{"id":1571,"date":"2017-12-17T12:39:08","date_gmt":"2017-12-17T18:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2017-12-17T12:40:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-17T18:40:14","slug":"mary-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/mary-respect\/","title":{"rendered":"The Virgin Mary Always Deserves Respect"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God, The Everlastingly Loving and Caring <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

As is so typical in our day and age, controversies die with the next news cycle. It seems like an age ago that our President was under fire – rightfully so – <\/em>for retweeting <\/a>anti-Muslim <\/a>videos<\/a> from a British nationalist group.<\/p>\n

One of these videos depicts a Muslim man destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary, implying that Muslims somehow hate the Virgin Mary and all of Christianity. This is completely untrue. Islam has such high regard for both Jesus and Mary.<\/p>\n

The Virgin Mary is the only woman to be mentioned by name in the Quran. She is the only woman to have an entire chapter – Chapter 19 – named after her. The story of her birth is recounted in beautiful eloquence in the Quran:<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman of (the House of Imran) prayed: \u2018O my sustainer! Behold, unto Thee do I vow (the child) that is in my womb to be devoted to Thy service. Accept it, then, from me: verily, Thou alone art all-hearing, all-knowing!\u2019 But when she had given birth to the child, she said: \u2018O my sustainer! Behold, I have given birth to a female\u2019 \u2013 the while God had been fully aware of what she would give birth to \u2013 \u2018and the male is not like the female. And I have named her Mary, and verily, I seek Thy protection for her and her offspring against Satan, the accursed.’\u201d (3:35-36)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Quran details how she took a special secluded place in the Temple where she worshiped God devoutly:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd mention Mary in the Book: when she withdrew from her people to a place in the East and secluded herself from them\u2026\u201d (19:16-17).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It was there that the Angel Gabriel appeared to her to give her the good news of the birth of her son, Jesus:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026We sent her Our spirit, which appeared to her just like a man. She said, \u2018I take refuge from you with the Benevolent One, if you are conscientious.\u2019 He said, \u2018I am only a messenger from your Lord, to give you a sinless son.’\u201d (16:17-19)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, God singles out the Virgin Mary as the ideal example of the believer:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd God cites as an example of those who believed\u2026Mary, the daughter of Imran. She maintained her chastity, then we blew into her from Our spirit. She believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures; she was obedient.\u201d (66:11-12)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So, the Virgin Mary is very special in Islam. Therefore, while it is true that we Muslims do not believe in making statutes of any sacred figure, destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary is absolutely unacceptable. Period.<\/p>\n

In fact, our Scripture specifically tells us not to insult others’ religious beliefs:<\/p>\n

[Believers], do not revile those they call on beside God in case they, in their hostility and ignorance, revile God. To each community We make their own actions seem alluring, but in the end they will return to their Lord and He will inform them of all they did (6:108)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Therefore, that Muslim man in that video was betraying his faith by destroying that statue, which is insulting to so many Christians around the world who – like we Muslims – share in the honor and veneration of the mother of Christ.<\/p>\n

In the end, it makes me very sad that there is a perception that Islam somehow denigrates Christianity or teaches Muslims to hate Christians. This is so untrue. In fact, the Quran says that Christians are the ones closest in love to Muslims:<\/p>\n

…you are sure to find that the closest in affection towards the believers are those who say, \u2018We are Christians,\u2019… (5:82)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our common love for Jesus and his mother should be that bond that brings Muslims and Christians together. Our common belief in the sanctity and beauty of the Virgin Mary should be that bond that should remove animosity between us. Our common worship of God, the Lord of all, should be enough to prevent anyone from tearing us apart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Muslim man in the video who destroys a statue of the Virgin Mary betrays his faith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[125,651,11,29,269,261],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-belief","tag-donald-trump","tag-islam","tag-jesus","tag-video","tag-virgin-mary"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Virgin Mary Always Deserves Respect - Common Word, Common Lord<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/mary-respect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Virgin Mary Always Deserves Respect - Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Muslim man in the video who destroys a statue of the Virgin Mary betrays his faith.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/mary-respect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-17T18:39:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-17T18:40:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/files\/2017\/12\/img_0191.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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