Surah Al-Anbiya Ayat 91 (21:91 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(21:91) And also recall the woman who guarded her chastity:^[88] We breathed into her of Our spirit,^[89] and made her and her son a Sign to the whole world.^[90]

88. That is, Mary (peace be upon her).

89. It should be noted that the incident of the birth of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) was not different from that of Prophet Adam, because the wording of the Arabic text in the two cases is almost identical: See (Surah Suad, Ayat 71-72). Besides this in (Surah Al-Anbiya, ayat 91), almost similar words have beets used in regard to the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him). See also (Surah An-Nisa, Ayat l71) and (Surah At-Tahrim, Ayat 12). Allah Himself has stated that the birth of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) was just like the birth of Prophet Adam: In the sight of Allah, the case of the birth of Jesus is like that of Adam, whom He created out of dust and said, Be, and he was. (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 59). In the light of these verses, we may conclude that Allah uses words like: We breathed into him or her of Our spirit for miraculous births. For details please see (Surah An-Nisa, ayat 171) note 212-213.

90. That is, The mother and the son were not partners of God nor had any share whatsoever in Godhead, but were a sign from among the signs of God. See (Surah Maryam, ayat 33) note 21.

Ibn-Kathir

91. And she who guarded her chastity, We breathed into her through Our Ruh, and We made her and her son a sign for nations.

Here Allah mentions the story of Maryam and her son `Isa, just after mentioning Zakariyya and his son Yahya, may peace be upon them all. He mentions the story of Zakariyya first, followed by the story of Maryam because the one is connected to the other. The former is the story of a child being born to an old man of advanced years, from an old woman who had been barren and had never given birth when she was younger. Then Allah mentions the story of Maryam which is even more wondrous, for in this case a child was born from a female without (the involvement of) a male. These stories also appear in Surah Al `Imran and in Surah Maryam. Here Allah mentions the story of Zakariyya and follows it with the story of Maryam, where He says:

(And she who guarded her chastity,) means, Maryam (peace be upon her). This is like the Ayah in Surah At-Tahrim:

(And Maryam, the daughter of `Imran who guarded her chastity. And We breathed into it ﴿her garment﴾ through Our Ruh) ﴿66:12﴾.

(and We made her and her son a sign for the nations. ) means, evidence that Allah is able to do all things and that He creates whatever He wills; verily, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, “Be” — and it is! This is like the Ayah:

(And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind) ﴿19:21﴾