Conception of Jesus

[ZuzuBailey]

I always found this disturbing to believe.
Is this common Muslim thought of how Mary conceived Jesus?

Here is Ibn Kathir’s commentary on S. 66:12:

<And Maryam, the daughter of 'Imran who guarded her chastity (PRIVATE PART).> meaning who protected and purified her honor, by being chaste and free of immorality,
<And We breathed INTO IT (PRIVATE PART) through Our Ruh,> meaning, through the angel Jibril. Allah sent the angel Jibril to Maryam, and he came to her in the shape of a man in every respect. Allah commanded him TO BLOW into a gap of her garment and that breath went into her womb THROUGH HER PRIVATE PART; this is how 'Isa was conceived. This is why Allah said here,

<And We breathed INTO IT through Our Ruh, and she testified to the truth of her Lords Kalimat, and His Kutub,> meaning His decree and His legislation. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir - Abridged, Volume 10, Surat At-Tagabun to the end of the Qur’an, pp. 75-76; bold and capital emphasis ours)

In his comments to S. 19:22-23, Ibn Kathir states:

“Allah, the Exalted, informs about Maryam that when Jibril had spoken to her about what Allah said, she accepted the decree of Allah. Many scholars of the predecessors (Salaf) have mentioned that at this point the angel (who was Jibril) blew into the opening of her garment that she was wearing. Then the breath descended until it entered INTO HER VAGINA and she conceived by the leave of Allah.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged, Volume 6, Surat Al-Isra’, Verse 39 To the end of Surat Al-Mu’minun, first edition July 2000, p. 244; bold and capital emphasis ours)

“Ibn Kathir interprets the phrase ‘guarded well her generative organ’ to mean: ‘safeguarded and protected it. Guarding well ihsan signifies chastity and high birth.’ He comments on the phrase, ‘and thus We breathed into it of our spirit’ thus 'that is, through the angel Gabriel. This is because God sent him to her, and he took for her the form of a man of good stature (S. 19:17). God commanded him to breathe INTO THE BREAST OF HER CHEMISE. HIS BREATH WENT DOWN AND PENETRATED HER GENERATIVE ORGAN, AND THUS CAUSED HER TO CONCEIVE JESUS…” (Ibid.)

Source
answering-islam.org/Quran/Science/semenproduction.htm

 

[PaulDupre]

That is the Muslim view. No one else believes that.

 

[inJESUS]

Worse yet, it was Gabriel who “breathed”.

 

[iaskquestions]

That’s extremely shocking!

Now I’m convinced that Quran is Satan’s revelation.

Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. And if they say that Gabriel breathed and caused the conception then it is sheer blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said that whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.

“but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:29)

 

[Sister_Amy]

Who wrote that anyway?

You can’t just pull something out of a book without proof and say “Muslims believe that,” for one thing. (Though it’s a frequent occurrance on forums such as these.) It’s actually pretty vulgar to think about that way, the way you’ve presented it in the OP. It’s vulgar and Muslims would never accept it, and I can tell you why.

Here’s an interesting factoid. The word for soul is the same word as for breath. Ruh. Muslims believe that God “breathed” into Adam. Breathed his (Adam’s) “soul” or “spirit” into the body of Adam. Does God breathe the way we humans breathe? Absolutely not.

I have no idea where you pulled this from, but it’s pretty senseless and an awfully lame, totally unjustified attack on Islam.

 

[ZuzuBailey]

There is a link .

Who wrote that anyway?

You can’t just pull something out of a book without proof and say “Muslims believe that,” for one thing. (Though it’s a frequent occurrance on forums such as these.) It’s actually pretty vulgar to think about that way, the way you’ve presented it in the OP. It’s vulgar and Muslims would never accept it, and I can tell you why.

Here’s an interesting factoid. The word for soul is the same word as for breath. Ruh. Muslims believe that God “breathed” into Adam. Breathed his (Adam’s) “soul” or “spirit” into the body of Adam. Does God breathe the way we humans breathe? Absolutely not.

I have no idea where you pulled this from, but it’s pretty senseless and an awfully lame, totally unjustified attack on Islam.

