Bhagavad Gita: The Meditation of Krishna

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Previously, in The Wisdom of Krishna, I examined what Krishna taught Arjuna about the nature and practice of wisdom.  Shortly after the teachings on wisdom referenced previously, Krishna goes on to teach Arjuna about the practice of meditation.  What we generally think of as meditation in the West is related to, but not quite the same as the meditation spoken of by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

As I've mentioned before, the Bhagavad Gita is a discourse that strikes at the heart of spiritual matters, and it is a discourse that takes place on a great battlefield at the climax of the great epic known as the Mahabharata.  The battle is about to be joined by great warriors, and it is at this time of calm before the storm that Krishna helps Arjuna to understand his place in this life and the nature of spiritual fulfillment.

After Krishna has answered his question about how to live wisely, he speaks further about unity with Brahman and the nature of Brahman.  And later he moves on to the practice of meditation, which he recommends to all spiritual aspirants.

"It is not those who lack energy or refrain from action, but those who work without expectation of reward who attain the goal of meditation.  Theirs is the true renunciation.  Therefore, Arjuna, you should understand that renunciation and the performance of selfless service are the same.  Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.

For aspirants who want to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is selfless work; for those who have ascended to yoga the path is stillness and peace.  When you have freed yourself from attachment to the results of work, and from desires for the enjoyment of sense objects, you will ascend to the unitive state.

Reshape yourself through the power of your will; never let yourself be degraded by self-will.  The will is the only friend of the Self, and the will is the only enemy of the Self.

To those who have conquered themselves, the will is a friend.  But it is the enemy of those who have not found the Self within them."

After reiterating previous points about the contemplative life and the active life both being paths to union with the divine life, Krishna comes back to another familiar concept: Ātman.  This is the word being translated as "the Self" as distinct from one's self in the sense of the ego.  Unlike the self of the ego, that incorrigible pursuer of transient desires, Ātman is the most true and most real self, the enduring consciousness which can partake in the divine life.

The fullness of the ego and the fullness of Ātman are not compatible with one another.  We can see this clearly in the lives of those who have given themselves over to their addictions.  They become shadows of the true Self we know can shine forth from within them; the addict is lost to us, not because they have suffered physical death, but because they have pushed out the potential for the glory of human flourishing in favor of the next temporary high which does not ultimately satisfy.

Union with the divine means that our enslavement to the ego's constant call to the next pleasure, the next worry about what will happen to us, or the next attempt to avoid any small pain must be abolished.  Only our wills can be made strong enough to free us of the chains of desire which bind the ego, and only the consistent weakening of our wills can leave us trapped in addictions.

Strengthening our will in selfless service allows us to fight the ego's control more effectively, and as we release more of the ego's control over our lives, we can see more clearly the true Self, Ātman.  This helps us to meditate because it increasingly liberates us from our daily worries, and the meditation in turn helps us to overthrow more of the ego's control so that we can seek union with the divine.

"The supreme Reality stands revealed in the consciousness of those who have conquered themselves.  They live in peace, alike in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, praise and blame.

They are completely fulfilled by spiritual wisdom and Self-realization.  Having conquered their senses, they have climbed to the summit of human consciousness.  To such people a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.  They are equally disposed to family, enemies, and friends, to those who support them and those who are hostile, to the good and the evil alike.  Because they are impartial, they rise to great heights.

Those who aspire to the state of yoga should seek the Self in inner solitude through meditation.  With body and mind controlled they should constantly practice one-pointedness, free from expectations and attachment to material possessions."

Krishna teaches us that this conquering of the ego results in being able to transcend our previous constant focus on concerns about the material world, about the pursuit of possessions and wealth or social standing and prestige.  Paradoxically, it is precisely this detachment which leads people to become well-respected by many.

It is the person who participates in the divine life who can deal with people as they truly are, both recognizing their strengths and weaknesses and wondrous inherent value without performing those cold calculations made by the ego to determine whether our actions directly benefit us or not.  It is the conquering of the selfish instinct that leads us to be more like the divine sustainer of all that is: Vishnu.

Vishnu, whose avatar at this point and time is Krishna, speaking with Arjuna before a great battle, rains the blessings of life down upon the good and evil people alike, upon friends and enemies, and upon those who are supportive and those who are hostile.  This is part and parcel of the divine life: to give selflessly, even to those who hate you and set themselves against you.

Now that Krishna has expounded a bit on the benefit of meditation, he explains to Arjuna how to go about meditating:

"Select a clean spot, neither too high nor too low, and seat yourself firmly on a cloth, a deerskin, and kusha grass.  Then, once seated, strive to still your thoughts.  Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your heart will be purified.  Hold your body, head, and neck firmly in a straight line, and keep your eyes from wandering.  With all fear dissolved in the peace of the Self and all actions dedicated to Brahman, controlling the mind and fixing it on me, sit in meditation with me as your only goal.  With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me.

Arjuna, those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation.  But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.  Through constant effort they learn to withdraw the mind from selfish cravings and absorb it in the Self.  Thus they attain the state of union."

The description Krishna provides of how one ought to meditate is drawn from traditional Indian contemplative practices regarding seating and posture and one-pointedness.  But this meditation is not the meditation of contemporary mindfulness movements.  Rather than directing us to stand clear of our own minds, Krishna bids us to fill our minds with an unwavering contemplation of the divine life which is embodied in Krishna.

He warns us that the taking of ascetic practices to extremes or self-indulgence in transient pleasures will prevent us from effective meditation.  When the mind is addicted to seeking the next transient pleasure and avoiding the next feeling of pain, it cannot focus sufficiently in meditation.  And when the mind is distracted by constant hunger pangs and the pain of dehydration, it is also unable to focus sufficiently.

Effective meditation is less a matter of extremes and more a matter of finding a healthy balance.  To meditate is to walk a tightrope over the abyss of our own thoughts, and to feed our tendency for self-indulgence or unhealthy self-denial is to lose the balance necessary for perfecting the tightrope walk of the mind.

"When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.  In the still mind, in the depths of meditation, the Self reveals itself.  Beholding the Self by means of the Self, an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfillment.  Having attained that abiding joy of the senses, revealed in the stilled mind, they never swerve from the eternal truth.  They desire nothing else and cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow.

The practice of meditation frees one from all affliction.  This is the path of yoga.  Follow it with determination and sustained enthusiasm.  Renouncing wholeheartedly all selfish desires and expectations, use your will to control the senses.  Little by little, through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self.

Wherever the mind wanders, restless and diffuse in its search for satisfaction without, lead it within; train it to rest in the Self.  Abiding joy comes to those who still the mind.  Freeing themselves from the taint of self-will, with their consciousness unified, they become one with Brahman."

Krishna teaches us that the cultivation of the ability to walk on the tightrope over the abyss of the mind leads to the freedom of being able to experience one's own eternal consciousness without the impediments of the worries and cravings that constantly intrude upon our attempts to find lasting joy.  A healthy asceticism, the balanced self-denial of one who does not indulge in excessive eating or drinking before a tightrope walk and also does not starve or dehydrate himself before the tightrope walk, is what will help us to find serenity within the landscapes of the mind's eye.

This balance allows us to walk the narrow path to union with the divine, to oneness with Brahman, the creative principle which underlies and suffuses all that exists, including our own consciousness.  This union with the divine is both a fuller participation in the divine life and a fuller realization of our own life.

