The most significant ordeal that Maryam – the ascetic, devout, celibate worshipper – may Allah exalt her mention, endured was receiving the news from Allah The Almighty that she would beget a child, even though she had no husband. In her own defense, she stated: {How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?"} Yet, she was informed of the Divine command: {He said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.'".} [Quran 19:20-21]
Thus did Allah The Almighty say [for it to occur], and not only can His Word never be repelled, this was already predestined and who can possibly have the power to prevent His decree?
here is a great wisdom by Allah The Almighty in bringing forth this sign to the people: a righteous, unwed woman who becomes pregnant. Only the sincere believers would trust her to be truthful [in her claim of chastity], whilst the criminal disbelievers would accuse her of lies.
Moreover, her son, preordained by Allah The Almighty to be born in such a miraculous way, was a sign in every aspect – his creation, moral character and ability to perform miracles. He was a source of mercy for the people during his time and a source of much doubt and misguidance for those with lack of insight. Such people are overbearing in their attitude toward him, so much so, that they worship him and revere him as a creator, a benefactor of sustenance, one who ordains and an entity that existed before time began, born in the form of humans but with the essence of a deity produced from God! Exalted is Allah The Almighty and far removed from what they claim by great sublimity.
Thus, such people will be ruined alongside those on the opposite end, who claim he was an illegitimate child borne out of adultery. The only ones who will be saved [from punishment] are the men [and women] of truth who trust his statement: {"Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and Zakah (obligatory charity) as long as I remain alive And [made me] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant. And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive."} [Quran 19:30-33]
Maryam’s Flight from the Mosque for Fear of Disgrace and Shame
When Maryam, may Allah exalt her mention, sensed that her pregnancy was now full-term, she left her prayer chamber in Bayt Al-Maqdis, fearing humiliation and embarrassment. She headed to a distant place where she could disappear from the sight of people. In Bethlehem, her labor pains drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. There she was - lonely, estranged and outcast - when she delivered her child. There was no mother, aunt or midwife, and neither a cozy house or screen to shelter her from the eyes of people other than the thickets there. She delivered her baby, while her eyes overflowed with tears, and anxieties and agonies overwhelmed her, of alienation and loneliness, absence of family, help and protection, and lack of kindness that must be showered upon a new mother.
Indeed, a woman who has just delivered needs compassion! She ought to experience the warmth and affection of a husband, sympathy of a family, special food, a comfortable bed and the company of well-wishers, congratulating her on her newborn. But Maryam, may Allah exalt her mention, enjoyed nothing of that, and, in fact, had to face the premonition of the looming scandal of having had a child out of wedlock.
In the face of all those difficulties and the angst they wrought on her, she wished she had passed away before this trying time and had not lived to face such a severe affliction. She said: {"Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten."} [Quran 19:23] She, may Allah exalt her mention, hoped she was no more than a trivial thing, not worthy of being remembered or grieved for her demise.
But, right when her sadness and grief reached its flashpoint, she felt secure and peaceful, as a result of mercy and glad tidings [from Allah The Almighty]. Her child spoke to her from below, saying: {"Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, 'Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.'"} [Quran 19:24-26]
Indeed, with Hardship is Ease
Hence, in that moment, she was granted numerous miracles at once, beginning with the stream of water Allah the Almighty caused to gush forth for her and her ability – despite her weakness after childbirth – to shake the trunk of the palm tree so that ripe fresh dates would fall to her.
As for her people and her dread of disgrace and shame, that was entrusted to the care of Allah The Almighty. All she had to do was abstain from speaking to anyone and to let that [future] great individual that she carried in her arms defend her and reveal the mission with which he was sent. Allah The Almighty relates what happened, when He Says (what means): {Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, "O Maryam, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented. O sister of Haaroon (Aaron), your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste." So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?"} [Quran 19:27-29] He then made the infant speak, so as to prove to them the sign of that creation of His.
‘Eesa (Jesus), may Allah exalt his mention, later came of age among his people from the Children of Israel. However, the Jews blatantly rejected his miracle, instead of having faith and trust in it. They had a bad feeling about a child that spoke in his cradle and grew up distinctly from other children. For while the latter would play with clay and simply make a bird, stone or sculpture from it, he, may Allah exalt his mention, would do the same, only to blow into it in front of them, whereby it would turn into a real bird, flying before their eyes by the permission of Allah The Almighty. Yet, their only reaction would be to accuse him of being a masterful sorcerer!!
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