"Storytelling in the Qurʼān is hardly a passive 'spectator sport'," writes Dr. Ali Hussain.1 Rather, every one of us experiences the Qurʼān like a wave in the ocean—never one verse the same at any given moment. The story of Maryam (as) is one such wave that has echoed differently to my ears over the years as I tried to make meaning of womanhood from it. At whatever crest of the wave I happen to float atop today, here is the song I hear.
Purpose
Centering Maryam (as): Maryam’s story is often told predominantly in relation to ʿĪsā (as). How can we re-center her as the main character in her own narrative?
Maryam (as) as agentic: Maryam’s story is often told passively, or as a series of events that just sort of happen to her. But what did she actually do in life?
Beyond the Virgin Mary: Elements of the Christian tradition seem to seep into our conversations about Maryam (as) when we frame her as a model woman solely for her chastity.
Maryam as a Change Maker: Maryam (as) is often a tokenized figure of Muslim female empowerment, though her story is rarely scrutinized for gender activist strategies and activist personal growth arcs.
The Overarching Theme: The Paradoxical Oneness of God
I have found like landmarks across my mother Maryam’s story (as) pairs of opposites unified in balance. The story of Maryam (as) has illuminated for me this paradox of God, Who transcends all binaries. In this video, I argue that the overarching theme is God’s Oneness, which can even be proven mathematically.
In Arabic numerology, every letter in the original Abjad alphabet has a numerical value. The muqatta’at, or mysterious letters in the first verse of Sūrat Maryam, Kãf-Ha-Ya-’Aĩn- Ṣãd,2 sum to a numerical weight of 165, the same numerical weight of La ilaha illa Allāh—a statement most explicit in declaring oneness. As Dr. Rudolph Bilal Ware explained it, no other statement is more explicit about the Oneness of God. Therefore, the theme of Sūrat Maryam is encoded into itself. Imam Fode Drame has written that the Sūrat itself is an exegesis of the muqatta'at as the Qur'anic rendition of the virgin birth in Sūrat Maryam emphasizes the fact that Allāh (SWT) did not beget a son; rather, He is One.3
Dr. Ali Hussain, A Nostalgic Remembrance: Sufism and the Breath of Creativity (Adhwaq Publishing LLC, 2023), 34.
Qur’an, 19:1.
Dr. Rudolph Bilal Ware
6:37 See: Ammar AlShukry, "[Ep 17] How to Master Any Subject|Al Aleem|Allah's Beautiful Names," AlMaghrib, YouTube video, March 27, 2024, https://youtu.be/LS0oKWenFFs?si=aJX_Nu-ojUl-koWv. Shaykh Ammar AlShukry discusses a quote from Sufyan ath-Thawri: “Knowledge is three hand spans, the first breeds arrogance, the second breeds humility and in the third, you realise you know nothing."
8:02 Michel Cuypers, The Composition of the Qur’an: Rhetorical Analysis (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016).
10:08 Joseph Campbell, Bill D. Moyers, and Betty S. Flowers, The Power of Myth (New York: Anchor Books Doubleday, 1991).
11:57 Salma Elkadi Abugideiri LPC and Imam Mohamed Hag Magid, Before You Tie the Knot: A Guide for Couples (S.I.: CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2014).
12:08 Video by Phillip Jaan: https://www.pexels.com/video/time-lapse-video-of-sunset-5096352/
12:12 Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson (2017; Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures).
12:17 Video by ROMAN ODINTSOV: https://www.pexels.com/video/shadows-of-tree-on-concrete-11025693/
12:51 Viktor Vasnetsov, Sirin and Alkonost, the Birds of Joy and Sorrow, 1896, oil on canvas, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
12:58 Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, dedicated 1922. It is said that one of his fists is open to symbolize mercy and the other closed to symbolize justice.
15:11 Ibn Al-Qayyim once said, “If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry.”
17:42 Video by rrosadas from Pixabay
17:48 Video by madame-roseinlove from Pixabay
17:52 Video by Maciej from Pixabay
18:00 Video by Elias from Pixabay
18:08 Video by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
18:16 Video by Andreas from Pixabay
18:24 Video by adege from Pixabay
18:24 Hussain, A Nostalgic Remembrance: Sufism and the Breath of Creativity, 73.
18:34 Video by Bellergy RC from Pixabay
19:00 Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 1, episode 19, "The Siege of the North, Part 1," directed by Lauren MacMullan, written by John O’Bryan (aired December 2, 2005, on Nickelodeon).
20:23 AlShukry, "[Ep 17] How to Master Any Subject."
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