Bismillah
Praise be Allah the All Hearing, Wise, Merciful Creator of all Creations, and prayer and peace be upon His final Messenger Mohamed Ibn Abdullah and all prophets and messengers.
Because of the test similarity, I thought to introduce Mariam's case may Allah be Pleased with her.
<b>Who is Mariam radiya Allahu a`naha?</b>
Mariam is the daughter of Imran
"Allah chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imraan above the humankind and jinns (of their times).* Offspring, one of the other, and Allah is the All-Hearer, All-Knower.* (Remember) when the wife of 'Imraan said: "O my Lord! I have vowed to You what (the child that) is in my womb to be dedicated for Your services (free from all worldly work; to serve Your Place of worship), so accept this, from me. Verily, You are the All-Hearer, the All-Knowing."* Then when she delivered her [child Mary], she said: "O my Lord! I have delivered a female child," - and Allah knew better what she delivered, - "And the male is not like the female, and I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge with You (Allah) for her and for her offspring from Shaytan (Satan), the outcast." (Quran 3: 33-36).
According to the above mentioned noble Ayah, she is the daughter of Imran, but Allah before introducing her lineage explained how Allah chose Adam, Noah and the families of Ibraheem and Imran to place them in a higher rank than other human beings. In other words, those families and their descendants are different in terms of piety. It is even proved from how her mother, in advance, dedicated what is in her womb to Allah. In other words, to serve only in the work related to Allah and the place of worship nothing else. But to the mother's disappointment, she gave birth to a girl. Girls were not allowed to assume this position of serving in the Masjed. Yet again, she had to fulfill her vow and dedication.
<b>How was she brought up?</b>
In response to the sincere intention of her mother, Allah accepted her to His service and even granted her good upbringing.
"So her Lord (Allah) accepted her with goodly acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner and put her under the care of Zachariya" (Quran 3: 37)
Because Mariam was born an orphan, her aunt's (mother's sister) husband Zakaria became in charge of bringing her up. But was this his decision? No it was still from Allah according to the Ayah saying:
"This is a part of the news of the unseen with which We inspire
you. You were not with them, <b>when they cast lots with </b>their pens as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary; nor were you with them when they disputed." (Quran 3:44) <b>(my comment: I would not use inspire but rather reveal to you, Quran is a revelation from Allah and not inspiration)
," </b>(Quran 3:44).
The underlined part explains how many men were competing to be in charge of bringing up Mariam, they disputed as to who takes care of her. In order to solve the dispute, they decided to cast lots enabling a fair chance and choice. Zakaria was selected according to the lots.
For the sake of sequencing the events, I will just use the Ayahs as they relate to the given situation. I m aware that this is not how they were placed in Quran. This is the man who brought her up, Zakaria. He did fulfill Allah's Command in being careful to bring this girl up the way she is supposed to be brought up. At a certain point, she was always in her worship silo, in obedience to Allah's Command brought to her by the angles as the Quran say:
" And (remember) when the angels said: "O Mary! Verily, Allah has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of the worlds (of her lifetime).* O Mary! "Submit yourself with obedience to your Lord (Allah, by worshipping none but Him Alone) and prostrate yourself, and bow down along with those who bow." (Quran 3:42-43).
As the reader can understand from this Ayah, that angles conveyed the command to Mariam. In other words, angles did speak to her bringing her what Allah Commanded for her. If it means anything, it reflects a rank, a special one that some of the Mufasereen (those who explained the Quran) argued that she is placed in the prophets' rank because of the angles speaking to her. Leave alone of course the statement that Allah physically Told her she is :"And (remember) when the angels said: "O Mary! Verily, Allah has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of the worlds (of her lifetime)." (Quran 3:42).
As we can clearly see how Allah actually prepared Mariam quite ahead for this particular incomparable trial and test. Hadn't she been well trained and prepared, hadn’t she been taught by Allah how to contact and maintain close relation with Allah, personally I don’t think she would have been able to endure the situation. Certainly Allah Does not befell or put a human being in a test haphazardly.
Due to all the above mentioned, she was no ordinary woman, as we can realize from what Zakaria observed:
"Every time he entered the private place of prayer to (visit) her, he found her supplied with sustenance. He said: "O Mary! From where have you got this?" She said, "This is from Allah." Verily, Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills, without limit." (Quran 3:37).
Zakaria noticed how different she was in terms of her relation with Allah, he was surprised for seeing food at her place of worship, that according to Mufasereen, is not in season. Upon asking her for the source, easily and confidently she replies from Allah Who Sustain whomever Allah Wishes.
For the sake of being short, we will just introduce one hadeeth supporting the same sense:
Narrated under the authority of Anas Ibn Malek that the Messenger salla Allah a`lyehee wa sallam said: Best women among mankind are four: Mariam Bin E`mran, Khadija Bin Khowalyed, Fatima Bin Mohamed and Asiyah the wife of Pharon" (reported by Musnad Ahmed).
<b>The major trial:</b>
Given this background and upbringing, while she was also in her worship silo, just as angles brought her glad tidings of how Allah has chosen and purified her, they also conveyed to her a message of glad tiding from Allah telling her: "(Remember) when the angels said: "O Mary! Verily, Allah gives you the glad tidings of a Word from Him, his name will be the [b]Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary[/b], held in honour in this world and in the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are near to Allah." (Quran 3:45).
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How did she react? How did she respond to this? Was it easy on her, even though she was informed through angles?
"She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me." He said: "So (it will be) for Allah creates what He wills. When He has decreed something, He says to it only: "Be!" and it is." (!Quran 3:47)
Even though we are not there, I mean we are not attending the incident, but we can hear her voice broken and weakened, terrified not knowing what to do. The O my Lord on its own shows how overwhelmed she was till she reached the peak of her test and felt extremely depressed and distressed as it is well expressed in her saying:
<b>How did she feel and handle the test? </b>
Angles did not stop at this point, just telling her she is going to expect a baby, but rather explained who would he be, not only this but also foretold her his name and further description of how he would be honored and ..to the end of the Ayah 3: 45 .
