Al Imran
Al Imran (Arabic: آل عِمْرَان ʾĀl ʿImrān, "The Family of Imran")[1][2] is the third chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with two hundred verses (āyāt).
آل عِمْرَان ʾĀl ʿImrān The Family of Imran | |
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Classification | Medinan |
Position | Juzʼ 3–4 |
No. of Rukus | 20 |
No. of verses | 200 |
No. of words | 3503 |
No. of letters | 14605 |
Opening muqaṭṭaʻāt | Alif Lam Meem |
Quran |
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Context
Imran in Islam is regarded as the father of Mary. This chapter is named after the family of Imran, which includes Imran,wife of Imran, Mary, and Jesus.
Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (Asbāb al-nuzūl), the chapter is believed to have been either the second or third of the Medinan surahs, as it references both the events of Badr and the Uhud. Almost all of it also belongs to the third year of the Hijra, though a minority of its verses might have been revealed during the visit of the Najrān Christian deputation and the Mubahala, which occurred around the 10th year of the Hijrah.[3] This chapter primarily focuses on the departure of prophethood from the Mosaic dispensation.
Q3:33 the family of Imran
The chapter takes its name from the family of Imran mentioned in verse 3:33.[4]
According to Christian tradition, Joachim is the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
According to Iraqi scholar and translator, N.J. Dawood, the Quran confuses Mary mother of Jesus with Mary the sister of Moses, by referring to Mary, the mother of Jesus' father as Imran, which is the Arabic version of Amram, who in Exodus 6:20, is shown to be the father of Moses.[5] Dawood, in a note to Surah 19:28, where Mary the Mother of Jesus is referred to as the "Sister of Aaron", and Aaron was the brother of Mary sister of Moses, states: "It Appears that Miriam, Aaron's sister, and Maryam (Mary), mother of Jesus, were according to the Koran, the same person."[6] Although Islamic studies of the beginning of the 20th century tended to note genealogical discrepancies, in more recent Islamic Studies of the 21st century the general consensus is, according to Angelika Neuwirth, Nicolai Sinai & Michael Marx, that the Quran does not make a genealogical error but instead makes use of Typology.[7] This is, following Wensincks conclusion, supported by the figurative speech of the Quran and the Islamic tradition:
Maryam is called a sister of Hārūn, and the use of these three names ‘Imrān, Hārūn, and Maryam has led to the supposition that the Kur'ān does not clearly distinguish between the two Maryams, of the Old and the New Testaments. ... It is not necessary to assume that these kinship links are to be interpreted in modern terms. The words "sister" and "daughter", like their male counterparts, in Arabic usage, can indicate extended kinship, descendance or spiritual affinity. ... Muslim tradition is clear that there are eighteen centuries between the Biblical ‘Amram and the father of Maryam.[8][9]
Similarly, Stowasser concludes that "to confuse Mary the mother of Jesus with Mary the sister of Moses and Aaron in Torah is completely wrong and in contradiction to the sound Hadith and the Qur'anic text as we have established".[10][11]
References
- Ibn Kathir. "Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Surah Ale Imran". Quran 4 U. Tafsir. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs, eds. (2012). "Āl ʿImrān". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_0553.(subscription required)
- Maududi, Abdul Alaa. Tafhim-ul-Quran.
- M.A.S. Abdel Haleem (2005). The Qur'an. Oxford University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-19-157407-8 – via Oxford Islamic Studies Online.
- Dawood, N J (1956). The Koran. London: Penguin Books. p. 53. ISBN 9780141393841.
- Dawood, N J (1956). The Koran. London: Penguin Books. p. 306. ISBN 9780141393841.
- Michael Marx: Glimpses of a Mariology in the Qur'an; in: A. Neuwirth, Nicolai Sinai, Michael Marx (Hrsg.): The Qur'ān in Context. Historical and Literary Investigations into the Qur'ānic Milieu. Leiden 2011. pp. 533–563. pp. 533–563.
- Arent Jan Wensinck: Maryam. In: A. J. Wensinck, J. H. Kramers (Hrsg.): Handwörterbuch des Islam. pp. 421–423.
- J. Wensinck (Penelope Johnstone), "Maryam" in C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs & Ch. Pellat (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia Of Islam (New Edition), 1991, Volume VI, p. 630.
- Stowasser, B. F. (1994). Women In The Qur'an, Traditions, And Interpretation. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 393–394.
- Schleifer, Aliah (1998). Mary The Blessed Virgin Of Islam, op. cit. p. 36.
External links
- Al-Quran – Āl ʿImrān (The Family of Imran)
- Ali-Imran at Quran.com
- A fragment showing verses 85-88 from the World Digital Library