 

[Sister_Amy]

There is a link .

So… you don’t know? I mean, I see that it’s trying to mysteriously reference “Ibn Kathir” but as I have said before on this forum, mufassireen are not the ultimate authority on the Qur’an, especially when they don’t bring proof for their interpretation. Maybe Ibn Kathir thought that, but it doesn’t make it the belief of Muslims.

I’ve yet to see ANY statement from Muhammad, or his Companions, or even any of the imams, which justifies this interpretation.

So ultimately it should be discarded as one man’s interpretation, subject to flaws.

 

[inJESUS]

It’s Ibn Kathir Amy.

Ibn Kathir’s commentary on S. 66:12:

<And Maryam, the daughter of 'Imran who guarded her chastity (PRIVATE PART).> meaning who protected and purified her honor, by being chaste and free of immorality,
<And We breathed INTO IT (PRIVATE PART) through Our Ruh,> meaning, through the angel Jibril. Allah sent the angel Jibril to Maryam, and he came to her in the shape of a man in every respect. Allah commanded him TO BLOW into a gap of her garment and that breath went into her womb THROUGH HER PRIVATE PART; this is how 'Isa was conceived.

Here is Tabari

Al-Tabari’s comments on Mary’s conception are:

"… She entered the cave, and found Gabriel there—God made him appear to her as shapely human—and he said to her, ‘O Mary, God has sent me to you to give you a boy most pure.’ At this she exclaimed, ‘I take refuge in the All Merciful from you, if you fear God!’ (She had thought that he was a man, a mortal.) But he said, ‘I am but a messenger come from your Lord.’ She then said, ‘How shall I, whom no mortal has touched, have a son; neither have I been unchaste?’ He replied, ‘Even so. The Lord has said, “Easy is that for Me, and We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed.”’

That is, God has decreed that it is so. When the angel spoke thus, she submitted to the divine decree, and he breathed into HER BOSOM. Then he left her, and she filled her pitcher.

According to Muhammad b. Sahl b. ‘Askar al-Bukhari- Isma’il b. ‘Abd al-Karim- ‘Abd al-Samad b. Ma’qil, the son of the brother of Wahb- Wahb: When God sent Gabriel to Mary, he appeared to her as a shapely man. She then said, ‘I take refuge in the All Merciful from you, if you fear God!’ Then he breathed into the opening of her garment, THE BREATH REACHED HER WOMB, and she conceived Jesus…" (The History of al-Tabari, Volume IV, The Ancient Kingdoms)

And:

"… ‘Then We sent unto her Our Spirit [that is, the angel Gabriel] that presented himself to her a man without fault’…

She wore a gown. He held her sleeves and breathed into the opening of her garment which was split in front. The breath entered her breast, and she conceived …"

What is intersting though, is what a companion of Muhammad said:

"Tabari assumes that the Spirit who was sent to Mary was Gabriel. He reports that this was the view of Qatada, Ibn Jurayj and Wahb. The other commentators agree that this is the correct interpretation but none the less mention THE ALTERNATIVE VIEW, namely that** the Spirit was the Messiah**. Ibn Kathir gives the following report traced back by a single isnad **TO THE COMPANION UBAIY: **
The spirit of Jesus is one of the group of spirits with whom [God] took a pact in the time of Adam [cf. 33:7 and 7:172]. It is he, that is to say the spirit of Jesus, who presented himself to her in the form of a perfect human being. So she conceived the one who addressed her and he became incarnate in her [entering her through her mouth].

DESPITE ITS PEDIGREE, Ibn Kathir dismisses this interpretation as reprehensible and supposes it to have been derived from the People of the Scripture."

 

[Sister_Amy]

My original statement stands.

 

[inJESUS]

My original statement stands.

do you have a better explanation Amy based on hadith?

 

[roanoker]

I for one don’t even like to think about this. This conversation is degrading, and certaintly not at all necessary. Roanoker

 

[inJESUS]

The OP is asking whether the Quran says that Allah literally breathed into Mary’s private parts. I don’t know if Muslims take the breathing literally, but the private part breathing is indeed in the Quran …we breathed INTO IT (private part using the lit. word), not into Mary.