The Quran
A book for both the Christian and the Muslim 

Islam's attitude of love, respect and commendation for the Christians is another reason behind my being attracted to this religion intellectually and spiritually. It is this friendly attitude that prompted me to delve into it and to drink my fill from its fresh, pure waters.

In any case, Islam did not concern itself only with generalities; it also devoted many beautiful, clear verses to Christ, Mary and the anchorites, about whom it spoke highly. The Holy Quran elevated Mary in particular to a position no other woman has ever reached in history.

For the Christians, Christ is the beginning and the end; this is why they call themselves "Christians," to express that close, or rather organic, relationship holding between them and Christ in person from the very beginning.

Unlike the Muslims, who rightly refuse to be called "Mohammedan," the Christians consider their name a fundamental condition for their religious affiliation.

The Christian is positively affected by any written commendation of Jesus. In this particular context, and in other  general contexts, the Holy Quran is not a book for Muslims only, but for Christians, too.

As I came to know the Holy Quran, in general, and as I became acquainted with what is said in it about the Christians, Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the anchorites, in particular, I began to feel that there is a morsel for me in this Book of God, and that it is not unfamiliar to me, nor am I alien to it.

The Quran is as much my book as it is the Muslim's; through my share in it - a big one, indeed - I feel that this Book is addressed to every human being who believes in God and the Last Day.

Worth noticing in this connection is the fact that Islam respects the Christian doctrine - a fundamental tenet which succinctly holds that Christ had no human or earthly father - and consequently,  it treats the Christian belief known as the "Immaculate Conception" particular to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, with deference, albeit in an indirect but clear manner.

Known in the Quran as Cissa (Jesus), and also as al-Masih (Christ), Christ is always, and forever, the Son of Mary, not because his father is unknown - no, Allah knows all things. Had Christ had a father, Allah would have mentioned him by name in His Book, but Christ did not have a human father. Mary, unlike all the women of the world, did not conceive from a human being, because "no man has touched her". She conceived through divine intervention "The Holy Spirit," as will be explained later.

The verses in which Christ is referred to as "Son of Mary" abound; here are some of them : 

"And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary …", [The Table Spread : 46].

"That they said (in boast) : 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary …'", [Women : 157].

“O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary …", [The Family of Imran : 45].

"Curses were pronounced on those among the children of Israel who rejected faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary …", [The Table  Spread : 78].

From the point of view of its essence and in terms of its direct relation to God, Christ's birth is the same in the Quran and in the New Testament: it goes back to Mary whom Allah has chosen for such an event.

This is why the Quran places great emphasis time and again on Mary's chastity, for Mary is indeed a precious gem in the Book of Allah.

Let us listen to Allah as He says :

"Behold! The Angels said : 'Oh Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee, chosen thee above all the women of all nations'", [The Family of Imran : 42].

This verse makes clear that Allah - the Great and Almighty - chose Mary and purified her, and after he had purified her, he chose her again. This is not lexical redundancy; it is a spiritual emphasis upon her being chosen above the women of all nations.

The double occurrence of the words "hath chosen thee" - the first referring to Mary alone, and the second to Mary being "chosen above the women of all nations" - prompts us to stress that the meaning in the first instance is different from that in the second. For Allah - to Whom we ascribe all perfection and majesty - does not speak in vain, if we may say so.

In the first instance, the words "hath chosen thee" mean that Allah had chosen Mary from the beginning, even before the Original Sin was committed : Adam and Eve disobeying Allah's command, for which act God punished them by expelling them from Heaven.

Therefore, the Original Sin did not involve Mary, because Allah had purified her from inception. Why did He purify her from the beginning ? The answer is clear : to choose her later above the women of all nations. And why did He choose her above all the women of all nations ? The answer is clear here, too : Allah - the Great and Almighty - had prepared her to be the Mother of Jesus Christ.

In the Quran, Mary is the daughter of Imran; her mother is "a woman of Imran". Allah has devoted to the Family of Imran a whole chapter that  carries its name :

"Allah did choose Adam and Noah, the Family of Abraham and the Family of Imran above all the people, offspring one of the other, and Allah heareth and knoweth all things", [The Family of Imran : 33-34].

