Guardianship of Virgin Maryam - V.3:44 Surah Al Imran

[Ruhi_Rose]

 



"This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto you (Muhammad). You were not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor were you present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon)." 3:44.


Salam dear all.

Of course Allah knows best .... by reading this Verse directly, can anyone please give an idea what kind of situation it refers to as you understand?  Not interested in the traditional hadith stories borrowed from the completely altered bibles.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Walaikum Salam, sis.  The precise details are known to Allah alone.  By reading V.3:44 and literally explaining from it, seems that apparently when Virgin Maryam was a toddler, her father had passed away.  Or he might have passed away before her birth.  Thus, arose the need to decide who would be her male guardian.  Male patriarchs in families had a very important status in those days.  Therfore everyone of the family and extended family got together to make a decision to appoint a guardian, and there were apparently disagreements and arguments between them described in the Quran as "threw their pens" implying an angry and tumultuous situation.  This is what I gather by my independent reading.  I repeat, the exact details are known to Allah Almighty alone. 

On the expression "threw their pens" some translators have said that it refers to drawing lots (picking a guardian through the lottery method), and they have translated it as "cast lots with arrows" or "cast lots by throwing their arrows .."  The original Arabic uses the word "aqlamahum" ("their pens" not arrows).  I don't know how some of those translators derived the opinion of the lottery pick.  I would like to interpret it directly from the Quran as you too prefer and to keep my interpretation as far as I have mentioned.  Rest is known to Allah Almighty only.


Related post:
- Virgin Maryam (mother of Essa, sister of Aaron) and Miriam (sister of Moses)

[Ruhi_Rose]

Plenty of thanks dear Sis.  Very helpful.   Alhumdulilah.

Secondly, is Zakarya, the guardian of Virgin Maryam, mentioned as a Prophet in the Quran. 

Thirdly, "family of Imran" in the Quran refers to the family of Virgin Mary.  Some readers of the Quran presume that the family of Moses or the father of Moses was also Imran.  Any comments on that?

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Yes, we can assume that Zakariya is viewed as a Prophet by The Almighty, reference Verse 6:85 "And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elias. Each one (of them) was of the righteous."  This Verse quite clearly denotes him as a Prophet.  Surah Maryam mentions of Zakariya from Verses 2 to 15 and definitely he is mentioned as a very pious man who could have been a Prophet.  It is also confirmed in the Quran that (by the will of Allah) Zakariya was the guardian of Virgin Maryam which surely alludes that he was a pious man of good reputation and worthy of being a Prophet.  "And her Rab accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian."  3:37  Al-Imran.

I don't know of any information in the Quran that confirms that the father of Moses and Aaron was called "Imran" which in Hebrew they call "Amram." Also, the Noble Quran does not mention the name of the sister of Moses as 'Miriam.'  The Quran only confirms that Prophet Moses (pbuh) had a sister, reference V.28:11 "And she said unto his sister: Trace him. So she observed him from afar, and they perceived not." 

But the family of Virgin Maryam is certainly referred to in the Quran as the family of Imran.  Virgin Maryam is mentioned as “daughter of Imran” Verse 66:12 Surah At-Tahrim.  Virgin Maryam's mother is not mentioned by name but only as "wife of Imran" Verse 3:35 Surah Al-Imran.  “(Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: My Rab! I have vowed unto You that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Indeed!  You, only You, are the Hearer, the Knower!”  3:35.   Thus, Verses 66:12 and 3:35 confirm that the father of Virgin Maryam was called Imran.   The family of Virgin Maryam is discussed in Surah Al-Imran (3rd Chapter), Surah Maryam (19th Chapter) and in the last Verse of Surah At-Tahrim V.66:12.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Very well clarified, Subhan'Allah.   The hadithists' claim of Virgin Maryam's mother named "Hannah" (هنا) is obviously from the altered Bibles, right? 

[N. Truth Seeker]

Yes, it does come from the altered Bibles, I'm sure about that.  Actually Hannah (probably same as Henna) is the Greek derivative of 'Anne.'  According to the gossips of altered Bibles, someone by the name of "Saint Anne" who was born in the family of David was the mother of Virgin Maryam.  How this lady was bestowed with "sainthood" comes from the complicated lies of the Christian clergy. 

Tabari takes the altered Bible information and claims Hannah to be the name of Virgin Maryam's mother.  He also says that Hannah's husband died before the birth of Virgin Maryam while Hannah was expecting the child.  There are no confirmations for any of this in the Noble Quran, except that the Quran makes is clear that at some early point of her life, Virgin Maryam was apparently an orphan and hence Zakarya became her guardian.

Tabari also states that Hannah dedicated the child in the service of Allah. This is definitely confirmed in the Noble Quran Verse 3:36  “And when she was delivered she said: My Rab!  Indeed, I am delivered of a female - Allah knew best of what she was delivered - the male is not as the female; and indeed, I have named her Maryam, and indeed, I crave Your protection for her and for her offspring from Satan the outcast.”  3:36.    

[Ruhi_Rose]

O, I see ..... thank you brother.   I never knew that bit about "saint Anne" coming from "Hannah" ..

[N. Truth Seeker]

Welcome sister.

[Zainab_M]

 

Alhumdulilah, a very interesting read this thread.  And very nicely interpreted Sister Heba.  In those days they used quills to write which were called pens.  But I've never read or heard of any system of drawing lotteries by casting down quills. Wondering how some of the translators derived that concept.

[Ruhi_Rose]

....  But I've never read or heard of any system of drawing lotteries by casting down quills. Wondering how some of the translators derived that concept.

Right Sister, I have also never known of that.

[N. Truth Seeker]

On a different note, was Prophet Shuayb the father-in-law of Prophet Moses as Hadithists and Christians claim?

[Heba E. Husseyn]

That's a conjecture of the altered Bibles borrowed by Hadith.  There is NO evidence nor any references of it in the Noble Quran.  The Hadithists quote Quran Verses 28:22-28.   These Verses refer to the place called Midian where Prophet Moses took refuge after escaping from Pharaoh’s folks.  There is no mention of the name Shuayb in these Verses.  There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the father of the woman whom Prophet Moses married was Shuayb.  The truth about the lineage of Prophet Moses' wife is known to Allah Almighty alone.  This notion of Shuayb as the father-in-law of Prophet Moses comes directly from the altered Bibles, I know that for sure, and Hadithists have picked the information from there.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Right sister .... the hadithists keep claiming that extra-Quranic story all the time and confusing people.