The birth of Jesus (pbuh) & The family of Imran (Joachim): Part 4

So she conceived him, and then she withdrew with him to a distant place. ( Holy Quran , Maryam 22 )

Maryam ( peace be upon her ) knew what her fate would be if she gives birth in Jerusalem . She was aware of the type of society she was surrounded by. She decided to leave , being afraid of the false accusations she would have to submit herself to not because she didn’t want to have her image destroyed but rather she knew that accusing an innocent one of being unchaste will lead them to Hell Fire . This is the kind of love Maryam (peace be upon her ) had for her people.

The miraculous birth took place in Bethlehem.

And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said: “Would that I had died before this, and had become a thing forgotten, completely forgotten!” ( Holy Quran , Maryam 23 )

The Quran does not give explicit details on Maryam’s ( peace be upon her ) childbirth , however , we know that in her agony and due to the fact that she was secluded in complete wildness , she grasped onto the branch of a tree .

(A voice) called out to her from beneath her: “Do not grieve! Your Lord has set a rivulet at your feet.

“And shake the trunk of the date-palm towards you: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon you. ”

“So eat and drink, and be comforted. If you should see some person, say (through gesture): “I have vowed a fast of silence to the All-Merciful, so I cannot speak to any human being today. ”( Holy Quran , Maryam 24-26 )

She did as she was told and, dates in their ripe stage , fell on the ground. It has been proven medically that dates in their ripe stage ease the process of birth and shorten labor .

After she ate and drank in order to regain her strength, Allah ordered her to fast from talking . Allah chose silence for her, because in certain circumstances silence is better. Only He knew what was going to happen and how beautifully her own son was going to protect her.

During the childbirth, the people of Jerusalem noticed her absence and started looking for her. According to most narrations she was away for 40 days. She approached her town’s people with her new born baby in her arms.

She came to her people, carrying him. They exclaimed: “O Mary! You have come for sure with an unheard of, mighty thing!

“O sister of Aaron, your father was never a wicked man, nor was your mother unchaste. ” ( Holy Quran , Maryam 27, 28 )

Everyone accused her of being a woman of low morals and expected her to speak up.In order to rebuke her even more, they mentioned the spotless image her family had in their society. Since Maryam ( peace be upon her ) was ordered by Allah to not say a word, they assumed her guilty. She pointed to the baby she was holding . This action of hers bewildered her town’s people as to how they could speak to one who was still in the cradle.

Mary pointed to him (the infant, signifying that they should ask him). They cried: “How can we talk to one in the cradle, an infant boy?” ( Holy Quran , Maryam 29 )

Little did they know that this question said in hatred and craze was going to be  the cause of the first witnessed miracle of Isa ( peace be upon him ) by the Will of Allah.

Our Beloved Prophet ( peace and blessings be upon him ) said that there were only three people who spoke as infants and Isa ibn Maryam ( peace be upon him ) was one of them.