Mary (Maryam)
7 items across 4 content types
Debate Excerpts (3)
Individual points from debates discussing this topic
“Does the Quran get the Trinity wrong (Surah 5:116)?”
Wood's side often claims Surah 5:116 gets the Trinity wrong by including Mary. But the verse is asking Jesus whether he told people to worship him and his mother as gods — it's addressing actual historical practices (Marian veneration in certain Christian sects, the Collyridians), not defining the formal Trinitarian creed. The Quran is correcting popular Christian practice, not misunderstanding Nicene theology.
“What do early Christian sources say about the age of Mary when she married Joseph?”
The Protoevangelium of James — one of the earliest Christian texts, attributed to James the brother of Jesus — records that Mary was placed in the Temple at the age of 3 and remained there until she was 12, at which point the priests arranged for her marriage to Joseph. This text was widely circulated in the early Church and is accepted as historically significant by Catholic, Orthodox, and Coptic Christian traditions. The Catholic Encyclopedia also cites Mary's age as 12 at the time of her marriage.
“How old was Joseph when he married Mary according to early Christian tradition?”
The Historia Josephi Fabri Lignarii — the History of Joseph the Carpenter — is a manuscript held in the National Library of France, composed in Byzantine Egypt around the 6th century. It records that Joseph was married to his first wife for 40 years, was a widower for 49 years, and then married Mary — making him approximately 90 years old when he married 12-year-old Mary. So according to the earliest Christian biographical tradition, Mary was 12 and Joseph was 90. This is the tradition of the very people who wrote about Jesus and his family. If someone attacks the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ over Aisha's age, they must reckon with their own tradition: a 90-year-old man marrying a 12-year-old girl.
Questions (1)
What does Islam say about Jesus (Isa)?
Islam reveres Jesus (Isa ibn Maryam) as one of the greatest prophets and the Messiah. Muslims believe in his virgin birth, his miracles, and his return before the Day of Judgment, but do not accept his divinity or crucifixion as understood in Christianity.
Qur'an Verses (2)
إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ وَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ
Idh qalat il-mala'ikatu ya Maryamu innallaha yubashshiruki bikalimatin minhu ismuhu al-Masihu 'Isa ibnu Maryama wajihan fid-dunya wal-akhirati wa min al-muqarrabin
“[And mention] when the angels said, 'O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary — distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah].'”
وَمَرْيَمَ ٱبْنَتَ عِمْرَٰنَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَـٰتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ ٱلْقَـٰنِتِينَ
Wa Maryama ibnat 'Imran allati ahsanat farjaha fa nafakhna fihi min ruhina wa saddaqat bikalimati Rabbiha wa kutubihi wa kanat min al-qanitin
“And Mary, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into her garment through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.”
Hadith (1)
كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ يَطْعُنُ الشَّيْطَانُ فِي جَنْبَيْهِ بِإِصْبَعِهِ حِينَ يُولَدُ، غَيْرَ عِيسَى بْنِ مَرْيَمَ، ذَهَبَ يَطْعُنُ فَطَعَنَ فِي الْحِجَابِ
Kullu bani Adama yat'unu ash-Shaytanu fi janbayhi bi isba'ihi hina yulad, ghayra 'Isa ibn Maryam, dhahaba yat'unu fa ta'ana fil-hijab
Narrated by Abu Hurairah