Al Imran

Aal Imran (Arabic: آل عمران‎, āl ʿimrān; meaning: The Family of Imran)[1][2] is the third chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with two hundred verses (āyāt).

Sura 3 of the Quran

آل عِمْرَان Āl ʿImrān The Family of Imran
Arabic text English translation Audio of sura (ar)
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

Imran in Islam is regarded as the father of Mary. This chapter is named after the family of Imran, which includes Imran, Saint Anne (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 at 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.

Summary

Mary and Jesus in a Persian miniature

Imran 193 Tiling Nishapur Moaque

• 1-2 God one and self-existent
• 3-4 The Quran to be believed
• 5-6 God omniscient
• 7 Plain and obscure verses of the Quran
• 8-9 The prayer of those versed in Quranic mystery
• 10-12 The punishment of Pharaoh a warning to infidels
• 13 The victory at the Battle of Badr alluded to
• 14-18 The faithful, their character and reward
• 19-20 Islam the true religion
• 21-25 The punishment of unbelievers eternal
• 26-27 God omnipotent and sovereign
• 28-34 Obedience to God enjoined
• 35-38 The Virgin Mary - her conception - nurtured by Zacharias 39-41 John the Baptist, his birth 42-57 Christ announced to the Virgin - his miracles, apostles etc
• 58-65 Muhammad’s dispute with the Christians of Najran
• 66-77 The hypocritical Jews reproached
• 78-83 Prophets not to be worshipped
• 84-91 God’s curse on infidels
• 92 Almsgiving enjoined
• 93-95 The Jews unlawfully forbid certain meats
• 96-97 The Kaabah founded
• 98-105 Muslims are warned against the friendship of Jews etc 106-109 The lot of infidels and believers contrasted 110-112 Muslims safe from the enmity of Jews and Christians 113-115 Certain believing Jews commended for their faith 116-120 Muslims not to make friends of Jews and Christians
• 121-122 The battle of Uhud alluded to
• 123-129 Disheartened Muslims encouraged
• 130-136 Usury forbidden
• 137-138 The doom of defamers of the apostles
• 139-144 Islam not dependent on Muhammad for success
• 145-148 The former prophets are examples of perseverance
• 149-151 Unbelievers to be avoided
• 152-154 Certain Muslims disobedient at Uhud 155-157 The hypocrites rebuked 158-159 Muslims slain at Uhud to enter paradise
• 160-161 Mild treatment of vacillating Muslims
• 162-165 The spoils of war to be honestly divided 166-169 The faithful sifted by defeat at Uhud 170-172 The joy of the Uhud martyrs in paradise
• 173-176 Certain Muslims commended for faithfulness
• 177-180 The fate of unbelievers
• 181 The miser’s doom
• 182-190 Scoffing Jews denounced—they charge Muhammad with imposture
• 191-195 Meditations and prayers of the pious 196-198 God’s answer to the prayers of the pious
• 199 Certain believing Jews and Christians commended
• 200 Exhortation to patience and perseverance [4]

3:33 The family of Imran

The chapter takes its name from the family of Imran mentioned in verse 3:33.[5]

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.[6] 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 Quran, the same person."[7] 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.[8] 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.[9][10]

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".[11][12]

This matter has been explained in the following Hadith:

Mughira ibn Shu’ba reported: When I came to Najran, the Christian monks asked me, “You recite the verse, ‘O sister of Aaron,’ (19:28) but Moses was born long before Jesus by many years.” When I came back to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, I asked him about it and he said, “Verily, they would name people with the names of prophets and righteous people who had passed before them.”

— Sahih Muslim 2135

Ibn Kathir also commented on this in his tafsir:

“This is like saying to somebody from the Tamimi tribe: O brother of Tamim, or to somebody from the Mudari tribe: O brother of Mudar.”

— Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir 19:28

References

1. Ibn Kathir (d.1373). "Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Surah Ale Imran". Quran 4 U. Tafsir. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
2. 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)
3. Maududi, Abdul Alaa. Tafhim-ul-Quran.
4. Wherry, Elwood Morris (1896). A Complete Index to Sale's Text, Preliminary Discourse, and Notes. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. 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.
6. Dawood, N J (1956). The Koran. London: Penguin Books. p. 53. ISBN 9780141393841.
7. Dawood, N J (1956). The Koran. London: Penguin Books. p. 306. ISBN 9780141393841.
8. 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.
9. Arent Jan Wensinck: Maryam. In: A. J. Wensinck, J. H. Kramers (Hrsg.): Handwörterbuch des Islam. pp. 421–423.
10. 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.
11. Stowasser, B. F. (1994). Women In The Qur'an, Traditions, And Interpretation. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 393–394.
12. Schleifer, Aliah (1998). Mary The Blessed Virgin Of Islam, op. cit. p. 36.

External links

• Al-Quran – Āl ʿImrān (The Family of Imran)
• A fragment showing verses 85-88 from the World Digital Library
• Quran 3 Clear Quran translation