Maryam’s Seclusion from Her People Due to Pregnancy
When Maryam became certain that she was pregnant with Jesus, she went to a distant place to avoid the slander of the people of Bani Israel. Almighty Allah says: «فَحَمَلَتْهُ فَانْتَبَذَتْ بِهِ مَكَانًا قَصِیّا • فَأَجَاءَهَا الْمَخَاضُ إِلَى جِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ قَالَتْ یا لَیتَنِی مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَذَا وَكُنْتُ نَسْیا» “So Maryam became pregnant with him, and with her fetus, she secluded herself to a distant place. When the pains of labor came upon her, she went to the trunk of a palm tree (to lean on it and hide herself from the eyes of the people). At that time, the labor pains intensified, and Jesus was born. During his birth, Maryam said, “I wish I had died before this and was completely forgotten.”
Hazrat Ibn Abbas said that the distant place referred to was the Valley of Bethlehem, which is four miles away from Ilya (the place where Mary lived).
Hazrat Maryam, because she knew that people would not believe her words, saw the best solution to stay away from them, and because she knew that after the birth of Jesus, she would face all kinds of unfair slanders from people [so sadness and fear filled her existence] and because of that for a moment, she wished to die from the difficulty of this situation.
Maryam’s other concern was how to give birth without facilities; But a vocative advises Maryam and comforts her and removes her mental doubts and worries.
Almighty Allah says:
«فَنَادَاهَا مِن تَحْتِهَا أَلَّا تَحْزَنِی قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِیا (٢٤) وَهُزِّی إِلَیكِ بِجِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ تُسَاقِطْ عَلَیكِ رُطَبًا جَنِیا (٢٥) فَكُلِی وَاشْرَبِی وَقَرِّی عَینًا ۖ فَإِمَّا تَرَینَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا فَقُولِی إِنِّی نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَٰنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْیوْمَ إِنسِیا (٢٦)» “Then he called her (through Gabriel or Jesus) from under him that do not be sad! Your Lord has placed a spring below you, and move the trunk of the palm tree towards you so that hand-picked Norse dates fall on you; So eat [from these sweet dates] and drink [from that pleasant water] and keep your eyes open [when you see this beloved child and prophet] and whenever you see someone [and he asks your child by pointing] say: I have vowed (silence) fasting to the merciful Allah and today I will not speak to any human.
In this verse, Allah (S.W.T) encouraged Maryam to eat, drink and sleep, and after that Allah wanted from Maryam to avoid talking to people and to leave answering them to her son, so that she would not be embarrassed and with the appearance of this miracle her chastity should be proven.
Maryam’s return with her child among the people and unjust slanders
Almighty Allah says about the return of Maryam with her son to the people:
«فَأَتَتْ بِهِ قَوْمَهَا تَحْمِلُهُ ۖ قَالُوا یا مَرْیمُ لَقَدْ جِئْتِ شَیئًا فَرِیا (٢٧) یا أُخْتَ هَارُونَ مَا كَانَ أَبُوكِ امْرَأَ سَوْءٍ وَمَا كَانَتْ أُمُّكِ بَغِیا(٢٨) فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَیهِ ۖ قَالُوا كَیفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِی الْمَهْدِ صَبِیا (٢٩)» Maryam took her child to her relatives. They said: O Maryam! You have done an ugly thing! [And in reprimanding her they said:] O sister of Haroon! Neither your father nor your mother was a bad person [so how did you commit such an ugly act] Maryam [when she saw their doubts and slanders] pointed to her son [and delegated the speaking to him, and they thought that Maryam was making fun of them, so] they said: How can we talk to a child who is in the cradle?
Regarding [O sister of Haroon], various opinions have been narrated from commentators: Some have taken “sister” to mean similar, Because Maryam was similar to Haroon in worshiping and serving Allah (S.W.T). Some people believe that because Maryam was a descendant of Haroon, the brother of Musa, they called her Haroon’s sister. Some have said that Haroon was the name of a righteous man who existed among them, and Maryam was compared to him in her asceticism and servitude, and as a result, she was addressed as the sister of Haroon.
