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Mary (Maryam) is the most honoured woman of the Quran: a surah bears her name, she is chosen and purified by Allah, virgin mother of Issa. What Islam shares with Christians, and what it refuses.
Yes. Mary (Maryam) is the most honoured woman of the Quran: an entire surah bears her name, she is "chosen and purified" by Allah, chosen over all women (Quran 3:42), an example for believers (Quran 66:12), and virgin mother of Issa (Quran 3:47). Islam shares this respect with Christians, but refuses the worship or invocation addressed to Mary: for a Muslim, she is a saintly woman, never an intercessor.
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Updated on 17 October 2026 at 9:55 PM
📖 2 min readThe Quran tells her life in detail: a child consecrated by her mother, raised under Allah's protection, provided with food by His angel (surah 19 bears her name). Allah chose her and purified her "above the women of the worlds" (Quran 3:42), and the angel announces to her a son without father: "She said: “My Lord, how can I have a child when no man has ever touched me?” He said, “Thus Allah creates what He wills. When He decrees something, He only says to it ‘Be’, and it is." (Quran 3:47).
The Quran makes her "an example for the believers" and a model for believing women: "Mary, daughter of ‘Imrān who guarded her chastity... and she firmly believed in the words of her Lord" (Quran 66:12).
And of the virginal birth itself: "And [remember Mary] who guarded her chastity; We breathed in her [garment] through Our Spirit [Gabriel] and made her and her son a sign for all people." (Quran 21:91).
The common ground is remarkable: Mary's virginity, the miraculous conception, her exemplary piety, the absolute honour rendered to her person. A Christian reading the surah of Mary finds his figure there, and a Muslim reading the Gospels finds the same humble and believing woman. It is one of the greatest points of agreement between the two religions, often ignored on both sides.
Where certain Christian practices address invocations, prayers and intercession to Mary, Islam draws a fixed line: all worship, all invocation, all request for help belongs to Allah alone. Mary herself, in the Quran, worships Allah and calls to His worship; rendering her a cult would contradict her own faith and her own son, who will say on the Day of Judgment that he never ordered worshipping other than Allah (Quran 5:116-117).
To respect Mary is to love her as the Quran loves her: an exemplary servant of Allah, whose purity and faith remain a living model for every Muslim woman and every Muslim.
No. In Islam, no creature receives invocation or worship, not even the most honoured of women: invocation is addressed to Allah alone. Respect for Mary is expressed through love of her narrative, not through a cult.
Her name recurs there many times, and an entire surah bears her name: an honour the Quran renders to no other woman, which often astonishes Christians discovering the Muslim text.