According to Islamic teachings, she is the virgin mother of the Prophet Jesus (as).
An entire chapter in the Qur'an is named after her, called Maryam, Arabic for Mary. A number of Qur'anic verses emphasize her piety and righteousness.
The Qur'an tells us she was the daughter of Imran and her people referred to her as a sister of Aaron. According to Tabari, Imran and his wife Hannah (St Anne in the Christian tradition) were old and childless. One day, seeing a bird feeding her young aroused her desire for a child. She had prayed for a child, eventually conceiving. Her husband died before Mary was born. Expecting the baby to be male, she had vowed to dedicate him to the Temple, in isolation and worship.
The Quran says Mariam grew up in the temple under the care of the prophet Zechariah, who was her uncle. Whenever Zechariah entered Mariam's prayer room he found her with food provisions. When asked where they came from she would say Allah provides whom he wills.
The Qur'an says Allah chose Mariam, saying: "O Mary! Verily Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds" [3:42]
The Qur'an subsequently narrates the virgin birth of Isa (as): "And mention in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. And she took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man. She said, "Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah." He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy." She said, "How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?" He said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter decreed.'"[19:16-21]
After the birth of Isa, Mariam brought him to the temple. People mocked her, except Zechariah, demanding to know how she had a child without a man. She responded by pointing to Isa who spoke in her defence:
"Truly I am a servant of God. He has given me the Book and made me a prophet. He has made me blessed where so ever I may be, and has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I live, and made me dutiful toward my mother. And he has not made me domineering, wretched. Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive."
Mariam is believed to have been buried at the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley.
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