"Since nearly all named figures in the Quran are considered prophets, and since Mary receives the message about her miraculous conception of Jesus, identified as God's 'Word,' from the Archangel Gabriel, the angel of revelation, a small minority of Islamic authorities, such as the Andalusian theologian Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) and the Persian Sufi Ruzbihan al-Baqli (d. 606/1209), consider her to be a female prophet. However, since Mary is not explicitly identified as a prophet in the Quran and Islamic tradition generally holds that all prophets are male (based n the description of prophets as 'men' in 12:109), most Muslim authorities do not consider Mary a prophet, but rather an exceptionally pious woman with the highest spiritual rank among women. In a hadith, the Prophet names Mary as one of the four spiritually perfected women of the world."
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Study Quran, p. 763
Actually, I'm borrowing this passage from Nasr's introduction to Maryam, the nineteenth surah. In this case I'm mainly tagging it for future study, especially in regards to the work of Ibn Hazm and al-Baqli. To me, and again I'm speaking only for me, this appears another example where religious orthodoxy and institutions are playing a role, in this case more than passive, of supporting the patriarchal suppression of women. It's typical, and sad, that the "rule" that "nearly all named figures in the Quran are considered prophets" doesn't apply to Mary. I'm not critiquing Nasr because he's not speaking as a separate individual here, but rather as a scholar trying to convey the complex combination of innumerable scholars commenting of a touchy issue. In fact, it would have been very easy for him to not even mention the fact that some scholars, even a tiny minority, would classify Mary as a prophet. Mary is left out, with the rules that apply to other named figures not applying to her; the ultimate glass ceiling. I find myself at odds with many of my brothers on gender issues, and this is definitely another one.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Study Quran, p. 763
Actually, I'm borrowing this passage from Nasr's introduction to Maryam, the nineteenth surah. In this case I'm mainly tagging it for future study, especially in regards to the work of Ibn Hazm and al-Baqli. To me, and again I'm speaking only for me, this appears another example where religious orthodoxy and institutions are playing a role, in this case more than passive, of supporting the patriarchal suppression of women. It's typical, and sad, that the "rule" that "nearly all named figures in the Quran are considered prophets" doesn't apply to Mary. I'm not critiquing Nasr because he's not speaking as a separate individual here, but rather as a scholar trying to convey the complex combination of innumerable scholars commenting of a touchy issue. In fact, it would have been very easy for him to not even mention the fact that some scholars, even a tiny minority, would classify Mary as a prophet. Mary is left out, with the rules that apply to other named figures not applying to her; the ultimate glass ceiling. I find myself at odds with many of my brothers on gender issues, and this is definitely another one.
No comments:
Post a Comment