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| What the Angels told Maryam a.s. | Art by Basira Robinson |
As a Muslim woman traversing through the winding roads of life, trying to meet all the expectations of us from society at large, our children, spouses, our deen ( Islamic way of life), we find ourselves looking for guidance that is specific to our needs as a Muslim woman.
In my 20s, occasionally I found myself wanting a role model, like an older sister whose been there before. But I wasn’t able to find one. I don’t have that yearning in my heart anymore and honestly I now don’t think that person exists. Because no one has really walked your path before. Even if you have an older sister or Aunty, no one can really advise you on what is best for your particular life. Truly, only the One Who created you knows exactly what is best for you. So finding our way is really about finding our way to Him.
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| Maryam a.s. mentioned in Quran | Abstract Islamic Art by Basira Robinson |
So I’ve found that the best advice for my life has been of the more general type which I can apply to my own situation. Islam has the answer for every need in our lives. For women of any age trying to find their way, we can start by looking to one of the greatest women. Islam names 4 greatest women as Maryam (Mary, Mother of Jesus), Asiya (the Egyptian Pharoah's wife at the time of Moses (Musa), Khadijah (Prophet Muhammad's first wife and Fatimah (Prophet Muhammad's daughter). Here, I'm focusing on Maryam, Mother of Isa (Jesus).
Maryam, known as Mary Mother of Jesus
Chapter 3 of the Quran (Surah Imran) is titled after Maryam's family name, Imran. I feel this advice is for women from all three Abrahamic faiths. This chapter in particular starts out mentioning how Allah (The God)revealed the Quran, Torah and Gospel. You can find the entire chapter here because I am only taking verses about Maryam out: Chapter in the Quran on Maryam's Family
You can hear the ayat (verses) of Surah (Chapter) Imran mentioned here in this article.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
Allah- there is no deity except Him, the Ever Living, Sustainer of Existence
He has sent down upon you, the Book in truth, confirming what was before it, and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.
In Verse 33, we start getting to how special Maryam's family is because the Quran says,
3:33 Indeed Allah chose Adam, Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran over all the worlds.
Here we hear about Maryam's mother about the baby she is carrying. Maryam's mother was expecting or hoping to have a boy who she wanted to live his life in service to Allah. But the baby turned out to be a girl: Maryam,
3:35 When the wife of Imran said, "My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated, (for your service) so accept this from me. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing.
3:36 But when she delivered her she said, "My Lord, I have delivered a female." And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered. "And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Maryam, and I seek refuge for her in You and for her descendants from Satan, the expelled.
3:37 So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zachariah. Every time Zachariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found her with provision (food). He said, "Oh Maryam, from where is this coming to you? She said, "It is from Allah. Indeed Allah provides for whom He wills without account."
Maryam is mentioned in the Quran as having been spoken to by angels. They tell her she was chosen above the women of the worlds. So it seems like a direct conclusion to be drawn is that women of the Abrahamic faith would all want to follow the advice she was given.
3:42 And when the angels said, "Indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.
Then the angels give her direct advice.
3:43 Oh Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord, and prostrate, and bow down with those who bow down (in prayer).
Then they gave her good news,
3:45 When the angels said, "Oh Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a Word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, distinguished in this world and the Hereafter, and among those brought near (to Allah).
I feel the advice from the angels to Mary is advice all women of the Abrahamic faith can take. It sounds like simple advice at first but it is truly deep and can be taken to affect our lives in many ways.
Be devoutly obedient to your Lord: Follow the commandments of your Lord, but not just following them robotically, the angels said to be devoutly obedient to your Lord. So we can imagine how that looks for us. It may look different for each person. For example, one can do their daily prayers and religious obligations without really connecting much. Our minds and hearts (intentions) can be elsewhere while we are obeying commandments of God. I want to break down what their advice means to me briefly.
Devout:
Define devout for yourself. What image comes to mind? Do you see a picture of an elderly lady constantly praying with the Holy Book in one hand prayer beads in the other? I want you get rid of any of these connotations you may have.
The dictionary defines devout as: having or showing deep religious feeling and or commitment Totally committed to a cause or belief.We need to find our own way closer to God and make it beautiful and personal. Part of it might be doing artwork that reminds you of God. People have found many ways to express love and emotions for God through art.
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| A painting I did that reminds me of The Creator. It says, "Be and it is," which is mentioned in the Quran |
Maybe it means you join a local environmental group that cleans up a lake because you love the outdoors. In this way, you are showing your devoutness to God by helping take care of the world He created for us.
we can apply this to our lives in terms of the company we keep. We should be keeping company with other women who are submitting themselves to their Lord, who pray and who humble themselves before God. To me, the key words are with those. The company we keep has a great effect on us. Just spending 10 minutes with someone very positive can affect you for the rest of your day. Imagine how we are affected by seeing someone negative on a regular basis. Keeping company with people who remember God often and remind you of God is uplifting and helps make you an uplifting person.
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| Good Company |
Prostrate: Prostrating is an utter, absolute, physical, unquestionable sign of total submission to God. I do believe when we are told to prostrate ourselves to God, we are being asked to submit with not just our bodies, but also our lives meaning that before we take an action on anything in life, we stop and remember our Lord Whom we have submitted to. Because if we truly submit to Him, then our lives will show it. We will first consult Him and what He wants of us before we follow any course even if it is against what we personally desire.
I sincerely pray for every woman to enjoy and continue cultivating this beautiful relationship with The Creator and Sustainer, Allah. We have to remember to be kind to ourselves and patient with our progress. It's a journey. So along the way, let's remind each other to take time each day to and appreciate where we are on our journey.
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