Mary

The only woman named in the Qur'an, and more often than in the New Testament. Surah 19 bears her name. A powerful comparative lens: the same figure, two scriptures, very different Christologies.

Jesus (Isa) is the second-most-mentioned prophet in the Qur'an. He is honoured as the Messiah (al-Masih), born of a virgin, worker of miracles, recipient of the Injil (Gospel). Crucial differences: the Qur'an denies the crucifixion and the divinity of Christ.

Across these traditions, a divine messenger appears to a woman to announce a miraculous birth, often accompanied by instructions regarding the child's name and destiny. While the narrative structure of the encounter remains consistent, theological interpretations of the child's nature diverge significantly. In Christianity, the child is identified as the incarnate Son of God, whereas Islam emphasizes his prophetic role without divinity. Jewish accounts typically frame the birth within the context of covenantal deliverance or specific consecration rather than incarnation.

Multiple religious traditions feature narratives where divine intervention overcomes natural infertility or virginity to produce a significant figure. While the motif of a promised child born through supernatural means is shared, the theological implications diverge sharply: in Judaism and Islam, the miracle affirms God's power over nature without altering the child's ontological status as human, whereas in Christianity, the virgin birth is tied to the doctrine of the Incarnation. Scholars note that the Islamic and Christian accounts of Maryam/Mary share literary parallels, yet the Qur'an explicitly rejects the divinity of the child born of her.