Page 14 - Mary: An Exemplary Muslim Woman

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One of these sincere Muslims is Mary, one of the two women noted
for their exemplary characters: "Allah has made an example for those
who believe: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said: 'My Lord, build a

house in the Garden for me in Your Presence, rescue me from Pharaoh
and his deeds, and rescue me from this wrongdoing people.' And
Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity—We breathed
Our Spirit into her. She confirmed the Words of her Lord and His
Book, and was one of the obedient" (Surat at-Tahrim: 11-12). Therefore,
every believer is responsible for learning about Mary's good character
from the Qur'an, which gives the most accurate information, and trying
to emulate her.
Allah introduces Mary as having the ideal Muslim woman's char-
acter. This character is completely different than the common character
of women in today's unbelieving societies, where they usually share a
common socially acceptable character handed down from their ances-

tors. In these societies, men and women are expected to conform to very
different sets of character traits, for men's ideals, worldview, lifestyle,
and evaluation of events are believed to be different from those of
women.
According to the Qur'an, however, men and women have the same
responsibilities and characters, for Allah refers to an ideal Muslim charac-
ter. He defines the Islamic character in the following verse:
Men and women who are Muslims, men and women who are believers,
men and women who are obedient, men and women who are truthful,
men and women who are steadfast, men and women who are humble,
men and women who give charity, men and women who fast, men and
women who guard their chastity, men and women who remember Allah
much: Allah has prepared forgiveness for them and an immense reward.
(Surat al-Ahzab: 35)

As this verse shows, each person's character is not determined by

Mary: An Exemplary Muslim Woman