Therefore, Mary's lineage goes back all the way to Adam, through Imran, Abraham, Noah, and all of the others - from Adam all the way to Imran - whom Allah has chosen above all the families of other nations.

It is to Allah that "a woman of Imran", the Mother of Mary, turns when she says : "Behold! A woman of Imran said : O my Lord! I do dedicate unto Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: so accept this of me : for Thou hearest and knoweth all things …. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected. Right graciously did her Lord accept her : He made her grow in purity and beauty", [The Family of Imran : 35-37].

Explicators and commentators have reported the following brief statement : "Except Mary and her son, every infant is touched by Satan at birth, which is why it cries. This means that Satan tempts every child, and tries to influence it, except Mary and her son because Allah - be He exalted - had safeguarded them through the blessing of the protection".

Mary grew up and blossomed, reaching the age of marriage. Then the angels brought her a grave piece of news, unique in its kind ever since a human existed on earth - since Adam . These tidings made Mary and her son two very special human beings, very different from all other creatures :

"Behold! The angels said : 'O Mary ! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him : his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah; he shall speak to people in childhood and in maturity, and he shall be (of the company) of the righteous.' She said : 'O Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me ?' He said : 'Even so : Allah createth what he willeth: when He hath decreed a Plan, He but saith to it : 'Be' and it is!", [The Family of Imran : 45-47].

In other manifest verses, the glad tidings reach the acme of beauty :

"Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. She said : 'I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious. Come not near me if thou dost fear Allah.' He said : 'nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.' She said : 'How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste ?' he said : ' So (it will be) : Thy Lord saith, that is easy for Me : (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a mercy from Us' : it is matter (so) decreed! So she conceived him and retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree : she cried (in her anguish) 'Ah would that I had died before this! Would I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight! But (a voice) cried to her from beneath (the palm tree); Grieve not! For thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath the tree; and shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm tree; it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say 'I have vowed a fast to Allah, Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into no talk with any human being.' At length she brought the babe to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said : 'O Mary! Truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!' But she pointed to the babe; they said : 'How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle ?' He said : 'I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet. And He had blessed me wheresoever I be, and enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live. He hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable. So peace is on me the day I was born and the day that I will die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)'", [Mary : 16-33].

In this verse, as in those mentioned earlier, there is confirmation that Mary was not touched by a human being, yet she conceived and gave birth to her son Christ, Jesus - peace be upon him. She became pregnant from the Spirit of God; that is why her son is the "Word of God". This, in essence, is the Christian belief with regard to Mary.

In this respect, the Quran went even further, for nowhere is the surrealism, which the West discovered only in the twentieth century, more apparent than in Allah's words about Mary, as He says : "And (remember) her who guarded her chastity We breathed into her Our Spirit and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples", [The Prophets : 91].

Can a Christian who hears such words from Allah - the Great and Almighty - see himself as a stranger in the world of Islam and Muslims ? Cannot the Quran be his Book, too, just like the New Testament, at least in what concerns Mary ?

What does the Christian read in the New Testament regarding this very point ? Let us listen to what Luke has to say about the Glad Tidings :

"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the Angel came in unto her and said : 'Hail! Thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.' And when she saw him she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said unto her : 'Fear not, Mary: for thou hast favor with God. And behold! Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the Highest …'.  Then said Mary unto the Angel : 'How shall this be, seeing that I know not a man ?' And the Angel said unto her : 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee … For with God nothing shall be impossible'", [Luke 1 : 26-35].

The New Testament says: "How shall this be, seeing that I know not a man ?".

The Quran says : "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me ?".

The New Testament says : "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee".

The Quran says : "Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects".

The New Testament says : "For with God nothing shall be impossible".

The Quran says : "So (it will be) : Thy Lord saith, 'That is easy for me …".

