19:2: A mention (in the Book) of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah,

His servant Zachariah. Here we find a repetition of the stories of John the Baptist and Jesus, albeit with major differences and even contradictions with the version found in Q. 3:33-59. The fact that the Baptist’s story is again juxtaposed with Christ’s confirms that the author(s) and/or editor(s) intended to connect the two together. This will become more evident throughout the chapter as indicated in the notes.

19:7: (And Allah replied:) “O Zachariah! Truly, We give you good news of a son, whose name shall be John. We have given this name to no one before him.”

The Quran agrees with the Holy Bible that John’s birth was similar to Jesus in the sense that he was also conceived miraculously, albeit to a barren mother and very old father. 

whose name shall be John. The Quran mistakenly refers to John as Yahya, a name which does not correspond to either the Hebrew or Greek forms of the Baptist’s name, which would have been Yochannan or Ioannes respectively. John in Arabic would be Yuhannan, not Yahya.   

We have given this name to no one before him. Here the Quran mistakenly states that the name “John” had never been given to anyone else. The Holy Bible indicates that there were many individuals with this name since it was quite a common one (cf. 2 Kings 25:23; 1 Chronicles 3:15, 24, 6:9-10; Ezra 3:12). Either Muhammad or the compiler(s) of the Quran misunderstood, and therefore misreported, the Biblical account of the story which says that no one from Zechariah’s family had ever been given that name before (cf. Luke 1:59-61).

19:10: He said: “O my Lord! Give me a sign.” He said: “Your sign is that you shall not (be able to) speak to men for three nights, though you are sound (in health).”

Your sign is that you shall not (be able to) speak to men for three nights. Much like with the name John, the Quran has garbled up the biblical story of Zechariah becoming mute as a result of questioning the angel Gabriel’s announcement of John’s birth. Luke’s Gospel expressly says that God made Zechariah mute until the birth of John (cf. Luke 1:18-23, 57-66), whereas according to this account he was simply commanded not to speak for three days.

19:15: So peace be on him the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised to life (again).

So peace be on him. Jesus says the same exact thing concerning himself in v. 33, which again demonstrates that Muhammad or the Quran’s compiler(s) composed these stories in such a way as to make the lives of these two men resemble one another. See the note to v. 33 for the significance this has on Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.  

19:16: And mention Mary in the Book, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East,

And mention Mary in the Book. Here begins the story of Jesus.

to a place in the East. Some of the information concerning Jesus and his mother were taken from the apocryphal legends which were composed centuries after the birth of Christ, such as the Protevangelium of James the Lesser and the Arabic Infancy Gospel of Thomas. According to the former, Mary’s parents committed her to the service of the Temple located in Jerusalem at a young age, i.e., a place in the East. Muhammad must have heard these fables from the Christians he had come in contact with, and therefore included them in his retelling of Christ’s story. Muhammad erroneously assumed that these were actual events in the life of Jesus, when in reality they were nothing more than myths which Christians fabricated centuries after Christ’s ascension into heaven.

19:17: and she took a veil (to screen herself) from them. And we sent Our Spirit to her; and he appeared to her in the form of a man without fault.

And we sent Our Spirit to her. This surah not only contradicts the earlier version found in Q. 3:42, 45-48, it also garbles up the Biblical version of this event. According to Luke 1:26-35, God sent the angel Gabriel to inform Mary that the Holy Spirit will cause her to supernaturally conceive Jesus while still a virgin. This account, however, has the Spirit himself appearing to Mary as a man in order to inform her that he has come to grant her a child.  

and he appeared to her in the form of a man without fault. It is rather ironic that Allah’s Spirit can appear as a man whereas Islamic theological rejects any notion of Allah doing so. However, since the Spirit of Allah can appear as a perfect human being without this affecting a change in his nature or demeaning his character in anyway, why then do Muslims consider it beneath the glory and majesty of Allah to do likewise?

19:28: O Sister of Aaron! Your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman.”

O Sister of Aaron! The Quran refers to Mary as the daughter of Imran and the sister of Aaron, whose mother was the wife of Imran (cf. Q. 3:35-36; 66:12). However, the only Mary who had a father and brother with those names was the sister of Moses! (Cf. Exodus 15:20; Numbers 26:59). Apparently, Muhammad and/or the compiler(s) mistakenly assumed that Jesus’ mother was Moses’ sister, thereby making Moses Jesus’ maternal uncle, despite the fact that there was a time gap of approximately 1500 years between them.    

