Ibn Idris narrated to us, from his father, from Simak ibn Harb, from Alqamah ibn Wa’il, from al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah, who said: When I came to Najran, they questioned me, saying, “You recite: ‘O sister of Aaron,’ yet Moses preceded Jesus by such-and-such a period!” When I came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, I asked him about this, and he said: “They used to name their children after their prophets and the righteous people who came before them.” (1)

Al-Kalbi said: Aaron was Mary’s brother through her father, and he was the most exemplary man among the Children of Israel.

Al-Suddi said: They meant Aaron, the brother of Moses, because she was among his descendants, just as one says to a man of Tamim, “O brother of Tamim.”

It was also said: Aaron was a man among the Children of Israel who was flagrantly sinful and deeply depraved, so they likened her to him. (2) (3)

“Your father,” Imran, “was not an evil man.” Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: meaning, an adulterer. “Nor was your mother,” Hannah, “unchaste”: that is, an adulteress. So where, then, did you get this child?

“Then she pointed to him. They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a child?’” (29)

“Then Mary pointed to him”—that is, to Jesus, peace be upon him—meaning: Speak to him.

Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Since she had no argument to offer, she pointed to him so that his speech would be proof in her favor. (4)

It is related in the account that, when she pointed to him, the people became angry and said, “After what you have done, are you mocking us?” (5)

“They said, ‘How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a child?’” That is, one who was in the cradle—and this was her lap.

It was also said that it was an actual cradle, and that “was” here means “is.” Abu Ubaydah said: “Was” is supplementary; that is, “How can we speak to a child in the cradle?” The word “was” may occur in speech as an additional word without independent meaning, as in His saying, “Was I ever but a human messenger?” (al-Isra’: 93)—that is, “Am I?” (6)

Al-Suddi said: When Jesus heard their words, he stopped suckling and turned toward them.

It was also said: When she pointed to him, he left the breast, leaned upon his left side, turned toward them, and began gesturing with his right hand: