A Discussion of the Narrations

1. The Meaning of the Two “Selections”

Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.) said: The meaning of the verse is: He selected you from the progeny of the prophets (a.s.) and purified you from fornication; He selected you for the birth of Jesus (a.s.) without a male.(156)

Al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba said: I asked Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.) about God’s words in the Book: “O Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and He has chosen you above the world’s women”. He selected her twice while selection usually happens only once. He said to me: O Ḥakam! This has an explanation (taʾwīl) and exegesis (tafsīr). I said to him: Then explain it to us, may God preserve you! He said: It means He first selected her from the progeny of the chosen, sent prophets and purified her from any fornication in her lineage through her fathers and mothers, and He selected her with this in the Qur’an: “O Mary, be obedient to your Lord, and prostrate and bow down with those who bow [in worship]”(157) in gratitude to God.(158)

Note: A. The first selection, according to both narrations, refers to Mary (a.s.) being chosen from the progeny of the prophets. However, the second selection, according to the first narration, relates to her special characteristic of giving birth to Jesus (a.s.) without a father, and according to the second narration, refers to her being chosen with this attribute in the Qur’an where He said: “O Mary, be obedient to your Lord, and prostrate and bow down”.

It should be noted that these narrations do not contradict each other, but rather each points to some of the requirements of her selection and purification.

B. According to both narrations, the purification mentioned in the verse refers to the purity of Mary (a.s.) and her fathers and mothers from fornication.

2. Comparison between the Selection of Mary and Fāṭima (a.s.)

“And He has chosen you above the world’s women” means above the women of your time, because Fāṭima, daughter of the Messenger of God (s.a.w.), is the leader of all women of the worlds, and this is the saying of Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.)…(159)

It is narrated from Abū ʿAbdallāh (a.s.) that he said: Fāṭima (a.s.) was called “one spoken to” (muḥaddatha) because the angels would descend from heaven and call to her as they called to Mary daughter of ʿImrān, saying: “O Fāṭima, God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds. O Fāṭima! Be obedient to your Lord, and prostrate and bow down with those who bow [in worship].” They would speak to her and she would speak to them. One night she said to them: “Is not Mary daughter of ʿImrān the one preferred above the women of the worlds?” They said: “Mary was the leader of the women of her time, but God has made you the leader of the women of your time and her time, and the leader of the women of the first and the last”.(160)

Ibn ʿAbbās narrated: One day the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) was sitting with ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, and he said: “O God! You know that these are my household and the most honored of people to me; so love whoever loves them, hate whoever hates them, befriend whoever befriends them, oppose whoever opposes them, help whoever helps them, and make them purified from all impurity, protected from all sin, and support them with the Holy Spirit from You.” Then he (s.a.w.) said: “O ʿAlī! You are the leader (imām) of my community and my successor (khalīfa) over it after me, and you are the guide of the believers to Paradise. It is as if I can see my daughter Fāṭima approaching on the Day of Resurrection on a mount of light, with seventy thousand angels to her right, seventy thousand angels to her left, seventy thousand angels before her, and seventy thousand angels behind her, leading the believing women of my community to Paradise. Any woman who performs the five daily prayers, fasts the month of Ramadan, performs the pilgrimage to God’s Sacred House, pays the alms due on her wealth, obeys her husband, and accepts the authority of ʿAlī after me, will enter Paradise through the intercession of my daughter Fāṭima, for she is indeed the leader of all the women of the worlds.”

Someone asked: “O Messenger of God (s.a.w.)! Is she the leader of the women of her time?” He (s.a.w.) replied: “That was for Mary daughter of ʿImrān. As for my daughter Fāṭima, she is the leader of the women of all worlds, from the first to the last. When she stands in her prayer niche (miḥrāb), seventy thousand angels from among the closest angels send their greetings upon her, and they call to her as the angels called to Mary, saying: ‘O Fāṭima! God has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds…’”.(161)

Note: a. These narrations do not contradict the verse under discussion in any way. The choosing of Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (a.s.) above the women of the world is based on knowledge, piety and other virtues, as evidenced by her standing in prayer in the prayer niche and other matters. The choosing of Mary (a.s.) above the women of the world relates to her attribute of having a child without a husband, since the verse does not mention her scholarly and devotional virtues. It becomes clear that the secret of her being chosen above the women of the world is this very fact of “being the mother of Jesus without a father.”

The absolute nature of the verse under discussion regarding the personal excellence of Mary (a.s.) is qualified by the narrations concerning the superiority of Fāṭima (a.s.). In other words, since the object of “He has chosen you” is not mentioned first, it could refer to either the women of Mary’s time (a.s.) or the women of all times. However, based on the evidence of the narrations, its object refers to the women of her own time.

Reminder: The central element in the discussion of the incompatibility of the two universal choosings is not whether Mary (a.s.) is superior to Zahrāʾ or not, but rather that there can only be one universal chosen one, not two. That is, one cannot consider both Mary as universally chosen and Fāṭima as universally chosen, except by separating them from the central discussion. In other words, Mary (a.s.) has excellence over all women of the world from beginning to end except Fāṭima and others, and likewise Fāṭima and others.

These narrations do not contradict the hadith of Aṣbagh ibn Nubāta from the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) in which Zahrāʾ (a.s.) is mentioned as the leader of the women of this community,(162) since both are affirmative statements. Similarly, in his letter to Muʿāwiya, he himself referred to Zahrāʾ (a.s.) as the most excellent of the women of the world.(163) Therefore, the narration which states: “Fāṭima (a.s.) is the leader of the women of this community” does not have an implicit meaning that would suggest she is not the leader of all women of the worlds.

The narrations that Sunni exegetes have reported giving preference to Mary (a.s.) or others over the women of the world have no standing.

ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī has pointed out a difference between the verse and the narrations that must be noted: what appears in the noble verse is choosing and selection (iṣṭifāʾ and ikhtiyār), while what appears in the narrations is leadership (siyāda), and leadership is one of the degrees of perfection in choosing and selection.(164) Of course, the word choosing (iṣṭifāʾ) also appears in some narrations.

3. The Most Excellent Women of the World

From Abū l-Ḥasan the First (a.s.) who said: The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said: “God has chosen four from everything… and from women He chose four: Mary, Āsiya, Khadīja, and Fāṭima.”(165) From Ibn ʿAbbās from the Prophet (s.a.w.) who said: “Four women are the leaders of their world: Mary daughter of ʿImrān, Āsiya daughter of Muzāḥim, Khadīja daughter of Khuwaylid, and Fāṭima daughter of Muhammad (s.a.w.)”.(166)

From Anas who said: The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) said: “God has chosen four women above the women of the worlds: Āsiya daughter of Muzāḥim, Mary daughter of ʿImrān, Khadīja daughter of Khuwaylid, and Fāṭima daughter of Muhammad (s.a.w.)”.(167)

Note: Regarding the choosing of Fāṭima, two sets of texts have been transmitted, and since both are affirmative and can be reconciled, they do not contradict each other.