19:30: He (Jesus) said: “Truly, I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.

He (Jesus) said. The Quran has again adopted a Christian a fable from the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior where Jesus miraculously speaks as an infant (cf. Q. 3:46; 5:110). The only difference is that this mythical tale is rewritten in such a way as to make the baby Jesus espouse Islamic theology. However, in the original story Jesus actually claimed to be the Son of God and Word which Mary brought forth, and the One whom the Father sent to save the world.

19:31: And He has made me blessed wherever I may be; and He has required of me prayer and the giving of alms as long as I live,

and the giving of alms as long as I live. Jesus allegedly says that he has been commanded to give alms as long as he lives, which is a problem if he didn’t die as Muslims claim. The traditional Islamic view implies that Jesus is currently giving alms while in the presence of God in heaven since he hasn’t died yet. 

19:33: And peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised to life (again).”

And peace on me. As was noted in v. 15, the same thing is said about John the Baptist. It is apparent that the lives of John and Jesus are meant to mirror each other in some way, specifically in respect to the manner of their births, lives and deaths. However, this poses a problem for the traditional Islamic view which says that Jesus did not die, but was taken alive into God’s presence. This sequence of events means that Jesus’ final moments were unlike that of the Baptist’s, whom Muslims readily admit died a martyr’s death. Since the lives of these two men are meant to be parallel in some sense, it would therefore make no sense for Jesus not to have died. If anything, we would expect that Jesus would have also experienced a violent death similar to John, whom first century accounts confirm was beheaded. And this is precisely what all our first century writings attest, namely, Jesus died a violent death by crucifixion.

19:34: That was Jesus the son of Mary, a word of truth about which they dispute.

a word of truth. The Muslim expositors are divided over whether this phrase refers to Jesus or to the account of Jesus’ story found in the preceding verses. The Quran does identify Jesus as the Word of/from Allah in Q. 3:39, 45 and 4:171. For the meaning and implication of this title see the note to Q. 4:171. 

19:35: It is not (fitting) for Allah to take a son for Himself. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.

It is not (fitting) for Allah to take a son for Himself. The Quran grossly represents Christian theology concerning Jesus’ relationship to the Father. The historic Christian faith has never taught that God took Jesus to be his Son at some specific point in time. Rather, Christianity has always affirmed that Christ is the eternal Son of God and that there never was a time in which he did not exist in intimate loving communion with the Father as his beloved Son.

19:36: “Surely, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is the right path.”

Surely, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is another example where the author(s) of the Quran has Allah referring to someone other than himself as Allah. The Quran is supposed to be the uncreated speech of Allah, which means that it is the Muslim deity who is the alleged narrator of all the surahs. And yet this text has Allah confessing that Allah is his Lord. See v. 64 for another example.  

19:40: Surely We shall inherit the earth and all who are upon it, and they shall all be returned to Us!

Surely We shall inherit the earth and all who are upon it. The Quran, in several places, asserts that Allah inherits from his creatures and even goes as far as to call him the best of those who inherit (cf. Q. 15:23; 19:80; 21:89). Consult the note to Q. 112:3 in order to see the problem that this raises for the Islamic position concerning Allah’s aseity.

19:41: And mention Abraham in the Book; surely he was a man of truth, a prophet.

And mention Abraham in the Book. What follows next is a list of prophets and messengers, most of whom happen to be specifically mentioned in the Holy Bible. However, much of the details concerning these inspired envoys of God are not taken from the Biblical accounts, but from Jewish and Christian folklore and fables which Muhammad erroneously assumed were based on historical facts. The point of mentioning all of these emissaries is to reinforce the repeated Quranic assertion that all of the true prophets and messengers were faithful Muslims whose religion was the same as that of Muhammad’s, i.e., Islam. 

19:54: And mention Ishmael in the Book. Surely he was true to his promise, and was an apostle, a prophet.

