The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 25
PT. 16 MARYAM CH. 19 قف فَاتَّخَذَتْ مِنْ دُونِهِمْ حِجَابًا And screened herself off. 18 from them, then We sent Our فَأَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهَا رُوحَنَا فَتَمَثَّلَ لَهَا angel to her, and he appeared "3:43. was beside himself (Mark 3:21). This attitude of disbelief on the part of his relatives towards Jesus had made him so bitter that when he was being taken to Calvary to be put on the cross and his mother appeared on the scene, he addressed her saying 'Woman, behold thy son!' (John 19:26). And when on another occasion a woman being very much impressed by his discourse said: 'Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked' (Luke 11:27), he retorted: 'Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it' (Luke 11:28), which signified that he could not even bear his mother being praised. Such is the picture which the Gospels have drawn of the unenviable relations between Jesus and his mother. But the description is not only self-contradictory, it also offends against human nature and intelligence. The Quran, however, presents both these blessed and holy persons in quite a different light. Regarding Jesus it says that he was kind and loving, obedient and dutiful to his mother and that he was not haughty and rude (19:33) while about Mary it states that she was a pious, chaste and truthful woman and was a great worshipper of God and that God purified her, accepted her and chose her above the women of the world (3:43, 44; 5:76; 66:13). How great is the difference between the unenviable picture of Mary drawn by the Gospels and the beautiful description given of her in the Quran. Whereas the Biblical description is highly derogatory and self-contradictory, the Quranic description is not only consistent with the dignity of a highly righteous woman but is also more akin to truth and facts of history. As the verse shows Mary withdrew herself to a place to the east. Special mention has been made of "a place to the east" in the verse, in order, perhaps, to point to the time- honoured custom of the Jews that they attached special significance to (east) and considered it sacred. They believed that the birth of the first man took place in the east where God planted a garden (Gen. 2:8). The Babylonians by whose traditions the Jews became much impressed as they had lived under them as captives also looked upon the east as "the gate of light" (Ezekiel 11:1). Matthew 2:2 1939 and Revelation 7:2 also shed some light on the importance of the east. Both the Jews and Christians hold the east in special respect. They build their places of worship facing the east. This is why special mention has been made in the present verse "of a place to the East" and Mary has been described as having gone to "a place which was facing the east. "