The Essay - Visions of Mary - Dr Mona Siddiqui

It might surprise you to know that the Virgin Mary has her own sura in the Qur'an, where she's mentioned more often than she is in the Gospels. When the author was pregnant, her mother advised her read it over every day for comfort and to bless the unborn child. Here we find the story of the annunciation and the birth of Jesus, but they're very different to the lessons being read in churches all over the world at Christmas, because Mary plays a very different role in Islam and gives birth to a very different baby. The Islamic Jesus is fully human and a prophet, yet he is still the child of a sinless mother and immaculately conceived. He just isn't the Son of God. Dr Mona Siddiqui of Glasgow University meditiates on Mary in Islam.