Qur'an, Sura 3 (Al 'Imran): Mary's family and Jesus
c. c. 624 – c. 632
Place: medina
24.468, 39.611 · On the map
The text is attested. The parallels with the Protevangelium and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas are attested; how they were transmitted is a hypothesis.
Sura 3 is a Medinan text. It tells of Mary's dedication by her mother, her upbringing in the sanctuary under Zechariah with miraculous food, the casting of lots for her care, and Jesus' miracles (the clay birds, healing, raising the dead). It also has the mubahala challenge to Christians (3:59–61), comparing Jesus to Adam.
People named here
- Mary
- Jesus
- Zechariah
- 'Imran
Where scholars disagree
For
- Cornelia Horn — Apocrypha 2006
- Gabriel Said Reynolds — The Qur'an and the Bible (2018)
Against
No names on this side.
Links
Text and wording
In
Mary dedicated before birth, fed in the sanctuary, and lots cast for her guardian (Q 3:35–37, 44).
text_parallel
attestedIn
Jesus makes birds from clay that come alive (IGT 2; Q 3:49).
text_parallel
attestedIn
The hanifs: Abraham's 'pure monotheism'
The Qur'an's Abraham is 'hanif, neither Jew nor Christian' (3:67).
vocabulary
attestedIn
The Mary-and-Jesus story is retold and expanded in Medinan Sura 3.
develops
attested
Sequence
In
Christian delegation from Najran in Medina; the mubahala
Exegetes link Sura 3's Jesus passages and the mubahala verse (3:61) to the visit.
occasion_for
traditional
Context
Out
Qur'an 4:157–159: 'they did not kill him, nor crucify him'
Q 3:55 ('I will cause you to die/take you and raise you to Myself') is read with 4:157–158.
context
attested
Sources
- Qur'an, Surat Al Imran (3), Arabic with translations
Quran.com. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Cornelia Horn, 'Intersections: The Reception History of the Protoevangelium of James in Sources from the Christian East and in the Qur'an', Apocrypha 17 (2006)
Brepols. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Gabriel Said Reynolds, The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and Commentary (2018)
Yale University Press. Accessed 2026-11-11.