ভূমিকা

“So she took a veil (to screen herself) apart from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit (Holy Spirit) that presented himself to her a perfect man.” The Messenger of Allah (S) said that Mary was one of the four typical godly women. The Arabic term /nabaŏa/ means: ‘to throw away something inattentively’, while the Qur’anic word /’intibaŏ/ is used for ‘seeking retirement from people’. Since Mary was dedicated to ‘The Remote Mosque’, she had chosen a corner in the east of the mosque for herself.

After the statement of the explanation about Yahya (John), through these holy verses, the Qur’an refers to the story of Jesus (as) and his mother’s fate, because there is a close connection between these two occurrences. The birth of Yahya (John) to an aged father and a barren mother was a wonderful thing, but the birth of Jesus, from a mother without a father, was something even more marvelous.

It is surprising, of course, for a person be given wisdom and prophethood in childhood, but it is more surprising than that that he, as a baby, speaks in cradle concerning the Book and prophecy. However, both of them are signs of the Power of Allah, the Exalted, and, they both concerned people who had a very close blood relationship with each other, because John’s mother was Mary’s maternal aunt both of whom were barren and longed for a righteous child.

The verse says: “And mention in the Book about Mary when she withdrew from her family to an eastern place.” In fact she humbly and anonymously withdrew from her family and went to a place in the temple free from any disturbance in order to pray and to tell her secrets to Allah. At this time, Mary put a veil between herself and those people to screen herself away from them so that her private place could be suitable for worship and away from the prying eyes of people.