As for the Messiah, it is said that Mary gave birth to him, and he is called “the Messiah, son of Mary.” Thus, the Messiah was a part of Mary and was created after the spirit was breathed into Mary’s private part, as the Most High said:

“And Mary, daughter of ʿImrān, who guarded her private part, into which We breathed of Our spirit. She believed in the words of her Lord and His Scriptures, and was among the devoutly obedient.”

And in the other verse:

“We breathed into her of Our spirit and made her and her son a sign for all the worlds.”

As for Eve, Allah created her from material taken from Adam, just as Adam was created from earthly material: water, dust, and the wind that dried it until it became sounding clay. Hence, it is not said that Adam begot Eve, nor that dust begot Adam. Yet it is said of the Messiah that Mary gave birth to him, for he came from two sources: Mary and the breath that Gabriel blew into her. Allah the Most High said:

“Then We sent to her Our spirit, who appeared before her as a man in perfect form.”

“She said, ‘I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, if you fear Him.’”

“He said, ‘I am only the messenger of your Lord, to grant you a pure boy.’”

“She said, ‘How can I have a boy when no man has touched me, nor have I been unchaste?’”

“He said, ‘So it will be. Your Lord has said: “It is easy for Me. We shall make him a sign for people and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already decreed.”’”

“So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place.”

And so the account continues. She conceived him only after the breathing; she did not carry him for a time without any breathing, only for the spirit of life then to be breathed into him, as happens with other human beings. Thus, there is a difference between the breathing that brings about conception and the breathing that imparts the spirit of life.