من آل عمران
في القرآن نساءٌ كثيرات، ولكن لا تجد فيه امرأة واحدة ذُكرت باسمها إلا واحدة فقط. وسورةٌ كاملة تحمل اسمها. من هي؟ وماذا كان فيها حتى يُذكر اسمها وحدها من بين النساء كلهنّ؟
قبل أن تولد مريم، كانت أمّها امرأة عمران قد نذرت ما في بطنها لخدمة بيت الله: ﴿رَبِّ إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِي بَطْنِي مُحَرَّرًا فَتَقَبَّلْ مِنِّي﴾. ثم وضعتها فإذا هي أنثى، وكان النذر في عادتهم للذكور، فقالت: ﴿رَبِّ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُهَا أُنثَىٰ﴾. ثم قالت كلمةً هي أوّل ما نالته مريم: ﴿وَإِنِّي سَمَّيْتُهَا مَرْيَمَ وَإِنِّي أُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ﴾.
﴿فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا﴾. فنشأت في المحراب، وكفلها نبيّ من أنبياء الله. وكان زكريا كلّما دخل عليها وجد عندها رزقًا، فيسألها: ﴿أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَٰذَا﴾؟ فتقول: ﴿هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ﴾. فتاةٌ صغيرة تجيب نبيًّا كبيرًا بهذا الجواب، فتعلّمه هو منها.
ثم جاء أصعب ما مرّ بها. حملت بعيسى بأمر الله من غير أب، وهي تعلم ما سيقوله الناس. ولمّا جاءها المخاض وحدها تحت النخلة قالت: ﴿يَا لَيْتَنِي مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَٰذَا وَكُنتُ نَسْيًا مَّنسِيًّا﴾. فنوديت: ﴿أَلَّا تَحْزَنِي قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِيًّا * وَهُزِّي إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ تُسَاقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا﴾. وانتبه: أُمرت أن تهزّ جذع النخلة، وهي امرأة أنهكها المخاض، وجذع النخلة لا يهزّه الرجال. أراد الله منها أن تعمل ولو عملًا لا يكفي، ثم يأتي الرزق هو.
ثم رجعت إلى قومها تحمله، فاتّهموها، فسكتت ولم تدافع عن نفسها، وأشارت إلى الطفل، فتكلّم ودافع عنها. وقال الله عنها في آخر سورة التحريم: ﴿وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ﴾. وهي المرأة الوحيدة التي ذُكر اسمها في القرآن، وسورةٌ كاملة تحمل اسمها.
كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا ٱلْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِندَهَا رِزْقًۭا ۖ قَالَ يَـٰمَرْيَمُ أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَـٰذَا ۖ قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ3:37
اعمل ما تقدر عليه ولو بدا قليلًا لا يكفي، والرزق بعد ذلك من عند الله.
أُمرت مريم أن تهزّ جذع النخلة وهي في أضعف حالاتها. فلماذا لم يسقط الرطب وحده من غير أن تهزّ؟ وما الذي يعلّمك إيّاه هذا عن العمل والدعاء معًا؟
إذا سألت الله شيئًا اليوم، فافعل بعده خطوة واحدة صغيرة نحوه — ولو كنتَ تعرف أنها وحدها لا تكفي.
القرآن الكريم، سورة مريم: 16-36 وآل عمران: 35-47
نذر أمها، وكفالة زكريا، والرزق في المحراب، والبشارة، كله بنص الآيات. ومريم المرأة الوحيدة التي سُمّيت باسمها في القرآن.
There are many women in the Quran, but you will not find a single one named by her own name — except one. And a whole surah carries her name. Who is she? And what was it about her that her name alone is given among all the women?
Before Maryam was born, her mother, the wife of Imran, vowed what was in her womb to the service of Allah's house: {My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated. So accept this from me.} Then she delivered, and it was a girl — and in their custom such a vow was for boys — so she said: {My Lord, I have delivered a female.} Then she said the words that were the first thing Maryam ever received: {And I have named her Maryam, and I seek refuge for her in You and her descendants from Satan, the expelled.}
{So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zakariya.} She grew up in the sanctuary, cared for by a prophet of Allah. Whenever Zakariya entered upon her he found provision with her, and would ask: {From where is this to you?} She would say: {It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account.} A young girl answering an elderly prophet with that — and teaching him.
Then came the hardest thing she faced. She carried Isa by Allah's command without a father, knowing exactly what people would say. And when the pains came to her alone under the palm tree she said: {Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.} She was called: {Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates.} Notice: she was told to shake the trunk of a palm tree — a woman exhausted by labour, and a palm trunk that grown men cannot shake. Allah wanted her to act, even with an act that could not be enough, and then He would send the provision.
She went back to her people carrying him, and they accused her, and she stayed silent and did not defend herself, and pointed at the child — and he spoke and defended her. And Allah said of her at the end of Surah At-Tahrim: {And Maryam, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into it through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.} She is the only woman named in the Quran, and a whole surah carries her name.
Do what you can even if it looks too small to be enough; the provision after that is from Allah.
Maryam was told to shake the palm trunk at her very weakest. Why did the dates not simply fall without her shaking? What does that teach you about work and prayer together?
If you ask Allah for something today, take one small step towards it afterwards — even knowing that step alone is not enough.
The Quran, Surah Maryam: 16-36 and Aal-Imran: 35-47
Her mother's vow, Zakariyya's care, the provision in the sanctuary and the glad tidings are all in the verses. Maryam is the only woman named by name in the Quran.