Home > Surah 3 - The Family of Imran
1. The Exposure of the "Unseen":
This narrative is "news of the unseen (ghayb)" revealed exclusively to Muhammad (3:44). These exact narrative elements had been written, circulated, and widely debated in Christian apocryphal circles for nearly half a millennium before Islam, exposing it as a cultural borrow of known, regional folklore.
2. The Apocryphal Copying:
It describes Mary living in a sanctuary where she miraculously receives food from God. This is a direct structural parallel to the 2nd-century Christian pseudepigraphal text, the Protoevangelium of James (Chapters 8–9), which explicitly states Mary lived in the Temple "and received food from the hand of an angel."
3. The Casting of Lots:
The verse details priests casting "their pens" (aqlāmuhum) to determine Mary's guardian. This extra-biblical detail mirrors the exact scene in the Protoevangelium, where the high priest commands suitors to bring their rods to cast lots, showing the text codifies local sectarian folklore rather than historical reality.
The Quran Verses
Surah 3:37:
So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, "O Mary, from where is this to you?" She said, "It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account."Surah 3:44:
That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you. And you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should be responsible for Mary. And you were not with them when they disputed.
The Relevant Source Text (Apocryphal Gospel)
Protoevangelium of James, Chapter 8:
And Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there, and she received food from the hand of an angel.Protoevangelium of James, Chapter 9:
And the high priest went in... And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before him, saying to him, "Zechariah, Zechariah, go out and assemble the widowers of the people, and let them bring each his rod [pen/branch]... and to whomever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be." And the lot fell to Joseph.
The Quran presents this as "news of the unseen" revealed directly to Muhammad, but it is a direct copy of a 2nd-century fictional Christian folklore text regarding Mary's upbringing and how her guardian was chosen.