The mother
and father of Sayyidah Maryam (‘alaihas salaam) were ‘Imraan and Hannah. Before
the birth of Maryam (‘alaihas salaam), Hannah was unable to bear a child.
One day, Hannah observed a bird feeding its
chick. Seeing
this spectacle of love and compassion, her heart was overcome by the desire to
have a child. She thus turned to Allah Ta‘ala in du‘aa,
begging him to bless her with a child, until her du‘aa was answered. Soon thereafter, when she conceived, she vowed to Allah Ta‘ala
that she would dedicate her child to worshipping Him and serving Musjidul Aqsa. (Surah
Aal ‘Imraan v35, Tafseer Ibnu Katheer vol. 2 pg. 337)
When the child was born, Hannah noticed that it
was a girl! However, normally only a male child would be dedicated for serving
in the musjid and worshipping Allah Ta‘ala. Nevertheless,
Hannah understood that Allah Ta‘ala knew best, and it was in His infinite
wisdom that He had blessed her with a daughter, instead of a son. (Surah
Aal ‘Imraan v36, Tafseer Qurtubi vol. 5 pg. 101 and Tafseerul Madaarik vol. 1
pg. 172)
Hannah then
named her daughter ‘Maryam’ which meant ‘worshipper’ in the language of the
time. In doing so, her intention was that although her daughter cannot serve in
the musjid, on account of being a female, she will still dedicate her to
worshipping Allah Ta‘ala. (Surah Aal ‘Imraan v36, Tafseerul Madaarik vol. 1 pg.
173 and Bayaanul Quraan vol. 1 pg. 222)
Hannah then made a special
du‘aa saying, “I seek Your protection (O Allah) for her and her progeny from
Shaitaan the rejected.”
Whenever a
child is born, Shaitaan interferes with the child and pokes it, causing it to
cry out aloud. However, through the blessing of this du‘aa of Hannah, Sayyidah
Maryam (‘alaihas salaam) and her son, Nabi ‘Isa (‘alaihis salaam), were both
safeguarded from Shaitaan and thus did not cry when they were born. (Surah Aal
‘Imraan v36 and Saheeh Bukhaari #3286 and #4548)
Lessons:
1. Every person has unfulfilled wishes, desires
and aspirations. Sometimes, a person desires to be blessed with a child.
Regardless of what the desire may be, the only One who can fulfill our ambition
is Allah Ta‘ala. Hence, even though we adopt the
means, we believe, from our hearts, that only Allah Ta‘ala can make the means
effective. After all, there are so many people who undergo fertility
treatment, yet still fail to conceive.
2. The ambition of Hannah was not to merely have
a child, but rather to dedicate her child to the worship of Allah Ta‘ala and
serving the musjid. There are many parents who even before the birth of their
children, plan their career path, whether in medicine, law, engineering, etc. However,
how many parents plan for their children to be the worshippers of Allah Ta‘ala
and their sons to be devotees of the musjid? How many
parents take steps to ensure that their children attend the best madrasahs and
acquire the best Deeni upbringing and education? These are the ultimate ‘careers’ as these ‘professions’ bear
profits in the Hereafter.
3. We all plan and hope for our lives to work
out in a certain way. However, Allah Ta‘ala knows what is best for us and
blesses us accordingly. On our
part, we should always be happy and content with the decree of Allah Ta‘ala and
should be appreciative of His favour upon us, as we do not even deserve any of
His bounties.
4. When her child was born, the concern of
Hannah was for her children to be protected from Shaitaan. Hence, every parent, from before their child is even born, should
worry for the safety of their child’s imaan and take the appropriate steps to
safeguard their Deen. Together with putting the necessary
measures into place, we have to make constant du‘aa to Allah Ta‘ala to
safeguard them from all evil and sin.
(to
be continued insha-Allah)
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