Virgin Birth in Qu'ran (Koran)

From Shakir Translation of the Holy Qu'ran (Koran), Surah 3:35-50


When a woman of Imran said: My Lord! surely I vow to Thee what is in my womb, to be devoted (to Thy service); accept therefore from me, surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing. So when she brought forth, she said: My Lord! Surely I have brought it forth a female-- and Allah knew best what she brought forth-- and the male is not like the female, and I have named it Marium, and I commend her and her offspring into Thy protection from the accursed Shaitan.So her Lord accepted her with a good acceptance and made her grow up a good growing, and gave her into the charge of Zakariya; whenever Zakariya entered the sanctuary to (see) her, he found with her food. He said: O Marium! whence comes this to you? She said: It is from Allah. Surely Allah gives to whom He pleases without measure. There did Zakariya pray to his Lord; he said: My Lord! grant me from Thee good offspring; surely Thou art the Hearer of prayer. Then the angels called to him as he stood praying in the sanctuary: That Allah gives you the good news of Yahya verifying a Word from Allah, and honorable and chaste and a prophet from among the good ones. He said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to me, and old age has already come upon me, and my wife is barren? He said: even thus does Allah what He pleases.  He said: My Lord! appoint a sign for me. Said He: Your sign is that you should not speak to men for three days except by signs; and remember your Lord much and glorify Him in the evening and the morning. And when the angels said: O Marium! surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of of the world. O Marium! keep to obedience to your Lord and humble yourself, and bow down with those who bow. This is of the announcements relating to the unseen which We reveal to you; and you were not with them when they cast their pens (to decide) which of them should have Marium in his charge, and you were not with them when they contended one with another. When the angels said: O Marium, surely Allah gives you good news with a Word from Him (of one) whose name is the '. Messiah, Isa son of Marium, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah).  And he shall speak to the people when in the cradle and when of old age, and (he shall be) one of the good ones.  She said: My Lord! when shall there be a son (born) to I me, and man has not touched me? He said: Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and it is. And He will teach him the Book and the wisdom and the Tavrat and the Injeel. And (make him) a messenger to the children of Israel: That I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, that I determine for you out of dust like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird with Allah's permission and I heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life with Allah's permission and I inform you of what you should eat and what you should store in your houses; most surely there is a sign in this for you, if you are believers. And a verifier of that which is before me of the Taurat and that I may allow you part of that which has been forbidden to you, and I have come to you with a sign from your Lord therefore be careful of (your duty to) Allah and obey me.


It seems that in Islam, "Marium" (Mary) was born with the guidance of God and not just as any other human. That is my initial observation, anyhow. 


This is a significant difference between the Bible and the Qu'ran (Koran). For Muhammad expects us to believe things that we did not see or hear, so he is in essence saying "here's the story and here is how it goes, though you can't verify it, believe it." The Bible in contrasts mentions eyewitnesses and relies on Apostolic tradition, that is, firsthand knowledge of events. (Compare Luke 1:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:1-3) [See Richard Bauckham in Jesus and the Eyewitnesses; Craig Blomberg in the Historical Reliability of the Gospels; Greg Boyd in The Jesus Legend]


It is interesting that Islam sees Jesus (Isa) as "son of Marium" as opposed to the Bible's "son of God." If you didn't know, Islam has a problem referring to anyone as a "son of God" for they say, God cannot have children. But this is a misunderstanding of the Bible's usage of this phrase.


In Islam, Jesus spoke from "the cradle," that is, as an infant. This is similar to the Gospel of the Infancy of the Saviour when it says in verse 1 (?): "He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary His mother: ' I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world.'"


In the Qu'ran (Koran) Jesus is instructed in the "the Book," "the Tavrat," "wisdom," and the "Injeel." The Tavrat is the Torah, Injeel is Gospel and I can only assume the Book is the Hebrew Scriptures and wisdom the Psalms? I'm not too sure about the latter.