Surah Maryam (Mary) 19 : 28

Overview (Verses 27 - 29)

As Mary Confronts Her People
 
Then we glimpse a highly dramatic scene: “She went to her people carrying the child.” (Verse 27) We can easily imagine the great surprise on their faces. Most probably, these were her immediate family. They had known their daughter, Mary, to be exemplary in her purity. She was indeed a virgin dedicated to worship in the temple; but there she was with a baby in her arms. Hence their exclamation: “Mary, you have indeed done an amazing thing! Sister of Aaron, your father was not a wicked man, nor was your mother a loose woman!” (Verses 27-28)
 
They start by reproaching her: “You have done an amazing thing!” It is a wicked, most dreadful thing that you have perpetrated. But then their reproach takes a different tone, adding sarcasm and ridicule. They call her: ‘Sister of Aaron!’ Aaron was a prophet who was in charge of the Temple, passing this duty to his offspring. Mary was often associated with Aaron because of her exemplary devotion in the service of the Temple. How ironic that the girl associated with Aaron’s perfect devotion should perpetrate such an enormity: “Your father was not a wicked man, nor was your mother a loose woman!” (Verse 28) Such a sin is only committed by loose women and prostitutes.
 
In her own defence, Mary says nothing other than carrying out what her amazing child has instructed her to say: “But she pointed to the child.” (Verse 29) Again we are left to imagine their amazement, anger and fury at this young woman, virgin as she was, carrying her child openly in her arms, and then refusing to answer their questions, only pointing to the child and indicating that they should ask him. “They said: How can we talk to a babe in the cradle?” (Verse 29) But then a supernatural event occurs again and the baby speaks out.