'O Maryam, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world.'
Figures in the Quran
Maryam (Mary) in Islam
The only woman named in the Quran, with a surah of her own — chosen, purified, and counted above the women of the world.
Maryam bint Imran is the only woman the Quran names directly, and one of two figures — with her son — to have a surah titled after her. Her story begins before her birth: a mother's vow to dedicate her child to the temple, accepted when the child proved to be a girl. She grows up in Zakariyya's care, provided for with food no one brought, and is chosen and purified by her Lord. Then comes the annunciation that would define her in history — a son, by a word, though no man had touched her — followed by withdrawal, labor alone under a palm trunk, and the return to her people with an infant who speaks in her defense. The Quran honors her as chosen above the women of the world and as a believer in Allah's words and His books.
Timeline
- Her mother, wife of Imran, vowed the child in her womb to the service of the temple.
- When the child proved to be a girl, the vow stood; she was named Maryam and commended to Allah's protection.
- Placed in the care of Zakariyya, who found her provided with food from unexpected sources.
- The angels announced that Allah had chosen her, purified her, and chosen her above the women of the world (3:42).
- Withdrew from her family to an eastern place, screening herself from them.
- The angel appeared to her as a well-proportioned man, announcing a pure son; she asked how, having been touched by no man.
- She withdrew to a remote place, where labor drove her to the trunk of a palm tree; she was told to shake it, eat, drink, and cool her eye.
- She returned to her people carrying the infant Isa, who spoke in the cradle in her defense.
Key Quranic passages
Surah Maryam opens her account: 'And mention in the Book, Maryam, when she withdrew from her family.'
'She who guarded her chastity, and We breathed into her of Our spirit and made her and her son a sign for the worlds.'
Maryam, daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity — and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures.
Lessons readers draw
The value of these lives in the Quran is not ornament. Each narrative is framed as instruction — patience tested and kept, trust justified late, forgiveness extended from strength. Read the passages above in their full surahs through the links; a biography in the Quran is meant to change the reader, not only to inform them.
Related duas
The figures of the Quran prayed in nearly every scene above. Niyat's dua library collects source-cited supplications — including the prayer of Musa for an eased task and the dua of Yunus from the darknesses — with Arabic, transliteration, and translation.
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Word and messenger
Prophet Isa (Jesus)
Born of a word, healer of the blind, teacher of the Injil — the Quran honors Isa as a messenger and a word from Allah.
Read the life → The best of storiesProphet Yusuf (Joseph)
One surah, told start to finish: a boy thrown in a well by his brothers, and the decades that turned betrayal into authority and forgiveness.
Read the life → All figuresFigures in Islam
Twelve figures the Quran tells its story through — prophets, Maryam, and the first believers of the Prophet’s household.
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