Quran Garden

Session 370

Chapter 3

Verse 33

Indeed, God chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran over the worlds. (Chapter 3: Verse 33)

In the preceding verses, Allah laid down the principles of faith, starting with the creed.  He says:

God bears witness that there is no god but Him, as do the angels and those who have knowledge. He upholds justice. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise. (3:18)

Then the Almighty gave the believers glad tidings that He is in full control of all matters:

Say: "O God, Master of all dominion! You give dominion to whom You will and extract dominion from whom You will, and You honor whom You will, and abase whom You will; in Your hand is all good; surely You have full power over everything. You merge night into day and day into night; You bring the living out of the dead and the dead out of the living; You give provision to whom You will without account." (3:26-27)

             Lastly, Allah illustrated to us the path of love and the key to the treasures of His mercy:

Say: "If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins; God is most forgiving, most merciful." Say: "Obey God, and the Messenger." But if they turn their backs, God does not love the disbelievers. (3:31-32)

But were all these verses just theories and assumptions? Of course not.  In the verse under study, Allah gives us the example of people who upheld the principles of faith and walked His path of mercy.  They serve as practical models for all of us.  If there were no prior examples, then people may give up and say, "We do not know how to do this," or "this is too difficult."  Thus, Allah gave you examples of people who carried the responsibilities of faith.  He says:

Indeed, God chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran over the worlds. (Chapter 3: Verse 33)

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was sent to an illiterate nation that did not study history, so it was necessary for God to introduce examples from the past.  The Quran uses examples from previous prophets and religions, which clearly shows that there is no bigotry in Islam.  Islam is the conclusion of all prior religions that started with Adam and continued through Abraham, the family of Imran, Moses, and Jesus, peace be upon them all.  Islam honors previous heavenly religions and builds on their scriptures.  God says:

We sent you the scripture with the truth, confirming the scriptures that came before it, and with final authority over them: so judge between them according to what God has sent down. Do not follow their whims, which deviate from the truth that has come to you. We have assigned a law and a path to each of you. If God had so willed, He would have made you one community, but He wanted to test you through that which He has given you, so race to do good: you will all return to God, and He will make clear to you the matters you differed about. (5:48)

Allah reminds us of the purity of our forefathers.  Wouldn't it be a shame if we abandon such a connection to the heavens?

When you read the phrase "God chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran over the worlds," you may wonder, did Allah choose these messengers because He knew that they were obedient? Or did they become obedient because God chose and favored them?  We answer that Allah knew, through His perfect and eternal knowledge, that these people were sincere.  Likewise, such honest and respectful people became even more observant after they were assigned the task of delivering God's message.  Thus, they were the perfect choice to become the bearers of the divine scripture.  God narrates how our beloved Abraham longed for a connection with his Creator well before receiving God's revelations.  He says:

Then, when he beheld the sun rising in all its splendor, he said, "This is my Lord. This one is the greatest of all!" But when it set, he said, "O my people, I am through with those you associate with God.  I have truly turned my face towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth, inclining to the truth and I am not an idolater." (6:78-79)

We understand that when God chose Noah, He chose him out of millions of people.  Similarly, God chose Abraham, Jesus, and David from all the people at the time.  But how about when God chose Adam? Adam was the first human, with no one else around.  Does that mean that God singled him out for Himself? We answer that Adam was chosen as a trustee of God's teachings on earth.  He was selected as the forefather of all future prophets and messengers. 

When the word "Imran" is mentioned in the Quran, it could be referring to one of two people.  First, there is Imran, the father of Prophets Moses and Aaron.  Second, there is Imran, the father of Miriam (Virgin Mary, the mother of Prophet Jesus).  Which Imran is the title of Chapter 3 referring to? There has been some confusion among scholars.

We answer that this confusion is easy to resolve.  Let's look into the family tree of each of the two Imrans.  First, we start with Imran, the father of Moses and Aaron.  His father was Yashar, and his grandfather was Fahath.  His great grandfather was Lawa, who was in turn the son of Prophet Jacob, the grandson of Isaac, and the great-grandson of our beloved Abraham, peace be upon them all. 

Now we look into the lineage of Imran, the father of Miriam, the mother of Prophet Jesus.  His father was Mathan, who was a descendant of Prophets Solomon and David.  Prophet David was the son of Awsha, grandson of Yahootha. Yahootha was the son of Jacob and the grandson of Isaac, peace be upon them all.  

What added to the confusion was that the sister of Prophets Moses and Aaron was named Miriam.  So we have Miriam, daughter of Imran, who was the sister of Moses and Aaron.  Then we have Miriam, daughter of Imran, who was the mother of Prophet Jesus.  The children of Israel loved the name Miriam because it means "the devoted worshipper." 

Chapter 3 of the Quran discusses the story of Miriam, daughter of Imran, mother of Jesus.  From that, we know that the namesake of this chapter, "Al Imran," is referring to the family of our beloved Prophet Jesus, not to the family of Moses and Aaron.