it and then she gave birth the conception formation of the foetus and delivery all took place within one hour. She said ‘O yā is used to call attention to something would that I had died before this affair and become a forgotten thing beyond recall!’ a thing abandoned which no one knows or mentions.

Commentary

Injunction in respect of desire for death

If her desire for death was due to worldly problems then she may be excused on the ground that she was overpowered by the surrounding circumstances and had reached a state of mind usually called by the mystics as غلبۃ الحال "Ghalabah-tul-Hal." But if the desire for death was due to religious consideration, it was justifiable in its own right, because she feared that people would talk ill of her and she would not be able to endure it with patience. This could be tantamount to committing a sin of showing impatience and only death could save her from such a predicament.

The vow of silence has been prohibited under the Islamic Law

Before the advent of Islam silence was also a form of worship, and those who observed this fast were not supposed to speak from dawn to dusk. Islam cancelled this fast and made it mandatory to refrain from idle talk, lying and back-biting. Refraining from normal conversation is not a form of worship in Islam anymore and, hence to take a vow of silence is also not permissible. Abu Dawud (رح) has reported the following Hadith from the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

لا یتم بعد احتلام ، ولا صمات یوم الی اللیل

It means that a child who has lost his father may not be regarded as an orphan after attaining puberty, and the rules pertaining to an orphan cease to apply on him. And that remaining silent from dawn to dusk is not a form of worship in Islam (This Hadith has been rated by As-Suyuti and Al-` Azizi as Hasan).

She has been directed to eat the dates because it has been established medically that the use of water and dates gives relief in labour pains.

Conceiving a child without copulation with a man is not totally impossible

That Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) conceived and gave birth to a child was a miracle. And miracles, however improbable they may be in appearance, are not beyond Allah's power, rather, the more improbable they are, the more pronounced their miraculous nature. However, it cannot be taken as totally impossible, because according to some books of medical science, the lubricants found inside the female genitals are not merely a passive agent for conceiving a child; they also have a capacity of being active and a potential to make fetus by themselves without an external semen joining them. Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the famous medical scientist, has mentioned in his book 'Al-Qanun' that in a special disease, named by him as 'Raja' an imperfect form of even the organs of a fetus is shaped in the uterus of a woman without the intermediation of a male semen. So long as this potential is there, it cannot be taken as totally impossible, because some abnormal factor may increase this potential.

In verse 25 Allah Ta` ala commanded Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) to shake the date tree, although it was within His power to drop the dates in her lap. But here the suggestion is that one should strive to earn one's living, and that the struggle for sustenance does not conflict with one's trust in Allah (Ruh ul-Ma’ ani).