My love for Islam grows stronger when I realize that it honors Mary and holds her in high esteem while some Christian denominations show no respect at all for the Mother of Christ, nor do they refrain from disparaging her; they even vilify her at times.

Worth mentioning is the fact that Islam has condemned the Jews and even called them infidels; it considered what they said about Mary a most serious slander. "That they rejected Faith; that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge", [Women : 156].

In addition to what has already been said about Mary's chastity and her being chosen by Allah Who had set her and her son as a Sign for the Worlds, we also find in the Quran verses which say that Allah looked after her when she was a crawling little girl, secured her sustenance, and made her aware - while still less than one year old - that she was chosen and called upon to assume an extraordinary role.

This is why we hear her in the Quran speak and utter, even as a little girl, things that only a mature adult can say.

"Right graciously did her Lord accept her : He made her grow in purity and beauty; to the care of Zakariya was she assigned. Every time that he entered (her) chamber to see her, he found her supplied with sustenance. He said : 'O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you ?' She said : 'From Allah : for Allah provides sustenance to whom he pleases, without measure" [The Family of Imran : 37].

It is all too beautiful that Allah assigns Mary to the care of Zakariya or any other human being. Equally beautiful is the fact that she spoke while still a little girl; but what is even more extraordinary and marvelous is the fact that she said, when still a little girl, what only the seasoned and wise men amongst humans could speak : "Allah provides sustenance to whom He pleases, without measure".

Not only did Mary, the little girl, speak, she uttered wise words, and was conscious of Allah's intervention in her birth, upbringing and destiny. Since her childhood - and this is not given to any other human being but to her and her son - Mary understood that Allah alone gives and takes, elevates and humiliates, and gives life and gives death.

After Mary, Christ - the child - spoke while still in "the cradle" to say what grown-ups would say : "He said : 'I am indeed a servant of Allah : He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; and He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live : (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable. So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life", [Mary : 30-33].

Thus - by the power of Allah, who has power over all things- Christ knew, since his childhood, that Allah had given him the Book and made him a prophet blessed wherever he was.

Islam continues to honor Christ even further, and acknowledges his power to perform wonders, acknowledging that Allah had conferred this power upon him : "And (appoint) him a Messenger to the children of Israel, (with this message) : 'I Have come to you with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird, by Allah's leave: and I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave … Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe", [The Family of Imran : 49].

The Christian who reads in the Quran these verses about the Christians, Christ, and Mary must do a little bit of reckoning with himself or a little self-criticism to see if his stands with regard to Islam over the generations are fair and objective, and compatible with the fiducial truth that is clearly apparent in these verses; or if, on the contrary, they are replete with false accusations and alien to that truth.

One of the virtues of Islam is that it honors and exalts all the messengers and prophets, without exception, from Abraham all the way to Christ and Mohammed, considering them Prophets of humanity, and Messengers of Allah - The Great and Almighty; Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Lord of the Worlds.

As we have said earlier, Christ occupies a special place in that blessed chain of missions and prophesies, about all of whose links Islam holds a friendly, amiable and deferential view.

Likewise, the Quran holds a deferential view of a party of Christians especially, speaks highly of them, and glorifies them, as in the following verse :

"Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (for the right); they rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and then prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works : they are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right", [The Family of Imran : 113-115].

These verses - the best about the Christians in the Quran - contain a description of a party of them who devoted themselves to worship, prayer, piety, and asceticism. They withdrew from the world to lead a life of piety and poverty, enduring all kinds of suffering, and giving in to the Will of Allah. They gave up this world to gain the Hereafter.

Those were the anchorites whose "nation" was well known in the early Christian era - their golden period - and whose spiritual radiance was unparalleled in those times.

The Maronite sect, of which the Lebanese Maronite family is a descendent, goes back to Maroun, one of the anchorites.

The Christian, in general, and the Maronite, in particular, are positively affected by everything related to the anchorites. In Lebanon, the numerous monasteries are but one proof of that strong bond between the Maronite and their origin.

This is why the verses quoted above seem to the Maronite as part of their own heritage which, in essence, is the property of his own conscience, or rather the property of his own history.