"The infinite joy of touching Brahman is easily attained by those who are free from the burden of evil and established within themselves.  They see the Self in every creature and all creation in the Self.  With consciousness unified through meditation, they see everything with an equal eye.

I am ever present to those who have realized me in every creature.  Seeing all life as my manifestation, they are never separated from me.  They worship me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from me.  Wherever they may live, they abide in me.

When a person responds to the sorrows and joys of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union."

Once we have begun to see the divine life in ourselves, we cannot help but see it in others, how it suffuses the whole world and brings it to the flowering of terrifying beauty.  And we cannot help but see how inextricably bound up our lives are with the lives of others, how their sorrows become our sorrows and their joys become our joys.

This is a lovely response to Arjuna's question, but he still has doubts after Krishna's exposition of the power of meditation.  Arjuna asks, "O Krishna, the stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension.  How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace?  Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, violent; trying to control it is like trying to tame the wind."

Arjuna is very right here that the kind of meditation described by Krishna is extremely difficult to attain.  I know from experience that it takes great effort to gain the ability to find this kind of serenity for even a short while.  And Krishna acknowledges this:

"It is true that the mind is restless and difficult to control.  But it can be conquered, Arjuna, through regular practice and detachment.  Those who lack self-control will find it difficult to progress in meditation; but those who are self-controlled, striving earnestly through the right means, will attain the goal."

This, however, does not completely assuage Arjuna's doubts.  He asks another question: "Krishna, what happens to one who has faith but who lacks self-control and wanders from the path, not attaining success in yoga?  If he becomes deluded on the spiritual path, will he lose the support of both worlds, like a cloud scattered in the sky?  Krishna, you can dispel all doubts; remove this doubt which binds me."

Arjuna recognizes that faith alone will not carry him through, at least not faith in the divine as a mere belief held in a philosophical way.  He sees instinctively that there is a grave spiritual danger in belief without having the self-control to live out that belief in the radical way described by Krishna.

Krishna exhorts him to let the belief push him forward until it is possible to gain the necessary self-control, to grow in the capacity for meditation rather than giving up because perfection in meditation cannot be acquired quickly.

"Arjuna, my son, such a person will not be destroyed.  No one who does good work will ever come to a bad end, either here or in the world to come.

When such people die, they go to other realms where the righteous live.  They dwell there for countless years and then are reborn into a home which is pure and prosperous.  Or they may be born into a family where meditation is practiced; to be born into such a family is extremely rare.  The wisdom they have acquired in previous lives will be reawakened, Arjuna, and they will strive even harder for Self-realization.  Indeed, they will be driven on by the strength of their past disciplines.  Even one who inquires after the practice of meditation rises above those who simply perform rituals.

Through constant effort over many lifetimes, a person becomes purified of all selfish desires and attains the supreme goal of life.

Meditation is superior to severe asceticism and the path of knowledge.  It is also superior to selfless service.  May you attain the goal of meditation, Arjuna!  Even among those who meditate, that man or woman who worships me with perfect faith, completely absorbed in me, is the most firmly established in yoga."

Krishna goes on to reassure Arjuna that his efforts, even if they do not lead quickly to perfection, are indeed worthwhile.  Krishna does not want Arjuna to make his reaching perfection the enemy of reaching what is good and closer to perfection than where he was before.  Krishna does not ask us to make perfection a matter of our unhealthy attachment to immediate gratification.

To indulge in our desire for immediate gratification with regard to the spiritual life defeats the purpose of the spiritual life and leaves us trapped in the cycle of reliance on transient pleasures from which Krishna is trying to help liberate us.

Though perfection in meditation takes time and consistent effort, union with the divine and fullness of life for ourselves is worth it.  And as Krishna advised Arjuna, to lose all selfishness in true and sincere worship roots us deeply in precisely this union with the divine and fullness of life.

This is the meditation of Krishna, the immersion of our consciousness into the ocean of the divine life, the strength of our faith propelling us into the depths of oneness with all that lives, buoyed up by waves of divine energy so that we might not drown in oneness, instead living fully within and inseparably from the ultimate cause of our lives.

The Yoga of Krishna - The Wisdom of Krishna - The Meditation of Krishna

Note: The above is a depiction of Krishna dancing.

Bhagavad Gita: The Wisdom of Krishna

Listen to the embedded podcast version of this post or read the written version below.



Previously, in The Yoga of Krishna, I examined what Krishna taught Arjuna about the nature of yoga in some depth.  Immediately after the teachings on yoga referenced previously, Krishna goes on to teach Arjuna about the nature of wisdom.

What we generally think of as wisdom in the West is not the wisdom spoken of by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.  As I've mentioned before, the Bhagavad Gita is a discourse that strikes at the heart of spiritual matters, and it is a discourse that takes place on a great battlefield at the climax of the great epic known as the Mahabharata.  The battle is about to be joined by great warriors, and it is at this time of calm before the storm that Krishna helps Arjuna to understand his place in this life and the nature of spiritual fulfillment.

After Krishna has answered his question about whether he ought to fight the battle before him or abandon it, Arjuna asks another question: "Tell me of those who live established in wisdom, ever aware of the Self, O Krishna.  How do they talk?  How sit?  How move about?"

As before, Krishna gives an answer which has real depth and meaning; this is not the dismissive answer of a parent who just wants his child to get on with doing what was asked.  This is the answer of a parent who truly wishes to teach his child wisdom for living well, who truly wants his child to flourish.

"They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart.  Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger.  Established in meditation, they are truly wise.  Fettered no more by selfish attachments, they are neither elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad.  Such are the seers.

Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will.  Aspirants abstain from sense pleasures, but they still crave for them.  These cravings all disappear when they see the highest goal.  Even of those who tread the path, the stormy senses can sweep off the mind.  They live in wisdom who subdue their senses and keep their minds ever absorbed in me.

When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes.  Attachment breeds desire, the lust of possession that burns to anger.  Anger clouds the judgment; you can no longer learn from past mistakes.  Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise, and your life is utter waste.  But when you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you live in the wisdom of the Self."

The word translated as Self here is Ātman, the eternally enduring consciousness Krishna described previously.  The wisdom of the Self is a wisdom of an eternal perspective, not the wisdom of one who frantically scrambles to escape immediate death.  The wisdom Krishna refers to here is the the wisdom that comes from detachment from the sensual comforts of this world.

Krishna's description of those who are bound by their attachments to the simple stimulus-response game of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain sounds eerily like he's describing someone who is addicted to painkillers, or methamphetamines, or even marijuana or alcohol.  He's describing those of us who are still attached to the comforts of this world as addicts who are stuck in a cycle of seeking transient pleasures, blissfully unaware of our downward spiral because we only allow ourselves to focus on the next temporary high.

"The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it meditate?  How be at peace?  When you know no peace, how can you know joy?  When you let your mind follow the call of the senses, they carry away your better judgment as storms drive a boat off its charted course on the sea.

Use all your power to free the senses from attachment and aversion alike, and live in the full wisdom of the Self.  Such a sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures.  That which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

As rivers flow into the ocean but cannot make the vast ocean overflow, so flow the streams of the sense-world into the sea of peace that is the sage.  But this is not so with the desirer of desires.

They are forever free who renounce all selfish desires and break away from the ego-cage of 'I,' 'me,' and 'mine' to be united with the Lord.  This is the supreme state.  Attain to this, and pass from death to immortality."

