The Power of Mary!

Via Arab Voices, by Samar Jarrah

There was a recurring question in my last class on Women and Islam:  when was this written?  Every few minutes of discussion I was asked this, again and again. When was the Quran written?  More than 1400 years ago, was my reply.

But let me back up a little and share a few details about the day’s lecture.

I started by talking about the most “honorable” woman in the Quran.  I love to test my American students about this little bit of trivia, asking them to guess the name of the eminently “honorable” woman who has a chapter named after her in the Quran – an honor not bestowed upon any other woman.  Though they of course have no idea, I ask them to at least guess who this woman might be.  Many students assume that she must be one of the wives of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH).  In my twenty years of lecturing, not one person has guessed that this person is none other than Mary, the mother of their dear prophet Jesus. (PBUH)

I shared this verse with them today:
And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.  3:42

“So she is your role model?” I was asked.  No, I answered, she is not my role model; she is the role model for all women of the world.  You could see the negative stereotyping of a whole faith and people beginning to melt away. Just like that, by sharing this one verse.

I also read parts of Chapter 19 in the Quran about the story of the birth of Jesus. As always, most students comment that it has never crossed their minds that Mary might have had birth pains!  It’s always interesting to see how Muslims and non-Muslims react to the same verse or story – how Muslims might miss the minor details that would intrigue non-Muslims, like Mary’s birth pains.

Reading the following words from the Quran has always made some students tear up and today was no exception:
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 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) 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: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us’:It is a matter (so) decreed.
So she conceived him, and she 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 that 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 thee;
“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 not 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 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 (again)”!
Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.

You could hear a pin drop in the class.

I politely pointed to how Muslims revere Mary and Jesus (PBUT) while so many in the so-called civilized West smear our dear Prophet (PBUH). The students nodded with much sadness!

I started off by telling my students that I, as an educated liberal open minded woman, find Islam revolutionary when it comes to women’s rights.  Some students became dismissive, assuming that I was simply a propagandist for the faith. I then described how Islamic societies were among the first to allow woman to study, work, inherit and own property, divorce her husband and speak her mind.

Silence. And then that question again: “When was this book written?”

Soon enough, however, a different line of inquiry finally emerged: why do so many people say negative things about Islam?  To these students I say, “For that you’ll need to take my class on politics!”

The more I teach and the more I get the same positive reaction, the more I realize how simple it is to dispel negative stereotypes.  But how many Muslims are taking the time to teach and educate others?  And perhaps more importantly, how can we magnify our positive impact and reach more people through social media and other means of “mass communication?”

via www.arabvoicesspeak.com