44. Thus it was affirmed that a child would be born to Mary despite the fact
that no man had touched her. The angel's answer mentioned here, 'Thus shall
it be', was exactly the same as the response given to Zechariah. Both the following
sentences and the preceding section support the view that the angel had conveyed
to Mary the glad tidings that a son would be born to her without normal sexual
contact, and it was thus that Jesus was born. For, if Mary's child was to be
born to her in the usual manner in which children are born to women, and if
the birth of Jesus did take place in the normal way, the entire narrative from
(verse 35 )of this surah to
(verse 63) would have to be declared absurd.
Indeed, one would be forced to treat as meaningless all those statements about
the birth of Jesus which are found scattered elsewhere in the Qur'an. The Christians
had begun to regard Jesus as God and the son of God because of this fatherless
birth. The Jews, in turn, cast aspersions on Mary's chastity on the grounds
that she had given birth to a child despite being unmarried. If the fatherless
birth of Jesus was itself false, it would have been sufficient to tell the Christians
that they were indulging in sheer mis-statement, that Mary had indeed been married,
that she had a legitimate husband, and that it was as a result of that wedlock
that Jesus was born. If this fact could have been stated plainly, there would
have been no need for long preparatory statements and complicated propositions,
and no need to call Jesus the son of Mary instead of naming his father. For
far from resolving the issue such statements add to the confusion. Those who
believe the Qur'an to be the word or command from God and yet try to prove that
the birth of Jesus took place in the normal manner, as a result of union between
his father and mother, end up by proving only that God is less capable of clear
expression than they are!