The danger of the mind which is not integrated and unable to be focused in its attention is that its disunity frustrates our capacity to truly enjoy the many good things in life.  Instead, we leap toward whatever pleases us superficially and away from whatever displeases us without regard to whether these are rational choices.  Krishna invites into the process of uniting our mind around the singular purpose of union with the divine life he embodies, asking us to re-order our lives by putting this transcendent purpose first and letting everything else fall into place.

Arjuna pushes back against all this mystical-sounding advice by asking Krishna an additional question: "O Krishna, you have said that knowledge is greater than action; why then do you ask me to wage this terrible war?  Your advice seems inconsistent.  Give me one path to follow to the supreme good."

We are probably inclined to sympathize with Arjuna's question here.  We might wonder how the path of wisdom Krishna just described is coherent with his admonition to Arjuna to carry out his duty as a warrior by killing other great warriors he respects immensely.  However, Krishna rejects Arjuna's false dilemma and explains that the path of wisdom and the path of following one's duties even against one's inclinations are the same path, that they are not the separate paths we imagine them to be.

"At the beginning of time I declared two paths for the pure heart: jnana yoga, the contemplative path of spiritual wisdom, and karma yoga, the active path of selfless service.

One who shirks action does not attain freedom; no one can gain perfection by abstaining from work.  Indeed, there is no one who rests for even an instant; all creatures are driven to action by their own nature.

Those who abstain from action while allowing the mind to dwell on sensual pleasure cannot be called sincere spiritual aspirants.  But they excel who control their senses through the mind, using them for selfless service."

There have been two paths in many religions, and these are generally the more active life and the more contemplative life.  This is just as true of Christianity and Islam as it is of Buddhism and Hinduism.  Fortunately, these paths which appear to be quite different lead to the same destination when walked with sincerity.

Both the contemplative and active life contain elements of the other, as Krishna points out in the next passage.  Both of these lifestyles, rightly focused on the purpose of union of the divine life, re-shape our lives because they are selfless.  These paths are both the path of rejecting the life of selfishness in favor of eternal union, a re-orienting of life toward what is transcendent, the life that is above and beyond our pursuit of transient pleasures and aversion to temporary pains.

"Fulfill all your duties; action is better than inaction.  Even to maintain your body, Arjuna, you are obliged to act.  Selfish action imprisons the world.  Act selflessly, without any thought of personal profit.

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together.  'Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires': this is the promise of the Creator.

Honor and cherish the devas as they honor and cherish you; through this honor and love you will attain the supreme good.  All human desires are fulfilled by the devas, who are pleased by selfless service.  But anyone who enjoys the things given by the devas without offering selfless acts in return is a thief.

The spiritually minded, who eat in the spirit of service, are freed from all their sins; but the selfish, who prepare food for their own satisfaction, eat sin.  Living creatures are nourished by food, and food is nourished by rain; rain itself is the water of life, which comes down from selfless worship and service."

Krishna teaches us here that humanity was created with a general telos to act, and specifically to act selflessly.  And not just that we have this inborn purpose, but also that this selfless service for the good of others is what connects us ever more profoundly with the divine life.  He explains that what nourishes life itself in this world is the result of selfless worship and service, and that we should want to reciprocate that divine selfless giving which is the ultimate cause of all that we enjoy in this world.

He also teaches us that even perfectly natural actions which are not inherently moral or immoral (such as eating) are imbued with a moral dimension because of the intentions we bring to them.  The problem with eating for pleasure isn't that we're eating, but rather that we are doing so selfishly rather than because it keeps us strong enough to give selflessly of ourselves to serve the genuine good of others.

"Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from Brahman, the eternal, infinite Godhead.  Brahman is present in every act of service.  All life turns on this law, O Arjuna.  Those who violate it, indulging the senses for their own pleasure and ignoring the needs of others, have wasted their life.  But those who realize the Self are always satisfied.

 Having found the source of joy and fulfillment, they no longer seek happiness from the external world.  They have nothing to gain or lose by any action; neither people nor things can affect their security.

Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.  Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.  It was by such work that Janaka attained perfection; others too have followed his path."

What's more, Krishna teaches us that our capacity for selfless action is grounded in the very divine life which created us, the ultimate reality known as Brahman, the immutable cause of all that is.  We are most truly our Self when we participate in the selfless action which is a reflection of the selfless, creative, and life-giving action of Brahman.

He points out that we are happiest when we are not devoted to seeking our own immediate pleasure and avoiding our own immediate pain, when we are not bound by the chains which we wrap lovingly around the ego as a result of our addictions, chains that inevitably result from even those addictions to things which are not inherently bad for us, but enslave us nonetheless because we still perform them selfishly.

"What the outstanding person does, others will try to do.  The standards such people create will be followed by the whole world.  There is nothing in the three worlds for me to gain, Arjuna, nor is there anything I do not have; I continue to act, but I am not driven by any need of my own.  If I ever refrained from continuous work, everyone would immediately follow my example.  If I stopped working I would be the cause of cosmic chaos, and finally of the destruction of this world and these people.

The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves.  By abstaining from work you will confuse the ignorant, who are engrossed in their actions.  Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion."

In his wisdom, Krishna understands that it is our human instinct to follow those who are behaving in an excellent way when we are exposed to their actions.  It is by observing the actions of the wise that we learn how to live as they do, selflessly giving both the fruits of their actions and the fruits of their contemplation for the welfare of all.

Arjuna's problem isn't that he isn't conscientious enough, but rather that his reluctance to follow his dharma is rooted in selfish reasons rather than selfless ones.  Krishna offers himself as a model to Arjuna, inviting him to selflessly work according to his nature as a warrior just as Krishna selflessly works according to his nature as the avatar of the divine sustainer of all things (Vishnu).

The wisdom of Krishna teaches us that the more we seek to grow to be like those who are most wise, both the human and divine sages, the more we become wise ourselves.  Krishna shows us that wisdom is not merely a matter of knowledge.  The greatest wisdom is not gained through the study of esoteric ideas and ancient texts, but rather through cultivating a relationship with the wise here in this world who point us to the divine wisdom so that we can encounter it more fully in the next world.

The Yoga of Krishna - The Wisdom of Krishna - The Meditation of Krishna

Note: The above is a depiction of Krishna dancing.

Fair Questions: What does the Qur'an say about unbelievers, Jews, and Christians?

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There are many references to unbelievers (sometimes rendered as infidels) in the Qur'an, and because some of them are in the same passages as the passages about Jesus or immediately following those passages, I would like to examine those first as an extension of my previous work on what the Qur'an says about Jesus.

Also, in previous passages it was made clear that Christians are understood to be unbelievers (kafir in Arabic) and Jews are understood to be covenant-breakers.  For that reason, I will begin where I left off in the "House of Imran" surah, with the passage immediately following the laying of God's curse upon the unbelievers who lie about God.

Say: 'People of the Book!  Come now to a word

common between us and you, that we serve

none but God, and that we associate not

aught with Him, and do not some of us take

others as Lords, apart from God.' And if

they turn their backs, say: 'Bear witness that

     we are Muslims.'

People of the Book!  Why do you dispute

concerning Abraham?  The Torah was not sent

down, neither the Gospel, but after him.  What,

     have you no reason?

Ha, you are the ones who dispute on what you

know; why then dispute you touching a matter

of which you know not anything?  God knows,

     and you know not.

No; Abraham in truth was not a Jew,

neither a Christian; but he was a Muslim

and one pure of faith; certainly he was never

     of the idolaters.

Surely the people standing closest to Abraham

are those who followed him, and this Prophet,

and those who believe, and God is the Protector

     of the believers.

There is a party of the People of the Book

yearn to make you go astray; yet none

they make to stray, except themselves, but

     they are not aware.

People of the Book!  Why do you disbelieve

in God's signs, which you yourselves witness?

People of the Book!  Why do you confound

the truth with vanity, and conceal the truth

     and that wittingly?

We see in this Quranic passage that there is a reiteration of the idea that Christians and Jews are lying about God, and doing so knowingly, that they disbelieve in God's clear signs.  We also see a very common assertion that the Prophets of old were actually Muslims and that Islam is a return to the pure monotheism of Abraham (Ibrāhīm in Arabic).

Those who kept to the Abrahamic monotheism or had returned to it were known as reverts (Ḥanīf in Arabic), and were generally respected by the early Islamic community for maintaining the ancient truth which had been corrupted by the Christians and the Jews.  Though the Christians and Jews feature frequently among those considered to be unbelievers, they aren't the only ones singled out.

In the surah called "The Cow" (Al-Baqara in Arabic), there's another group that gets mentioned during an admonition that follows a discourse about Moses and the Israelites who followed him out of Egypt and through the desert.  But I will begin with the first passages of that surah, "The Cow":

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

  That is the Book, wherein is no doubt,

     a guidance to the godfearing

who believe in the Unseen, and perform the prayer,

and expend of what We have provided them;

who believe in what has been sent down to thee

   and what has been sent down before thee,

     and have faith in the Hereafter;

  those are guidance from their Lord,

     those are the ones who prosper.

As for the unbelievers, alike it is to them

whether thou hast warned them or hast not warned them,

     they do not believe.

God has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing,

     and on their eyes is a covering,

and there awaits them a mighty chastisement.

     And some men there are who say,

  'We believe in God and the Last Day';

     but they are not believers.

  They would trick God and the believers,

     and only themselves they deceive,

         and they are not aware.

     In their hearts is a sickness,

     and God has increased their sickness,

and there awaits them a painful chastisement

        for that they have cried lies.

  When it is said to them, 'Do not corruption in the land',

  they say, 'We are the only ones that put things right.'

     Truly, they are the workers of corruption

         but they are not aware.

When it is said to them, 'Believe as the people believe',

they say, 'Shall we believe, as fools believe?'

     Truly, they are the foolish ones,

        but they do not know.

When they meet those who believe, they say, 'We believe';

but when they go privily to their Satans, they say,

  'We are with you; we were only mocking.'

  God shall mock them, and shall lead them on

  blindly wandering in their insolence.

  Those are they that have bought error

     at the price of guidance,

  and their commerce has not profited them,

     and they are not right-guided.

"The Cow" is the first surah in the Qur'an after the opening prayer, and it starts with God speaking of believers and unbelievers, echoing some things that come up in other passages of the Qur'an about unbelievers being punished harshly.

In this surah, the Quranic narrative depicts a God who makes unbelievers remain in their belief, somewhat reminiscent of passages in the Tanakh regarding God hardening Pharaoh's heart.  The first set of unbelievers described in this passage are those claim to be believers, but are deluded about their being true believers and are lying about God.

Also, these unbelievers are depicted as publicly professing belief while privately mocking the true belief in the One God, and mocking those who submit to God alone (Muslims) as fools.

Shortly after in the surah "The Cow" it is made clear what awaits those who are unbelievers and the doubters.

And if you are in doubt concerning that We have

sent down on Our servant, then bring a sura

like it, and call your witnesses, apart from

     God, if you are truthful.

And if you do not--and you will not--then

fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones,

     prepared for unbelievers. 

Give thou good tidings to those who believe

and do deeds of righteousness, that for them

await gardens underneath which rivers flow;

whensoever they are provided with fruits therefrom

they shall say, 'This is that wherewithal

we were provided before'; and there

for them shall be spouses purified; therein

     they shall dwell forever.

As mentioned previously, the Fire is another term for Jahannam, the Islamic word for Hell.  That's where the unbelievers will be going, but the believers have a Paradise prepared for them, and within it they will have married love indefinitely and a restoration of the rich bounty of the Garden of Eden.

This paradise is referenced many times in the Qur'an, and the phrases used often use the word Garden in them or simply refer to them as The Garden (Al-Jannah in Arabic).  Shortly after this passage in "The Cow" surah, the topic shifts to the Garden of Eden and Adam's sin after being tempted by Satan.

And We said, 'Adam, dwell thou, and thy wife,

in the Garden, and eat thereof easefully

where you desire; but draw not nigh this tree,

     lest you be evildoers.'

Then Satan caused them to slip therefrom

and brought them out of that they were in;

and We said, 'Get you all down, each

of you an enemy of each; and in

the earth a sojourn shall be yours, and

     enjoyment for a time.

Thereafter Adam received certain words

from his Lord, and He turned towards him;

truly he turns, and is All-compassionate.

We said, 'Get you down out of it, all together;

yet there shall come to you guidance from Me,

and whosoever follows My guidance,

no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow.

As for the unbelievers who cry lies to Our signs,

those shall be inhabitants of the Fire,

     therein dwelling forever.'

Children of Israel, remember My blessing

wherewith I blessed you, and fulfil My Covenant

and I shall fulfil your covenant; and have awe of Me.

And believe in that I have sent down, confirming

that which is with you, and be not the first

to disbelieve in it.  And sell not My signs

for a little price; and fear you Me.

And do not confound the truth with vanity,

and do not conceal the truth wittingly.

And perform the prayer, and pay the alms,

and bow with those that bow.  Will you bid

others to piety, and forget yourselves

while you recite the Book?  Do you not understand?

Seek you help in patience and prayer,

for grievous it is, save to the humble

who reckon that they shall meet their Lord

and that unto Him they are returning.

Children of Israel, remember My blessing

wherewith I blessed you, and that I

have preferred you above all beings;

and beware of a day when no soul for another

shall give satisfaction, and no intercession

shall be accepted from it, nor any counterpoise

be taken, neither shall they be helped.

The Quranic narrative about the loss of the Garden of Eden to which faithful Mulims will be restored at the end of all things is followed by a series of admonitions to the Jews that recognizes their status as God's chosen people and exhorts them to not break their covenant with God.  In other parts of the Qur'an, it is made very clear that the Jews have indeed broken the covenant and that this will have serious consequences for them.

The surah "The Cow" continues with the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, the Golden Calf idol, the manna and quails, and Moses striking the rock to bring forth water because of their complaints.  This is followed by another passage about the Jews and others.

And abasement and poverty were pitched upon them,

and they were laden with the burden of God's anger;

that, because they had disbelieved the signs of God

and slain the prophets unrightfully; that,

because they disobeyed, and were transgressors.

Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry,

and the Christians, and those Sabaeans,

whoso believes in God and the Last Day, and works

righteousness--their wage awaits them with their Lord,

and no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow.

When the Qur'an mentions the Sabaeans or Sabians, it could be referring to a variety of different religious groups, and it's difficult to know for sure which group (or set of religious groups) it would mean.  They could have been Gnostics of some stripe or members of another Abrahamic faith.

What is more obvious is that the Quranic narratives repeatedly mention the disobedience of the Jews and their breaking of the covenant and killing of the prophets.  At the same time, it seems that the Qur'an is indicating that righteous people among the Jews, Christians, and Sabians have a reward awaiting them from God.

But that's not a wholehearted endorsement of those religious groups by any stretch of the imagination.  In the surah "The Table" (Al-Ma'ida in Arabic), Muslims are admonished:

O believers, take not Jews and Christians

as friends; they are friends of each other.

Whoso of you makes them his friends

is one of them.  God guides not the people

     of the evildoers.

Yet thou seest those in whose hearts is sickness

vying with one another to come to them,

saying, 'We fear lest a turn of fortune

should smite us.'  But it may be that God

will bring the victory, or some commandment

from Him, and then they will find themselves,

for that they kept secret within them,

     remorseful,

and the believers will say, 'What, are these

the ones who swore by God most earnest oaths

that they were with you?  Their works have failed;

     now they are the losers.

O believers, whosoever of you turns

from his religion, God will assuredly

bring a people He loves, and who love Him,

humble toward the believers, disdainful

towards the unbelievers, men who struggle

in the path of God, not fearing the reproach

of any reproacher.  That is God's bounty;

He gives it unto whom He will; and God is

     All-embracing, All-knowing.

Your friend is only God, and His Messenger,

and the believers who perform the prayer

and pay the alms, and bow them down.

Whoso makes God his friend, and His Messenger,

and the believers--the party of God,

     they are the victors.

O believers, take not as your friends those

of them, who were given the Book before you,

and the unbelievers, who take your religion

in mockery and as a sport; that is

because they are a people who have

     no understanding.

This passage in "The Table" surah continues on with an extended discourse about the Jews, and it might, at least in part, explain why there is a large portion of the Islamic world which believes that most Jews are evildoers.  There are obviously political reasons for anti-semitism in the Islamic world as well; it's not purely a matter of appeals to the Qur'an.

But it's still good to know what the Qur'an says about Jews and People of the Book more generally:

The Jews have said, 'God's hand is fettered.'

Fettered are their hands, and they are cursed

for what they have said.  Nay, but His hands

are outspread; He expends how He will.

And what has been sent down to thee from

thy Lord will surely increase many of them

in insolence and unbelief; and We have cast

between them enmity and hatred, till the Day

of Resurrection.  As often as they light

a fire for war, God will extinguish it.

They hasten about the earth, to do

corruption there; and God loves not the

     workers of corruption.

But had the People of the Book believed

and been godfearing, We would have acquitted

them of their evil deeds, and admitted them

to Gardens of Bliss.  Had they performed

the Torah and the Gospel, and what was

sent down to them from their Lord, they would

have eaten both what was above them, and

what was beneath their feet.  Some of them are

a just nation; but many of them--evil are

     the things they do.

This passage in "The Table" surah indicates that there is a reason for God punishing the People of the Book by increasing their unbelief, and the reason is their failure to follow the Torah and the Gospel (Al-Injil in Arabic) that God gave them as guidance.

The last part of this passage states that some of the People of the Book are righteous, and also that many of them are evildoers.  This may be a reflection of the fact that the Prophet Muhammad had both good relationships with some groups of Jews and quite literally embattled relationships with other groups of Jews.

There are further references to unbelievers, Sabians, and Christians, and Jews in the surah, "The Pilgrimage" (Al-Hajj in Arabic).  As in many passages in the Qur'an there is a strong emphasis on the quite different outcomes from believers and unbelievers.

God shall surely admit those who believe

and do righteous deeds into gardens

underneath which rivers flow; surely God does

     that He desires.

Whosoever thinks God will not help him

in the present world and the world to come,

let him stretch up a rope to heaven,

then let him sever it, and behold

whether his guile does away with what

     enrages him.

Even so We have sent it down as signs,

clear signs, and for that God guides

     whom He desires.

Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry,

the Sabaeans, the Christians, the Magians

and the idolaters--God shall distinguish

between them on the Day of Resurrection;

assuredly God is witness

     over everything.

Hast thou not seen how to God bow all who are in the heavens

     and all who are in earth,

the sun and the moon, the stars and the mountains,

     the trees and the beasts,

and many of mankind?  And many merit the chastisement;

     and whom God abases,

there is none to honour him.  God does whatsoever He will.

These are two disputants who have disputed

concerning their Lord.  As for the unbelievers,

for them garments of fire shall be cut,

and there shall be poured over their heads

     boiling water

whereby whatsoever is in their bellies

and their skins shall be melted; for them await

     hooked iron rods;

as often as they desire in their anguish

to come forth from it, they shall be restored

into it, and: 'Taste the chastisement

     of the burning!'

The visceral and graphic descriptions of the tortures of Jahannam remind me somewhat of one of the Buddha's discourses and various artistic depictions of hell dimensions in Buddhism.  As before, unbelievers, Christians, and Jews are mentioned in the same passages, making it difficult to deny that there is a meaningful connection between the fate of unbelievers and the People of the Book.

Islamic scholars have differing views about whether or not Christians and Jews are unbelievers.  There is no perfect consensus as to the answer to that question, though Christians and Jews have often been treated more leniently than other religious groups by Muslims who conquered their lands.

And this lack of consensus is a reflection of the various Quranic narratives that speak of Jews and Christians in sometimes more positive and sometimes quite negative terms, in one passage suggesting that they will be rewarded by God for their righteousness and belief, and in another suggesting that they are evildoers or unbelievers whose fate is the Fire.

Yet there are some things that are very clear in the Qur'an: unbelievers are destined for a torturous Hell, Jews are covenant-breakers and murderers of the holy prophets (many of whom are evildoers), and Christians who claim that Jesus is the Son God are unbelievers (which the overwhelming majority of them).  It's also clear that Muslims are called by God to befriend their fellow Muslims and avoid falling in with Christians and Jews who might cause them to stray from Islam.

These passages may be interpreted in various ways, through contextualization and cross-referencing the passages with various hadith, for example, because there really isn't a central magisterium that can adjudicate the different interpretations.  And as with most religious texts, the interpretation is usually made in light of our existing beliefs about morality and politics, so it's inevitable that some Muslims will prefer to emphasize the more negative passages about unbelievers, Christians, and Jews while other Muslims would prefer to emphasize other passages.

*     *     *

These are not the only references to unbelievers in the Qur'an, and if you want more information about those references and how unbelievers are viewed in Islam, I recommend both reading the Qur'an for yourself and reading the thoughts of Islamic commentators on it (from multiple interpretive traditions).

Note:  The above image is a Persian painting of Mary and the infant Jesus.

Fair Questions: What does the Qur'an say about Jesus?

Listen to the embedded podcast version of this post or read the written version below.




There are many references to Jesus in the Qur'an, and there are some very important ones in the surah on Mary, which is a surah I have written about previously.  Some of these references are not related to Mary directly or to the infancy narrative of Jesus, but are part of a discourse about the unfortunate fate of unbelievers (kafir in Arabic).

And they say, 'The All-Merciful

has taken unto Himself a son.'

You have indeed advanced something

     hideous!

The heavens are wellnigh rent of it

and the earth split asunder, and

the mountains wellnigh fall down

     crashing

for that they have attributed

to the All-Merciful a son; and it

behoves not the All-Merciful to take

     a son.

This is an explicit denial of Jesus being the Son of God following immediately after the narrative of his conception and birth and the miracles being performed by him as an infant.  But this is more than just a competing intellectual claim; it's not just that arguments are given for why it's absurd that Jesus would be the Son of God, but also that it is such an astoundingly blasphemous claim in the eyes of Muslims that it is appropriate to describe it in terms of natural catastrophes of near-unimaginable scope, the kind of natural catastrophes that destroy entire civilizations.

This isn't the only surah that presents Christian beliefs about Jesus as having severe consequences.  The surah "The Table" (Al-Ma'ida in Arabic) features a similar discourse:

     They are unbelievers

who say, 'God is the Messiah, Mary's son.'

     For the Messiah said,

     'Children of Israel,

     serve God, my Lord and

     your Lord.  Verily

     whoso associates

     with God anything,

     God shall prohibit him

     entrance to Paradise,

     and his refuge shall be

     the Fire; and wrongdoers

     shall have no helpers.'

     They are unbelievers

who say, 'God is the Third of Three.'

     No God is there but

          One God.

If they refrain not from what they say, there

shall afflict those of them that disbelieve

     a painful chastisement.

Will they not turn to God and pray His forgiveness?

God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.

The Messiah, son of Mary, was only

a Messenger; Messengers before him

passed away; his mother was a just woman;

they both ate food.  Behold, how We make clear

the signs to them, then behold, how they

     perverted are!

The consequences in "The Table" surah are eternal spiritual consequences; Christians will be denied entry to Paradise and will be cast into The Fire (Al-Nar in Arabic) which is another name for Jahannam, the Islamic equivalent of what is known as Hell in the Christian cosmology.

The Quranic narrative presents Jesus himself as the one who makes it clear that those who keep these Christian beliefs about his divinity will be condemned to everlasting torment in The Fire.  The next Christian doctrine to be explicitly addressed in the Quranic narrative is the Trinity, and that belief too is said to result in severe consequences for those who believe it.

The last part of this passage makes it clear that Christians have perverted the clear teachings of God about who Jesus is.  Later in the surah "The Table," Jesus and Mary are mentioned again:

The day when God shall gather the Messengers, and say,

'What answer were you given?' They shall say, 'We have

no knowledge; Thou art the Knower of the things Unseen.'

When God said, 'Jesus

Son of Mary, remember

My blessing upon thee

and upon thy mother,

when I confirmed thee

with the Holy Spirit,

to speak to men in

the cradle, and of age;

and when I taught thee

the Book, the Wisdom, 

the Torah, the Gospel;

and when thou createst

out of clay, by My

leave, as the likeness

of a bird, and thou

breathest into it,

and it is a bird, by My

leave; and thou healest

the blind and the leper

by My leave, and thou

bringest the dead forth

by My leave; and when I

restrained from thee

the Children of Israel

when thou camest unto

them with the clear

signs, and the unbelievers

among them said, "This is

nothing but sorcery

manifest."  And when I

inspired the Apostles:

"Believe in Me and My

Messenger"; they said,

"We believe; witness

Thou our submission."'

And when the Apostles

said, 'O Jesus son of

Mary, is thy Lord able

to send down on us a

Table out of heaven?'

He said, 'Fear you God,

if you are believers.'

They said, 'We desire

that we should eat of it

and our hearts be at rest;

and that we may know that

thou hast spoken true to

us, and that we may be

among its witnesses.'

The reference to birds made out of clay becoming alive when Jesus breathed on them comes from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a text from the 2nd century popular among Gnostics.  Though it was probably written during the same century as the Protoevangelium of James which fits well with the canonical Gospels, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas presents a very different Jesus than what is consistent with the synoptic Gospels in the New Testament.

Interestingly, the narrative about the birds coming to life because Jesus breathed on them would have been seen as a sign of divinity by someone familiar with the Genesis creation narratives in which the breath of God is what brings Adam to life.  But that divinity is explicitly denied in the Quranic narrative, and the Jesus of the Qur'an is the one who denies it in the following passage:

Said Jesus son of Mary,

'O God, our Lord, send

down upon us a Table

out of heaven, that shall

be for us a festival, the

first and last of us,

and a sign from Thee.

And provide for us; Thou

art the best of providers.'

God said, 'Verily I

do send it down on you;

whoso of you hereafter

disbelieves, verily I

shall chastise him with a

chastisement wherewith I

chastise no other being.'

And when God said, 'O

Jesus son of Mary,

didst thou say unto men,

"Take me and my mother

as gods, apart from God"?'

He said, 'To Thee be

glory!  It is not mine to

say what I have no right

to.  If I indeed said it,

Thou knowest it, knowing

what is within my soul,

and I know not what is

within Thy soul; Thou

knowest the things unseen

I only said to them what

Thou didst command me:

"Serve God, my Lord

and your Lord."

The Quranic narrative has Jesus explicitly denying not just his own divinity, but also denying the divinity of Mary, which is something the overwhelming majority of ancient Christians would have denied as well.  Either this passage wasn't directed at them, or the author had a fundamental misunderstanding of ancient Christian beliefs about Mary.  Another possibility is that it was a reaction against the Collyridian sect that worshiped Mary in 4th century Arabia, and may still have been known to Muhammad in the 600s.

Mary isn't the only woman mentioned in the Qur'an, and several mentions occur in another surah, and surah which, like "The Table" appears early in the Qur'an.  This surah, in which Christian doctrines are also explicitly denied is entitled "Women" (Al-Nisa in Arabic):

So, for their breaking the compact, and disbelieving

in the signs of God, and slaying the Prophets

without right, and for their saying, 'Our hearts

are uncircumcised'--nay, but God sealed them

for their unbelief, so they believe not,

     except a few--

and for their unbelief, and their uttering

against Mary a mighty calumny,

and for their saying, 'We slew the Messiah,

Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God'--

yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him,

only a likeness of that was shown to them.

Those who are at variance concerning him surely

are in doubt regarding him; they have no knowledge

of him, except the following of surmise;

and they slew him not of a certainty--

no indeed; God raised him up to Him; God is

     All-mighty, All-wise.

There is not one of the People of the Book

but will assuredly believe in him before his

death, and on Resurrection Day he will be

     a witness against them.

The people being referred to in this passage as having broken the covenant, disbelieving God's signs, killing the Holy Prophets, committing calumny against Mary, and claiming to have killed Jesus are...the Jews.  The Quranic narrative insists that Jesus never actually died, but rather that God raised him up alive, and that Jesus will subsequently return during the end times.

Some Islamic commentators on the Qur'an insist that someone else was crucified in place of Jesus, which is a view taken in some Gnostic texts like, for example, the Apocalypse of Peter, which plainly states that someone else was substituted for Jesus on the cross.

There are also more references to Jesus in "The House of Imran" surah.  The following passage is the last part of the angel's announcement to Mary about the child Jesus she would conceive and bear:

And He will teach him

the Book, the Wisdom,

the Torah, the Gospel,

to be a Messenger

to the Children of Israel

saying, "I have come to

you with a sign from

your Lord.  I will create

for you out of clay as

the likeness of a bird;

then I will breathe into

it, and it will be a

bird, by the leave of God.

I will also heal

the blind and the leper,

and bring to life the

dead, by the leave of God.

I will inform you too

of what things you eat,

and what you treasure up

in your houses.  Surely

in that is a sign for you,

if you are believers.

Likewise confirming the

truth of the Torah that

is before me, and to make

lawful to you certain

things that before were

forbidden unto you.

I have come to you with

a sign from your Lord;

so fear you God, and

obey you me.  Surely

God is my Lord and

your Lord; so serve Him.

This is a straight path."

The "House of Imran" contains many of the same points that are present in "The Table" surah, but has an added point that certain things that were unlawful (haraam in Arabic) have been made lawful (halal in Arabic), which seems to be a reflection of early Christian beliefs about Gentile converts not being required to abide by the laws of the Torah.

The "House of Imran" surah continues with more about Jesus and the Apostles:

And when Jesus perceived

their unbelief, he said,

'Who will be my helpers

unto God?' The Apostles

said, 'We will be helpers

of God; we believe in God;

witness thou our submission.

Lord, we believe in that

Thou hast sent down, and we

follow the Messenger.

Inscribe us therefore with

those who bear a witness.'

And they devised, and God

devised, and God is

the best of devisers.

When God said, 'Jesus,

I will take thee to Me

and will raise thee to Me,

and I will purify thee

of those who believe not.

I will set thy followers

above the unbelievers

till the Resurrection Day.

Then unto Me shall you

return, and I will decide

between you, as to what

you were at variance on.

As for the unbelievers,

I will chastise them with

a terrible chastisement

in this world and the next;

they shall have no helpers.'

The idea that Jesus will come back at the end times and God will set the record straight about how he is a Muslim appears here in the "House of Imran" surah as well, along with additional mentions of the severe consequences which await unbelievers.

The Quranic narrative in the "House of Imran" surah continues with another explicit denial of Christian beliefs about Jesus:

This We recite to thee

of signs and wise remembrance

Truly, the likeness of

Jesus, in God's sight,

is as Adam's likeness;

He created him of dust,

then said He unto him,

'Be,' and he was.

The truth is of God;

be not of the doubters.

And whoso disputes with thee

concerning him, after the

knowledge that has come to thee,

say: 'Come now, let us call

our sons and your sons,

our wives and your wives,

our selves and your selves,

then let us humbly pray

and so lay God's curse

upon the ones who lie.'

This is the true story.

There is no God but God,

and assuredly God is

the All-mighty, the All-wise.

And if they turn their backs,

assuredly God knows

the workers of corruption.

In this passage, the Quranic narrative emphasizes that Jesus is a man just like Adam, and that the appropriate response to the Christians who claim that Jesus was uncreated and coeternal with God the Father is to pray for God to curse them for their lies against God.  Unsurprisingly, this is immediately followed by a classical Islamic formulation which asserts the oneness of God.

The Qur'an has many interesting things to say about Jesus, and on the whole these statements are an interesting blend of appropriation of and also rejection of early Christian beliefs, some of them from Gnostic sources.  In the Quranic narratives about Jesus, we see even more starkly that an important part of the project of Islam is to reform existing monotheistic religions (meaning the Christians and Jews) and restore them to the true faith in the One God while acknowledging many of the good things about those religions.

Setting aside the military prowess of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, that acknowledgement of the good things in Judaism and Christianity may well be part of why Islam has been so successful in making converts.

*     *     *

These passages are not the only references to Jesus in the Qur'an, and if you want more information about those references and how Jesus is viewed in Islam, I recommend both reading the Qur'an for yourself and reading the thoughts of Islamic commentators on it.

The above image is a Persian painting of Mary and the infant Jesus.

Fair Questions: What does the Qur'an say about Mary?

Listen to the embedded podcast version of this post or read the written version below.





When I read the Qur'an for myself for the first time, one of the things I found interesting was that there is a surah named after Mary, the Mother of Jesus.  The surah on Maryam has a set of rhyming schemes and other literary aspects that I do find interesting, but at the moment I'm interested in the contents of its message to the reader of the Qur'an.

But the surah named after Mary isn't the only place in the Qur'an we learn about Mary.  In "The House of Imran," the conception and birth of Mary are narrated.  The name for Mary's father in the ancient Christian tradition is Joachim, but it is rendered in Arabic as Imran.  The name of Mary's mother is often rendered as Anna in the Christian tradition, though I've only seen it rendered as Hannah from the Qur'an.

In this particular passage, Hannah is not named (being referred to as Imran's wife), but many important figures of Judaism are named quite explicitly:

God chose Adam and Noah

and the House of Abraham

and the House of Imran

above all beings, the

seed of one another;

God hears, and knows.

When the wife of Imran

said, 'Lord, I have vowed

to Thee, in dedication,

what is within my womb.

Receive Thou this from me;

Thou hearest, and knowest.'

And when she gave birth to her

she said, 'Lord, I have given

birth to her, a female.'

(And God knew very well

what she had given birth to;

the male is not as the female.)

'And I have named her Mary,

and commend her to Thee

with her seed, to protect them

from the accursed Satan.'

Her Lord received the child

with gracious favour,

and by His goodness

she grew up comely,

Zachariah taking

charge of her.  Whenever

Zachariah went in to her

in the Sanctuary, he

found her provisioned.

'Mary,' he said,

'how comes this to thee?'

'From God,' she said.

Truly God provisions

whomsoever He will

without reckoning.

The story of Mary's conception isn't featured in the New Testament of the Bible.  So there's really only one place that the Prophet Muhammad would have gotten that information in the 600s to put it in the Qur'an.  At the time, Christianity and Judaism were well-established in various parts of the Middle East, including on the Arabian peninsula.  Also, the Christian oral traditions about Mary's conception were well-established and represented in Christian artwork, and these traditions are likely the source material for this narrative in the Qur'an.

There are references to Zachariah in the New Testament, however, and he and his wife are written of in the Qur'an as well as the Bible.  The next part of the passage details Zachariah's prayer for a son, and God's answer to that prayer in the form of John the Baptist.  Because it is essentially the same as another passage in the 'Maryam' surah, I am skipping it here and moving on to the next passage about Mary.

And when the angels said,

'Mary, God has chosen

thee, and purified

thee; He has chosen

thee above all women.

Mary, be obedient to

thy Lord, prostrating

and bowing before Him.'

(That is of the tidings

of the Unseen, that We

reveal to thee; for thou

wast not with them, when

they were casting quills

which of them should have

charge of Mary; thou

wast not with them, when

they were disputing.)

When the angels said,

'Mary, God gives thee good

tidings of a Word from Him

whose name is Messiah,

Jesus, son of Mary;

high honoured shall he be

in this world and the next,

near stationed to God.

He shall speak to men

in the cradle, and of age,

and righteous shall he be.'

'Lord,' said Mary,

'how shall I have a son

seeing no mortal has

touched me?' 'Even so,'

God said, 'God

creates what He will.

When He decrees a thing

He does but say to it

"Be," and it is.

This narrative is somewhat different from the narrative of the Annunciation in the New Testament in a few important ways.  One is that it specifically claims that the angels declared to Mary that her son would speak to men as an infant, which likely comes from Gnostic sources such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas with which people of the Arabian peninsula, North Africa, and other parts of the Mediterranean region would have at least been somewhat familiar.

Another is that the means of deciding who would be Mary's guardian was apparently a randomized one equivalent to drawing straws or flipping coins, perhaps indicating that it was God who had made the decision that Zachariah and his wife would care for Mary.  The last is that this account of the Annunciation is much more detailed in describing what was revealed to Mary about Jesus, as if it were reading later revelations about Jesus's role back into the earlier narrative.

But what is very striking to me is how much honor is given to Mary, that God has chosen her above all women.  And also that in Islam, Mary has many titles given to her, just as she does in the ancient Christian traditions that were around when Islam was founded.  She is called Queen of the Saints, for example, a high honor indeed.  Her unique place of honor in Islam may be the reason for having a surah named after her, or it may be the other way around.

Either way, the surah named after Mary is an important part of the Qur'an to consider when learning what is said about her in the Qur'an.  Like many things in the Islamic world, the surah entitled 'Maryam' begins with the invocation of the name of God in the traditional Bismillah:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Kaf Ha Ya Ain Sad

The mention of thy Lord's mercy

unto his servant Zachariah;

when he called upon his Lord 

     secretly

saying, 'O my Lord, behold

the bones within me are feeble

and my head is all aflame with

     hoariness.

And in calling on Thee, my Lord,

I have never been hitherto

     unprosperous.

And now I fear for my kinsfolk

after I am gone; and my wife

is barren.  So give me, from Thee,

     a kinsman

who shall be my inheritor

and the inheritor of the House

of Jacob; and make him, my Lord

     well-pleasing.'

'O Zachariah, We give thee

good tidings of a boy, whose name

     is John.

No namesake have we given him

     aforetime.'

The Quranic narrative of Zachariah's plea to God is fairly similar to the narrative in the New Testament: he makes reference to his old age and he was told of his son's name.  The narrative differs, however, in describing Zachariah's request for a son to make sure his property was passed down and his family cared for.

That wasn't a part of the narrative in Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Luke.  And the Quranic narrative is missing the parts of Luke's Gospel in which the angel is telling Zachariah about John not drinking alcohol and going forth in the spirit and power of Elijah.

But there are some more similarities:

He said, 'O my Lord, how

shall I have a son, seeing

my wife is barren, and I

have attained to the declining

     of old age?'

Said He, 'So it shall be; thy

Lord says, "Easy is that for

Me, seeing that I created

thee aforetime, when thou wast

     nothing."'

He said, 'Lord, appoint to me

some sign.'  Said He, 'Thy sign

is that thou shalt not speak to

men, though being without fault,

     three nights.'

So he came forth unto his

people from the Sanctuary,

then he made the signal to them,

'Give you glory at dawn and

     evening.'

'O John, take the Book forcefully';

and We gave him judgment, yet a

     little child,

and a tenderness from Us,

and purity; and he was

godfearing, and cherishing

his parents, not arrogant,

     rebellious.

'Peace be upon him, the day

he was born, and the day he

dies, and the day he is raised

     up alive!'

The question about how this is possible, given his age and his wife's age, is also featured in the Gospel of Luke.  But the narrative about his being unable to speak after asking for a sign is rather different.  In the Gospel of Luke, Zachariah is made mute because he doubted the angel's announcement and is unable to speak until his son John is born.

But in the 'Maryam' surah, he is given a much lighter sentence of 3 nights that functions as a sign only rather than both a sign and a penance.  And after the part about Zachariah leaving the Sanctuary of the temple to greet the people, the similarities end very quickly.  In the Gospel of Luke, there's no exhortation to John about taking the Book and no prophecy about peace being upon him at birth, death, and resurrection.

Now that we've learned about the Quranic depiction of John the Baptist and the strange circumstances of his conception and birth, we get to Mary and see that her situation has some interesting parallels to the situation of Zachariah and Elizabeth.

And mention in the Book Mary

when she withdrew from her people

     to an eastern place,

and she took a veil apart from them;

then We sent unto her Our Spirit

that presented himself to her

     a man without fault.

She said, 'I take refuge in

the All-Merciful from thee!

     If thou fearest God....'

He said, 'I am but a messenger

come from thy Lord, to give thee

     a boy most pure.'

She said, 'How shall I have a son

whom no mortal has touched, neither

     have I been unchaste?'

He said, 'Even so thy Lord has said:

"Easy is that for Me; and that We

may appoint him a sign unto men

and a mercy from Us; it is

     a thing decreed."'

The beginning of this part of the passage seems to allude to Mary being a consecrated virgin, given the references to withdrawing to an eastern place and taking the veil, and this would make sense if the Prophet Muhammad was familiar with Christian oral traditions about Mary, though that particular oral tradition isn't present in the Gospel of Luke.

At the end, there is an absence of Mary's agreement to the Lord's plan when she says, "Let it be done to me according to your word!"  In the Gospel of Luke, Mary consents to conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit, but in the Quranic narrative she doesn't consent and takes a very different attitude toward the whole thing.

So she conceived him, and withdrew with him

     to a distant place.

And the birthpangs surprised her by

the trunk of a palm-tree.  She said,

'Would I had died ere this, and become

     a thing forgotten!'

But the one that was below her

called to her, 'Nay, do not sorrow;

see, thy Lord has set below thee

     a rivulet.

Shake also to thee the palm-trunk,

and there shall come tumbling upon thee

     dates fresh and ripe.

Eat, therefore, and drink, and be

comforted; and if thou shouldst see

     any mortal,

say, "I have vowed to the All-Merciful

a fast, and today I will not speak

     to any man."'

Then she brought the child to her folk

carrying him; and they said,

'Mary, thou hast surely committed

     a monstrous thing!

Sister of Aaron, thy father was not

a wicked man, nor was thy mother

     a woman unchaste.'

Mary pointed to the child then;

but they said, 'How shall we speak

to one who is still in the cradle,

     a little child?'

The deep despair of Mary in the midst of the pain of childbirth under a palm tree seems pretty realistic, but immediately afterwards, God provides her with an unaccounted-for source of soothing water and fresh fruit from the tree (which reminds me a bit of the Buddha's infancy narrative).

Another interesting point is that the Quranic narrative has Mary vowing to speak to no man, which is very different from the New Testament depictions of the Nativity of Jesus.  Those depictions include Joseph her betrothed, who is notably and completely absent from the Quranic narrative.

Another thing that seems very realistic is the Quranic narrative's description of her family's reaction to her having a child, which is then followed by something miraculous, just as Mary's realistic childbirth pains were followed by something miraculous.

He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant;

God has given me the Book, and 

     made me a Prophet.

Blessed He has made me, wherever

I may be; and He has enjoined me

to pray, and to give alms, so

     long as I live,

and likewise to cherish my mother;

He has not made me arrogant,

     unprosperous,

Peace be upon me, the day I was born,

and the day I die, and the day I am

     raised up alive!'

That is Jesus, son of Mary,

in word of truth, concerning which

     they are doubting.

It is not for God to take a son

unto Him.  Glory be to Him!  When He

decrees a thing, He but says to it

     'Be,' and it is.

Surely God is my Lord, and your

Lord; so serve you Him.  This is

     a straight path.

The narrative of Jesus' speaking like an adult who knows the future while still an infant is a fascinating appropriation of and rejection of Christian tradition.  It explicitly endorses the view that Jesus is a Prophet (which is what Muslims believe) and denies that Jesus could be the Son of God (which is what Christians believe).  And it doesn't resemble traditional Christian formulations at all; this is clearly an early Islamic tradition in the way it is written and the substance of its message.

Throughout the Quranic narratives on Mary, we see an interesting blend of ancient Christian tradition and early Islamic tradition that sought to return the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) to the straight path that the Prophet Muhammad understood them to be deviating from.  The Prophet Muhammad was a reformer of religion; he believed that Christianity and Judaism had become corrupted along the way and that he needed to restore people to the true religion of God.

*     *     *

These passages are not the only references to Mary in the Qur'an, and if you want more information about those references and how Mary is viewed in Islam, I recommend both reading the Qur'an for yourself and reading the thoughts of Islamic commentators on it.

Note:  The above is an image of a copy of the Qur'an opened to the "Maryam" surah.