The Annunciation: A Common Feast for Christians and Muslims

Fourteenth-century Orthodox icon of the Annunciation from the Church of St. Clement, Ohrid, North Macedonia (Image credit: Иконография восточно-христианского искусства)

Last year, the Muslim-majority Kingdom of Jordan declared the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) an interreligious holiday for Muslims and Christians. In doing so, it joined Greece and Lebanon in recognizing the celebration of the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary as a national holiday. While in the case of Greece, the secular importance of the feast is primarily due to its connection with the nation’s Independence Day, Lebanon—which seems to have inspired the Jordanian decision—made the Annunciation a holiday in 2010 out of a desire to encourage better relations between Lebanese Muslims and Christians.

In Jordan and Lebanon, the commemoration of the Annunciation brings Muslims (Sunni and Shiʿi) and Christians (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) together for prayer, fellowship, and joint declarations. At such gatherings, any sort of discord is set aside, as the Virgin’s conception of Jesus reminds the participants of the many beliefs that they all hold in common, not least their shared faith in Mary’s God.

In fact, it may be said that such interreligious celebrations reflect a common spirit that has existed for centuries in those parts of the Middle East where Muslims and Christians have long lived side by side. For instance, in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and elsewhere, the practice of Muslims being welcomed into churches and monasteries in order to seek Mary’s grace is a relatively common occurrence. Of course, Muslims who honour the Holy Mother in Christian spaces are not usually doing so out of a desire to convert—nor are the Christians who open their doors to them trying to proselytize. Instead, such Muslims see in the Christian devotion to Mary something they feel to be compatible with their own spiritual tradition. This is why Muslims, especially women struggling with fertility, often honour Jesus’s mother in Christian places of worship by chanting Marian passages from the Holy Qurʾan.

Of course, the story of the Annunciation is found in both the Bible and the Qurʾan. In the opening chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we read of the Archangel Gabriel’s visit to Mary in Nazareth. The heavenly being greets the Virgin with the words, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” While Mary is confused and troubled by this, Gabriel tells her not to be afraid and that God has chosen her to bear a Son. Further, the angel goes on to inform Mary about her future offspring: his name will be Jesus, he will be the Son of the Most High, inherit the throne of David, and rule over the House of Jacob forever.

Mary, however, finds a bit of a “technical” problem with her role in all of this. For the pious woman is only betrothed to Joseph, not married, and, thus, is still a virgin. But Gabriel tells her that she will bear the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, that nothing is impossible with God, and reminds her of how her cousin Elizabeth miraculously became pregnant in old age. Mary then consents to the divine plan. She tells the angel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:26-38). With this statement, the Incarnation of the Word of God becomes a reality.

Similarly, we read in the Qurʾan of how God chose Mary above all the women in the world (3:42). This special status is also reflected in the fact that she is the sole woman whom the Islamic scripture refers to by name. Moreover, while the New Testament only speaks of the Annunciation in Luke, the Qurʾan recounts the sacred event in detail in two separate suras, Al ʿImran and Maryam, and references it elsewhere as well. While in Al ʿImran, we are told that angels (note the plural) visit the Virgin (e.g., 3:45), Maryam speaks of only one nameless Spirit, or angel, coming to her. Muslim scholars, however, interpret both accounts as complimentary of one another and usually envision the Annunciation as an event that involved Gabriel and Mary.

According to the Qurʾan, the Annunciation occurs while Mary is alone in a “place east” (19:16). In The Qurʾan and the Bible: Text and Commentary, Gabriel Said Reynolds states that this may be a reference to the Temple, as it was located in east Jerusalem. This interpretation seems probable since the Islamic scripture, like the Christian Marian traditions based on the Protoevangelium of James, presents Mary as having grown up in a holy sanctuary, or mihrab (Q 3:37).

While in this eastern place, God is said to have sent his Spirit to Mary in the form of a human being (Q 19:17). Although from a Christian perspective, the term “Spirit” may sound like a reference to the third person of the Trinity, i.e., the Holy Spirit, Islam does not associate the term with divinity. Instead, Muslim scholars understand “Spirit” here as a reference to Gabriel, whom they often call the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Qurʾan says that Mary is fearful at the sight of the stranger. However, the angel tells her that he has been sent by God to announce that she will bear a “pure son” (Q 19:18-9). This son, who is a Word from God, will be named “the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary” (Q 3:45-6). Mary, however, does not understand how she, as a virgin, can have this child. While in Luke, Gabriel directly references Elizabeth’s pregnancy to remind her of God’s power, in Maryam, he responds by saying, “This is what your Lord said: ‘It is easy for Me’” (Q 19:20-1) Interestingly, these were the same words spoken earlier in the sura to Zechariah in response to his doubt regarding how his wife, Elizabeth, would be capable of conceiving their son, John the Baptist (Q 19:7-9). Nevertheless, after being told that her son, Jesus, will be a sign to all humankind, Mary conceives and withdraws to a distant place (Q 19:21-2).

Islamic folio of the Annunciation from Abu Rayan al-Biruni’s The Remaining Signs of the Past Centuries (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

While there are certainly discrepancies between the Lukan and Qurʾanic accounts of the Annunciation, with the most critical being that Jesus is presented as the Son of God in the former but only Mary’s son in the latter, it is still safe to say that they agree on far more than they disagree on. For one, Mary is not portrayed in either account as merely a vehicle to allow Jesus to enter the world. Instead, she is portrayed as a holy figure in her own right, worthy of being honoured by all believers.

For instance, Mary’s sanctity is confirmed in Luke even before she conceives the divine child. For, as quoted above, Gabriel tells her of her favoured status with God. Moreover, in some translations of the New Testament, Luke 1:28 seemingly contains even stronger praise for the Virgin. That is because the Greek, “χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη· ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ· εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξίν,” can also be translated as “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.” Now if I may bend the rules and go a little beyond the account of the Annunciation, we can also take note of how Elizabeth, who is said to be full of the Holy Spirit, calls Mary blessed among women and expresses her own unworthiness at being visited by the mother of her Lord (Luke 1:42-3). Moreover, aware of the immeasurable honour God has bestowed upon her, the Virgin herself speaks prophetically when she declares that all future generations will call her blessed (Luke 1:48).

The Islamic scripture parallels Luke’s emphasis on Mary being divinely set apart in Qurʾan 3:42. Further, the Qurʾan even breaks with the patronymic naming practices of Arab society for Mary’s child, as it frequently refers to Jesus as “son of Mary.” Though doing so is partially intended to reinforce the Islamic belief that Jesus was only human, it also speaks to the value that Islam assigns to Mary. Lastly, shortly after the Annunciation in Maryam, the infant Jesus tells a group questioning his mother’s virtue that he has been commanded by God to “cherish” her (Q 19:31-2).

This year, the Annunciation will take place not only during Lent but Ramadan as well. As we all strive to deepen our faith in God through prayer and fasting, perhaps we can also allow the spirit of the Annunciation to enter into our hearts. For at that sacred event two thousand years ago, the angel called Mary to that which initially confused and frightened her. Yet, trusting in God, she submitted herself fully to the divine will. As Mary’s spiritual children, Christians and Muslims should strive to emulate her faith and love by rejecting the urge to remain bewildered at one another’s differences and fearful of any attempt to build stronger relations. With the Holy Mother as our guiding light, may this great feast bring us one step closer to realizing true peace, harmony, and understanding between all those who believe in the God of Mary.