In the fifth century of our era, the veneration of Mary became an important issue especially among the Latin or western churches which were under the supervision of the Bishop of Rome. On the other hand, this topic was not popular in the Eastern Church or Greek Orthodox congregations that were influenced by the Bishop of Constantinople.
One favorite title of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ was “Mother of God.” Nestorius, who became a bishop of Constantinople in the fourth century argued that Mary of Nazareth could not be called “Mother of God” because motherhood means origination and conception of life. Christ as God, could have not been originated and conceived by a human being. On the other hand, the bishop of Rome believed that the Deity of Christ lodged into the humanity of Jesus upon conception in the womb of Mary, hence the deity passed through the womb of Mary, and therefore she could be called “the mother of God.” Subsequently, the Roman Catholic Church made another canon law declaring that Mary, mother of Jesus, was bodily lifted up into the heavens and has been pronounced as Mediatrix and also Mother of Perpetual Help.
Muhammad was born in the year 570 A.D., so this hot issue of motherhood of God was a common topic among Christians when Muhammad passed through cities and towns of Arabia, Palestine, and Syria. In the Qur’an, there are many verses where Mary is mentioned. It is said that Mary’s name is mentioned about 25 times. Her virtue is also highly recognized as being the mother of a prophet who is Jesus or Isa.
One mistake spoken of about Mary in the Qur’an is that she is the daughter of Imran, and the sister of Harun (Aaron). Some believe that the original writer of that section of the Qur’an thought that Maryam is the Merriam of Exodus. And that this Imran is identified as the father of Aaron. It is observed by some that the composer of the Qur’an thought that the Miriam in Exodus is the Mary in the Gospel. We shall investigate his issue.
The story of the births of John the Baptist and that of Jesus Christ is found in Surah XIX with the title “Surat Maryam (Mary) XIX”.
The mention of Mary in the Qur’an is believed to have been included to attract Christian devotees of Mary in the fifth and sixth centuries when Islam was starting to expand in the Christian countries like Palestine, Egypt, Ethiopia, North Africa, Asia Minor, and Persia. That since Islam honors Mary, and that the Qur’an was claimed to be a revelation of Allah, and Muhammad is a prophet of Allah, switching to the new religion in the 7th and 8th centuries was made easier.
When you read the Qur’an, remember this information we have shared with you. –
(NOTE: We continue to provide you with more topics about Islam.)