""He will speak to the people in the cradle and in manhood, and he will be one of the righteous." (Quran 3:47)
The baby speaking in his cradle is how Allah Equipped her to be capable of handling the whole situation.
But before that, let us again take the situation in sequence:
"And mention in the Book (the Quran, O Muhammad, the story of) Mary, when she withdrew in seclusion from her family to a place facing east.* She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Spirit [angel Gabriel], and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects.* She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allah) from you, if you do fear Allah." (Quran 19:16-19)
Just a note here, in the previous set of Ayahs, the angles as a preparation informed her before hand that Allah Is going to bless her with a child. That was the preparatory stage. But at this point, this is when Gabriel came down fulfilling Allah's command of granting her the baby. Because someone might be confused and say how come the previous Ayah says angles told her, and here one angle only is speaking to her.
Let us continue this serious stressful situation, remember when she was told by the angles, she spoke to Allah like she wants to invoke that she would not be put in this situation. She said O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me. But in a manner adequate to Allah's Majesty. I mean she didn’t say no don’t do this to me, or why would I be in this situation, or what did I do to deserve this fate?
What did she say here, she said:
" She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?" (Quran 19:20)
Again to explain to her how easy this is to Allah, the angle replied:
" He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allah): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to humankind and a mercy from Us (Allah), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allah).' " (Quran 19;21)
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How did this go?
"So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place (i.e. Bethlehem valley about 4-6 miles from Jerusalem)." (Quran 19:22).
Was this easy on her? Did she take it lightly? How was her feeling deep inside? Come on let us see:
"And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said: "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!" (Quran 19:23).
What can you sense of this statement? Are you able to note her status? She was in a serious level of depression that she wished she was dead before facing this destiny.
Was it her who handled the situation? Was it her who came up with a solution? No it was not her. Allah soothed her and calmed down her fears by having either the baby or Gabriel tell her what to do.
"Then [the babe Jesus or Gabriel] cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you;" (Quran 19:24)
Thus the solution given to her by Allah of course, either the baby or Gabriel were not but means to communicate the message, is to focus on what Allah provided for her of a water stream.
"And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you." (Quran: 19:25)
Who is helping her here? Allah. He prescribed for her to shake the palm tree and eat dates. Can you believe this? A woman in labor shaking the palm tree trunk? Sobhan Allah, but of course this is to keep her steadfast and assure her that this whole situation is nothing ordinary. It is just one miraculous coherent situation with all of its components well fixed to each other. According to modern tests made on dates, they stabilize the hormones, which she certainly needed to stand both labor pain and overcome depression.
Further instructions were given in dealing with people because eventually she had to face her people with this baby.
"So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) so I shall not speak to any human being this day.'" (Quran 19:26).
After all this training, now she was ready to meet her people, don’t forget Allah knows what will they say:
"And because of their (Jews) disbelief and uttering against Mary a grave false charge (that she has committed illegal sexual intercourse);" (Quran 4:156).
Now she arrived to the peak of the situation and was ready to face the grave problem:
"Then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. They said: "O Mary! Indeed you have brought a shocking, unheard thing." (Quran 19:27).
What was their reaction? It was very harsh:
" O sister (i.e. the like) of Aaron [not the brother of Moses, but he was another pious man at the time of Mary]! Your father was not a man who used to commit adultery, nor your mother was an unchaste woman." (Quran 19:28)
Now comes her using the weapon granted by Allah:
"Then she pointed to him." (Quran 19:29).
As you can realize, she didn’t even speak, as she intended a fast according to the previous Ayah. So she just signed. She strictly adhered to what Allah Commanded her.
They were certainly astonished saying:
"They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"" (Quran 19:29).
At this point, he was the one who spoke, he was the one who explained not her saying:
"He [Jesus] said: Verily! I am a slave of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet;* And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me prayer, and Zakat, as long as I live*And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest*And Salam (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive*Such is Jesus, son of Mary. (it is) a statement of truth, about which they doubt (or dispute)" (Quran 19: 30-33)
He further continued explaining:
[Jesus said]: "And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So worship Him (Alone). That is the Straight Path. (Allah's Religion of Islamic Monotheism which He did ordain for all of His Prophets)." (Quran 19:36)
What kind of a test she went through to attain this prominent outstanding position. What an honor she attained to be the mother of this Messenger and Prophet. In her age, she was trained gradually, well prepared ahead, provided with all types of equipment she might need to face the test. But a full Surah in Quran was revealed in her name. She has been mentioned in several other positions by name. Mentioning her name was a means from Allah to sooth and elevate her rank till the Day After as we are going to continue reading Quran till the Day After.
<b>Learnt lessons:</b>
1. <b>Allah prepared and trained her quite ahead for the test, which means that Allah Does not befell a test unless according to the given person's capability which Allah Decides and Provides.</b>
2. For the preparation, she underwent several stages starting with Quran 3:45 to be mentally prepared for Quran 19: 16-19.
3. Although not like any other ordinary human being, she was still terrified and unable to comprehend the incident.
4. Allah Supported her with her evidence of innocence.
5. Allah Taught her how to handle the situation (saying she is fasting, shaking the palm tree, eating dates and asking them to talk to Eassa).
6. She strictly implemented the divine orders in details.
7. The fruit was immense, a full Surah in Quran in her name and she is the only woman who had this position, according to Mufasereen, she is elevated to prophets' rank, because Angle Jebreel communicated with only prophets and Messengers, and she is the mother of Eassa blessing and peace be upon him.