Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians - Electric Scotland

DISCOVERING SCRIPTURE IN SCRIPTURE t 23
in the temple, where God miraculously provided food for her
(Quran 3:33–37, 44).
The Gospels’ annunciation scene appears twice in the Quran.
Once, it is described briefly and to the point (3:42–47). An unnamed
angel comes from God and tells Mary that she has been
chosen—“God has made you pure and exalted above other
women”—to bear the Messiah. She protests: “How can I bear a
child when no man has touched me?” None ever will; there is no
Joseph in the quranic narratives, though the Quran elsewhere angrily
dismisses a Jewish calumny (4:156) that Jesus was illegitimate.
The angel replies: “God creates whom He will. When He
desires a thing He need only say ‘be’ and it is.” Among the things
the angel then predicts of the still unborn Jesus is that he will
preach from his cradle, which may be an echo of the Gospels’ portrait
of the child Jesus teaching in the temple.
The second account is in the sura named “Mary” (19:16–22)
and is more circumstantial. God sends to Mary his spirit “in the
semblance of a full-grown (or perfect) man” who makes the announcement
of her pregnancy. It is not said how this takes place,
but the Quran is steadfast in maintaining that Jesus is in no sense
the “son of God.” Elsewhere, however, it is twice remarked that
God “breathed into Mary of His Spirit” (21:91; 66:12). The account
of Jesus’ birth (Quran 19:22–35) bears little resemblance to
that described in the canonical Gospels. Mary retires to a far-off
place. When she feels her first labor pains she lies down by a palm
tree and cries out in despair. God consoles her and miraculously
provides water to drink and dates to eat. Mary is instructed to
speak to no one. Her own people accuse her of unchastity, and
when she keeps silent the infant Jesus defends her from his cradle
(19:26–33), finishing with, “May peace be upon me when I am
raised to life.”
Jesus’ life and teachings are not described in any detail in the
Quran, although he too was instructed to pray and give alms to the
poor (19:31). The same covenant was made with him and the
other prophets (33:7), and of course with Muhammad as well
(42:13). It is predicted that Jesus will provide signs for his mission
by healing the blind and the leper and make come alive birds he