Surah Al-Imran Ayat 35 (3:35 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(3:35). (He also heard) when the woman of ‘Imran^[32] said: ‘O Lord! Behold, unto You do I vow that the child in my womb is to be devoted to Your exclusive service. Accept it, then, from me. Surely You alone are All-Hearing, All-Knowing.’^[33]

32. If the ‘woman of ‘Imran’ is interpreted as the wife of ‘Imran, this ‘Imran must be different from the ‘Imran just mentioned (see the preceding verse). In the Christian tradition the name of the father of Mary is mentioned as Joachim. If this expression, however, is interpreted to mean ‘a woman of the house of Imran’, it would mean that the mother of Mary belonged to that tribe. There is, unfortunately, no definite source of information that would lead us to prefer one interpretation to the other, as there is no historical record either about who the parents of Mary were, or to which tribes they belonged. Were we to accept the tradition that the mother of John (Yahya) and the mother of Jesus were cousins, then it would be valid to interpret the expression as meaning ‘a woman of the tribe of ‘Imran’ for, according to the Gospel of Luke, the mother of John was one of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5).

33. That is, God heeds the prayers of His creatures and is well aware of their intentions.

Ibn-Kathir

35. (Remember) when the wife of `Imran said: “O my Lord! I have vowed to You what is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services, so accept this from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing.” 36. Then when she gave birth to her, she said: “O my Lord! I have given birth to a female child, ـ and Allah knew better what she bore, ـ “And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam, and I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from Shaytan, the outcast.”

The wife of `Imran mentioned here is the mother of Maryam, and her name is Hannah bint Faqudh. Muhammad bin Ishaq mentioned that Hannah could not have children and that one day, she saw a bird feeding its chick. She wished she could have children and supplicated to Allah to grant her offspring. Allah accepted her supplication, and when her husband slept with her, she became pregnant. She vowed to make her child concentrate on worship and serving Bayt Al-Maqdis (the Masjid in Jerusalem), when she became aware that she was pregnant. She said,

(O my Lord! I have vowed to You what is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services, so accept this from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing.) meaning, You hear my supplication and You know my intention. She did not know then what she would give birth to, a male or a female.

(Then when she gave birth to her, she said: “O my Lord! I have given birth to a female child, ـ and Allah knew better what she bore.)

(And the male is not like the female,) in strength and the commitment to worship Allah and serve the Masjid in Jerusalem.

(And I have named her Maryam,) thus, testifying to the fact that it is allowed to give a name to the newly born the day it is born, as is apparent from the Ayah, which is also a part of the law of those who were before us. Further, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah mentioned that the Prophet said,

(This night, a son was born for me and I called him by my father’s name, Ibrahim.) Al-Bukhari and Muslim collected this Hadith.

They also recorded that Anas bin Malik brought his newborn brother to the Messenger of Allah who chewed a piece of date and put it in the child’s mouth and called him `Abdullah. Other new born infants were also given names on the day they were born.

Qatadah narrated that Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, that Samurah bin Jundub said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Every new born boy held in security by his `Aqiqah, until his seventh day, a sacrifice is offered on his behalf, he is given a name, and the hair on his head is shaved.)

This Hadith was collected by Ahmad and the collectors of the Sunan, and was graded Sahih by At-Tirmidhi. We should mention that another narration for this Hadith contained the wording, “and blood is offered on his behalf,” which is more famous and established than the former narration, and Allah knows best.

Allah’s statement that Maryam’s mother said,

(“…And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from Shaytan, the outcast.”) means, that she sought refuge with Allah from the evil of Shaytan, for her and her offspring, i.e., `Isa, peace be upon him. Allah accepted her supplication, for `Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Every newly born baby is touched by Shaytan when it is born, and the baby starts crying because of this touch, except Maryam and her son.)

Abu Hurayrah then said, “Read if you will,

(And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from Shaytan, the outcast).” The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith.