THE BIRTH OF ^ISA
Ibn Jarir and others narrated that one day, Maryam ran out of water. She asked her cousin, Yusuf, the son of Ya^qub, to go with her to get some. He declined, saying he had his sufficiency for that day, so Maryam went to fetch water alone. There, she found Jibril, whom Allah had sent to her in the shape of a man.
Thinking he was a human who might harm her, she sought refuge with Allah from him. Jibril told her, “I am the Messenger of your Lord to you. I was sent to give you a pious child who is pure from sins.” Maryam told him, “How would I have a son? I have no husband, and I am not an adulterer or a fornicator.” Jibril told her,
“Creating a son without a father is an easy matter to Allah. Allah will make him a sign for the people and an indication of the Power of Allah. He will send him as a mercy from Him and an endowment to the one who follows him and believes in him. Creating him is a matter Allah willed and destined, so it will not be blocked or changed.”
Jibril blew the soul of ^Isa into Maryam and ^Isa’s soul entered her womb. Maryam became pregnant with Isa, peace be upon him. There is a difference of opinion as to the term of her pregnancy; some said nine months, some said eight, and some said other than that.
However, when the signs of pregnancy became apparent to her, her cousin, Yusuf the Carpenter, was disturbed and did not know how to interpret the matter. If he wanted to accuse her he would remember how pious she was. If he wanted to declare her innocence, he would see the signs of pregnancy. So he decided to open the subject with her. He asked her, “Tell me, would plants grow without seeds? Would trees grow without rainfall? Would there be a child without a male?” To all these questions, Maryam said “Yes.”
Then she asked him, “Did you not know Allah made the plants emerge without seeds the day He created them? Did you not know Allah created the trees for the first time without rain? Did you not know Allah created Adam and Hawwa’ (Eve) without a father or a mother?” Yusuf knew all these things, and when she responded in this way, he felt assured of her innocence and that this was something special given to her by Allah.
When the signs of her pregnancy became apparent, Maryam went away from her people. The pangs of birth led her to the trunk of a dead palm tree. Out of her shyness from the people, and fearing they would accuse her of having done something ugly, she wished she were dead and not a trace of her could be found. Jibril called to her, comforting her.
He told her Allah made a small river run under her from which she could drink, and should she shake the trunk of the dead palm tree next to her, it would turn green and moist dates would fall from which she could eat and be nourished. Jibril told her that when she faced her people with her son to tell anyone who questioned her about him that she had made a vow not to talk to any human for that day.
That day, Maryam gave birth to her son, Isa, peace be upon him. Forty (40) days later, she carried him back to her people. They accused her of having fornicated. In response, Maryam pointed to her son, meaning to tell them to talk to him. They were angered at this and thought she was mocking them by asking them to speak with a 40-day-old baby lying in a small cradle. At this, Allah made ^Isa speak. He said
(قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللهِ ءاتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا {30} وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا {31} وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَتِي وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِي جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا {32} وَالسَّلامُ عَلَيَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا)
which are verses 30-33 of Surat Maryam and mean: [I am a slave of Allah. He will reveal the Book to me and make me a prophet. He blessed me wherever I am. In the rules revealed to me, there will be special attention given to Prayers and Zakat. Allah predestined that I will be kind to my mother and not a tyrant with a bad ending. Peace was on me the day I was born. Peace will be on me on the day I will die and on the day I am raised alive again.]
When Maryam’s people heard that, they refrained from harming her or Prophet Zakariyya, about whom they had made ugly accusations. After Baby ^Isa spoke these words, he did not speak again until he became at an age when children normally begin to speak. ^Isa’s speaking from the cradle was a preparation and a sign of his creed and coming prophethood, when he would call the people to believe in Allah, the One Who does not have a partner and to believe in the message of ^Isa–that he was the slave and messenger of Allah. The first words he spoke were, “I am a slave of Allah.”