And mention Ishmael in the Book. In several passages, the Quran refers to Ishmael as a prophet and messenger who was given a divinely revealed scripture to pass on to his community (cf. Q. 2:125-133, 136, 140; 3:84; 4:163-164; 6:83-90; 14:35-41; 21:85-86). The main reason why he is repeatedly listed as such is because the Quran seeks to legitimize Muhammad’s prophetic calling by connecting him to Abraham. Islamic tradition proclaims that Muhammad was a descendant of Abraham through his son Ishmael, and therefore an heir to the prophetic heritage and promises granted to Abraham and his progeny.

19:56: And mention Idris in the Book. Surely he was a man of truth, a prophet.

And mention Idris in the Book. Idris is believed to be the Arabic name for Enoch, whom the Holy Bible says was taken up alive into the presence of God (cf. Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5). Also see the next verse.

19:64: We do not descend except at the command of your Lord. To Him belong what is before us, and what is behind us, and what is between them. And your Lord is never forgetful—

We do not descend except at the command of your Lord. The immediate context clearly shows that the speaker here is supposed to be Allah, and yet he refers to himself in the plural and says that he only comes down when his Lord commands him to do so. This is another case where either the compiler(s) and/or editor(s) failed to include some kind of statement in order make sure that the readers were aware that the speaker has shifted from Allah to someone else. Or the simple fact is that the Quran does not teach the strict Unitarianism which Muslims claim that it does. See Q. 19:36 for another example of this slip.  

19:71: There is not one of you who will not go down to it—that is a settled decree of your Lord.

that is a settled decree of your Lord. According to this text and the next verse, Allah has decreed that every single person must enter hell, and that only those whom he deems to be godly enough shall be taken out from there. Passages such as these are the reason why no Muslim can no for certain whether s/he will be saved on the Day of Judgment. In fact, Muhammad himself wasn’t completely certain about his own eternal fate as can be seen from the following verses: Q. 39:30-31; 46:9; 72:21-22. Now what hope do Muslims have that their sins shall be forgiven, and that Allah will grant them eternal bliss, when even the founder of their own religion wasn’t certain about his own personal salvation? It is ironic that the Quran is hesitant to assure that a person will be saved and forgiven, even though it guarantees that everyone, especially all the Muslims, shall definitely enter into the fires of hell.

19:80: and We will inherit what he has spoken of (his wealth and children), and he shall come to Us alone.

and We will inherit what he has spoken of. For the problem of Allah inheriting from his creation see the notes to Q. 19:40 and 112:3.

19:82: By no means! They shall reject their worship, and shall become their enemies.

They shall reject their worship, and shall become their enemies. This passage presupposes that the gods which the disbelievers worshiped actually exist. Otherwise, how could these gods reject the worship of the disbelievers and become their enemies if they didn’t? This shows that the problem that the Quran has isn’t with the existence of these so-called gods, but with people worshiping these other deities.

19:83: Do you not see that We have sent the devils against the unbelievers, to incite them to sin?

that We have sent the devils. See the note to Q. 6:112 concerning Allah sending devils upon individuals in order to tempt and mislead them.

19:87: they shall have no power to intercede—except the one who has made a covenant with the Gracious One.

except the one who has made a covenant with the Gracious One. See the note to Q. 10:15 on the problem and contradiction with Allah accepting intercession.

19:88: And they say: “The Gracious One has taken a son.”

The Gracious One has taken a son. Here begins another tirade against those who claim that Allah has taken a son, something which the Quran considers to be the height of blasphemy.

19:93: There is no one in the heavens or on earth who will not come to the Gracious One as a slave.

as a slave. This passage not only makes it clear that Allah has no offspring, it also establishes the fact that the highest relationship anyone can have with the Muslim deity is that of a slave. The Holy Bible is quite emphatic that a slave has no guarantee of salvation, which is why the Lord Jesus came to save his followers, namely, to transform them into becoming spiritual children of God. The inspired Scriptures also declare that anyone who denies that God is a spiritual Father, or that Fatherhood is essential to God’s very own identity, s/he is actually an antichrist and apostle of Satan (cf. Exodus 4:22-23; Deuteronomy 32:6, 18; Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Hosea 1:10; Matthew 5:9, 43-48; John 1:12-13; 8:34-36; Romans 8:14-17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 11:2-4, 13-15; Galatians 1:6-9; 4:4-7; 1 John 2:22-23; 3:1-2).  

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