Best Women - Examples


Sura-3 [Al-Imran, Medina 89 ]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:



وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ...

42. Behold! the angels said:

"O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee;

...وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَى نِسَاء الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٤٢﴾

chosen thee above the women of all nations.

C382. Mary the mother of Jesus was unique, in that she gave birth to a son by a special miracle, without the intervention of the customary physical means. This of course does not mean that she was more than human, any more than that her son was more than human. She had as much need to pray to Allah as anyone else.

The Christian dogma, in all sects except the Unitarian, holds that Jesus was God and the son of God.

The worship of Mary became the practice in the Roman Catholic Church, which calls Mary the Mother of God. This seems to have been endorsed by the Council of Ephesus in 431, in the century before Muhammad was born to sweep way the corruptions of the Church of Christ.

For 'alamin as meaning all nations, see 3:96, n. 423.

يَا مَرْيَمُ اقْنُتِي لِرَبِّكِ وَاسْجُدِي وَارْكَعِي مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ ﴿٤٣﴾

43. "O Mary! worship thy Lord devoutly; prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down."



3: 42

Yusuf Ali Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee; chosen thee above the women of all nations.

Pickthall And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

Transliteration Wa iz qa_latil mala_'ikatu ya_ maryamu innalla_hastafa_ki wa tahharaki wastafa_ki 'ala_ nisa_'il 'a_lamin(a).

3: 43

Yusuf Ali "O Mary! worship thy Lord devoutly; prostrate thyself and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down."

Pickthall O Mary! Be obedient to thy Lord, prostrate thyself and bow with those who bow (in worship).

Transliteration Ya_ maryamuqnuti li rabbiki wasjudi warka'i ma'ar ra_ki'in(a).


[ Ali’s note - 382 Mary the mother of Jesus was unique, in that she gave birth to a son by a special miracle, without the intervention of the customary physical means. This of course does not mean that she was more than human, any more than that her son was more than human. She had as much need to pray to God as anyone else. The Christian dogma, in all sects except the Unitarian, holds that Jesus was God and the son of God. The worship of Mary became the practice in the Roman Catholic Church, which calls Mary the Mother of God. This seems to have been endorsed by the Council of Ephesus in 431, in the century before Muhammad was born to sweep way the corruptions of the Church of Christ. For 'alamin as meaning all nations, see iii. 96, n. 423. (3.42) ]






5: 75 The Christ, son of Mary, was but an apostle: all [other] apostles had passed before him; and his mother was one who never deviated from the truth; and they both ate food [like other mortals]. Behold how clear We make these messages unto them: and then behold how perverted are their minds!




66 At-Tahrim (Prohibition)

Medina Period [107]


Ali’s version and the Arabic text




وَضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اِمْرَأَةَ فِرْعَوْنَ ...

66:11.  And Allah sets forth, as an example to those who believe, the wife of Pharaoh:

C5549. Traditionally she is known as 'Asiya, one of the four perfect women, the other three being

Pharaoh is the type of arrogance, godlessness, and wickedness. For his wife to have preserved her Faith, her humility, and her righteousness was indeed a great spirit triumph. She was probably the same who saved the life of the infant Moses: 28:9.

... إِذْ قَالَتْ رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ ...

Behold, she said: "O my Lord! build for me, in nearness to Thee, a mansion in the Garden,

C5550. Her spiritual vision was directed to Allah, rather than to the worldly grandeur of Pharaoh's court. It is probable that her prayer implies a desire for martyrdom, and it may be that she attained her crown of martyrdom.

... وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ ...

and save me from Pharaoh and his doings,

... وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿١١﴾

and save me from those that do wrong;"

وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا ...   

12.  And Mary the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity;

C5551. 'Imran was traditionally the name of the father of Mary the mother of Jesus: see n. 375 to 3:35. She was one of the purest of women, though the Jews accused her falsely of unchastity:

Cf. 19:27-28.

... فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا ...

and We breathed into her (body) of Our spirit;

C5552. Cf. 21:91.

As a virgin she gave birth to Jesus: 19:16-29.

In 32:9, it is said of Adam's progeny, man, that Allah "fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit".

In 15:29, similar words are used with reference to Adam.

The virgin birth should not therefore be supposed to imply that Allah was the father of Jesus in the sense in which Greek mythology makes Zeus the father of Apollo by Latona or of Minos by Europa.

And yet that is the doctrine to which the Christian idea of "the only begotten Son of God" leads.

... وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ وَكَانَتْ مِنَ الْقَانِتِينَ ﴿١٢﴾

and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (Servants).

C5553. Mary had true faith and testified her faith in the prophet Jesus and in his revelation as well as in the revelations which he came to confirm (and to foreshadow). She was of the company of the Devout of all ages. The fact that Qanitin (devout) is not here in the feminine gender implies that the highest spiritual dignity is independent of sex.

And so we close the lesson of this Surah, that while sex is a fact of our physical existence, the sexes should act in harmony and cooperation for in the highest spiritual matters we are all one. "We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples. Verily this Brotherhood of yours is a single Brotherhood and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me and no other" (21:91-92).




Asad’s version


66:11 And for those who have attained to faith God has propounded a parable in [the story of] Pharaoh's wife 23 as she prayed "O my Sustainer! Build Thou for me a mansion in the paradise [that is] with Thee, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me, from all evildoing folk!


66:12 And [We have propounded yet another parable of God-consciousness in the story of] Mary, the daughter of Imran, 24 who guarded her chastity, whereupon We breathed of Our spirit into that [which was in her womb], 25 and who accepted the truth of her Sustainer's words - and [thus,] of His revelations 24 - and was one of the truly devout.


[[ Asad’s notes -


23 Cf. 28:8-9.


24 I.e., a descendant of the House of 'lmran (cf. the last third of note 22 on 3:33).


25 I.e., into the as yet unborn child (Razi, thus explaining the pronoun in fihi). For an explanation of the much-misunderstood allegorical phrase, "We breathed of Our spirit into it", see note 87 on21:91.

26 For the meaning of God's "words" (kalimat), see note 28 on 3:39.]]