Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Kun Fayakun ( Be, and it is)

Mary wonders at how she shall give birth to a child and the answer given is Kun Fayakun. Obviously, this is not referring to an instant process but rather a gradual process.
3:47. She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me." He said: "So (it will be) for Allâh creates what He wills. When He has decreed something, He says to it only: "Be!" and it is.
Mary in Islam (مريم "Maryam" in Arabic), the mother of Jesus, is venerated as a righteous woman. She is mentioned more times in the Qur'an than in the entire New Testament. According to the Qur'an, Jesus (called 'Isa in Arabic) was born miraculously by the will of God without a father. His mother is regarded as a chaste and virtuous woman and is a highly respected figure in Islam. The Qur'an states that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth, but that neither Mary nor her son was divine.

In the Qur'an, no other woman is given more attention than Mary. The nineteenth sura of the Qur'an is named after her and is, to some extent, about her life. Of the Qur'an's 114 suras, she is among only eight people who have a sura named after them. In Islam, she is generally referred to as Maryam, Umm Isa (Mary, the mother of Jesus). For Muslims she is a symbol of submission to God and piety.

Mary is one of the most highly-regarded women in Islam; there are several verses in the Qur'an praising her and confirming that she was an extremely chaste and pious woman. I wish , I could be strong as her as I AM also a MARYAM :)

6 comments:

Anthony Rogers said...

Greetings,

Perhaps you could tell me something.

My understanding was that Muslims believe the Qur'an to be from God and that it doesn't borrow from other sources.

When I read that the Qur'an describes Allah's creative activity by the phrase "Be, and it is", I was left puzzled. After all, it showed that this phrase did not originate with the Qur'an, and it didn't even come from the previous Scriptures of the Jews and the Christians. Instead, it is first found in the Jewish Targums, which were books of Jewish paraphrases of the Old Testament. Here is what one Targum says, for example:

"And the Word of YAHWEH said to Moses: "I am He who said unto the world 'Be!' and it was: and who in the future shall say to it 'Be!' and it shall be." And He said: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'I Am' has sent me to you." (Exodus 3:14, Jerusalem Targum)

It is also of interest to me that the Qur'an calls Jesus the "Word", a title that can be found in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and was even picked up later in the above Targum. This is interesting to me, because according to the last three, the "Word" is a title for God, and it is the Word according to the Targum cited above who says "Be".

If you could give me your thoughts, I would kindly appreciate it.

Peace,

Tony

Ummu Yousuf said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ummu Yousuf said...

dear Tony,

Thoughts? This is what Allah has taught us - but i trust you've read this verse again and again..

(Ash-Shura:15)"We believe in whatsoever Allah has sent down of the Books (all the holy books - the Quran and the books of the old from the Taurat or the Injil (gospel) or the pages of Ibrahim).. Allah is our Lord and your Lord, For us our deeds and for you your deeds.. There is no dispute between us and you. Allah will assemble us and to Him is the final return..


ayeem dear,
i love this entry=)

Anthony Rogers said...

Is that all he taught you, or is there something more that you could say that adresses the issues I raised in a more direct or relevant way?

Unknown said...

the brother has put it right in quoting the verse that says that we believe in all the books since Islam tells us that Muslims ought to believe in all the prophets and the books

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself said that his message was the message of Jesus (peace be upon him) and Moses(peace be upon him) and all the other prophets who brought the same message of the same GOD

if two reporters say that the president started the speech with "good morning everybody", i wouldn't say that the one that published the article later copied in anyway since both refer to the same event and if both are speaking the truth then the line would most definitely be the same

we were told to accept all that was sent down previously
but it is the changes that were made that ought to be rejected
like whatever the church later introduced which was not the direct word of god
a little research about how church introduced somethings into Christianity just a century after Jesus(PBUH) will clear that.
We believe that those things deviated from the original teaching of Jesus(PBUH)and thus the original word of God

regarding the bible we believe that it is the word of god but changes
were made and the present day bible is not what was sent down, it has parts of what was sent down and part human word

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