Subject: Mary, Sister of Aaron: An Error in the Qur'an? Sat May 11, 2013 1:19 am
Those who think that the Qur'an equates Mary, mother of Jesus, pbuh, with the sister of Moses or Aaron are too superficial. This is not based on deep analysis of the Qur'an. It is like mere simplistic superficial fault finding as when you read the Qur'an you understand from many places that the Qur'an acknowledges that there is a long period of time between Jesus and Moses , peace be upon them.
Besides,there is direct reference in the Qur'an to Moses' sister who has not been associated in any way with Mary, mother of Jesus. One such reference is in sura 28:
7. And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him [one] of the messengers."
8. And the family of Pharaoh picked him up [out of the river] so that he would become to them an enemy and a [cause of] grief. Indeed, Pharaoh and Hāmān and their soldiers were deliberate sinners.
9. And the wife of Pharaoh said, "[He will be] a comfort of the eye for me and for you. Do not kill him; perhaps he may benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son." And they perceived not.
10. And the heart of Moses' mother became empty [of all else]. She was about to disclose [the matter concerning] him had We not bound fast her heart that she would be of the believers.
11. And she said to his sister, "Follow him"; so she watched him from a distance while they perceived not.
12. And We had prevented from him [all] wet nurses before, so she said, "Shall I direct you to a household that will be responsible for him for you while they are to him [for his upbringing] sincere?"
13. So We restored him to his mother that she might be content and not grieve and that she would know that the promise of Allāh is true. But most of the people do not know.
Assalamu-alaikum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu:
Christian missionaries have been calling Mary addressed as Sister of Aaron(P) a contradiction. Below is the verse:
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!" [Qur'an 19:27-28]
It turns out that Christians in Najran during the time of the Prophet(P) raised a similar objection and it was answered by the Prophet(P). In Sahih Muslim, the hadith related by Mughirah ibn Shu`bah [5326] says:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read "O sister of Harun" (i.e. Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger(P) I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostle and pious persons who had gone before them.
This claim of contradiction is apparently mistaken because it disregards both the Arabic idiom and the context of the verse. In Arabic the word akhun or ukhtun (Underlined with Red colour in the images) carries two meanings.
Blood brother or sister and Brotherhood/sisterhood in clan and faith.
In Chapter 7 verses 65, 73 and 85 Prophets Hud, Saleh and Shuaib(P) are referred to as "brothers" of their respective peoples.
And unto (the tribe of) A'ad (We sent) their brother, Hud. He said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other Allah save Him. Will ye not ward off (evil)? [Qur'an 7:65]
And to (the tribe of) Thamud (We sent) their brother Salih. He said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other Allah save Him. A wonder from your Lord hath come unto you. Lo! this is the camel of Allah, a token unto you; so let her feed in Allah's earth, and touch her not with hurt lest painful torment seize you. [Qur'an 7:73]
And unto Midian (We sent) their brother, Shu'eyb. He said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other Allah save Him. Lo! a clear proof hath come unto you from your Lord; so give full measure and full weight and wrong not mankind in their goods, and work not confusion in the earth after the fair ordering thereof. That will be better for you, if ye are believers. [Qur'an 7:85]
The people of Lot are also mentioned in chapter 50 verse 13 as the brothers of Lot except for the word "banatii" which means my daughters in 11:78, all other references have used the word "akhun" which means brother.
The 'Ad, Pharaoh, the brethren of Lut, (Qur'an 50:13)
And in another place, the Qur'an addresses the believers as brothers-in-faith.
The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear Allah, that ye may receive Mercy. [Qur'an 49:10]
George Sale in his translation of the Qur'an says:
From the identity of names it has been generally imagined by Christian writers that the Koran here confounds Mary the mother of Jesus with Mary of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron; which intolerable anachronism, if it were certain, is sufficient of itself to destroy the pretended authority of this book. But though Mohammed may be supposed to have been ignorant enough in ancient history and chronology, to have committed so gross a blunder; yet I do not see how it can be made out from the words of the Koran. For it does not follow, because two persons have the same name, and have each a father and brother who bear the same names, that they must therefore necessarily be the same whereby it manifestly appears that Mohammed well knew and asserted that Moses preceded Jesus several ages. And the commentators accordingly fail not to tell us, that there had passed about one thousand eight hundred years between Amran the father of Moses and Amrean the father of the Virgin Mary: they also make them the sons of different persons; the first, they say, was the son of Yeshar, or Izhar (though he was really his brother) the son of Kahath, the son of Levi; and the other was the son of Matthan, whose genealogy they trace, but in a very corrupt and imperfect manner, up to David and thence to Adam. It must be observed that though the Virgin Mary is called in the Koran, the sister of Aaron, yet she is nowhere called the sister of Moses.[1]
In the Bible, Elizabeth was called daughters of Aaron(P). Was she literally a daughter of Aaron?
In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari'ah, of the division of Abi'jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. [Luke 1:5, RSV]
Or Jesus(P) was addressed as Son of David in the Bible. Was he literally Son of David(P)?
And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" [Matthew 21:9 RSV]
But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant; [Matthew 21:15 RSV]
If we take that literally then it is also a contradiction in the Bible.
Sat May 11, 2013 1:19 am