Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 35 of 200

Ali 'Imran 3:35

إِذْ قَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ عِمْرَٰنَ رَبِّ إِنِّى نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِى بَطْنِى مُحَرَّرًا فَتَقَبَّلْ مِنِّىٓ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ

“[Mention, O Muḥammad], when the wife of ʿImrān said, "My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Before her child was born, a mother gave it wholly to Allah, freed from every other claim, and asked only that He accept it.

A reflection

She did not know what she carried

An expectant couple open a savings account for a baby whose heartbeat they have heard once. Over dinner they argue gently about which university it might go to. They do not yet know if it is a boy or a girl.

ʿImrān's wife knew even less. A classical commentator points out that she did not know whether the child in her womb was male or female. She had no scan, no name, no picture of a face. All she could say was mā fī baṭnī, 'what is in my womb'. The lexicons picture the root of baṭn as the inner side of a thing, facing in, hidden from view.

So she ended her prayer with the only certainty she had. 'You are the Hearing, the Knowing.' A major early commentator explains each name. You hear what I say and pray. You know what I intend in myself. Nothing of my affairs, hidden or open, is hidden from You.

Here the ego of every planner is gently corrected. Parents love to plan, and plans are not wrong. But the child is already fully known to Someone, before any parent has learned the first thing about it. Its nature, its strengths, its trials and its end are not waiting on our spreadsheet.

The Quran will soon show how far her knowledge fell short. She expected a son who could serve in the House of worship. She was given a daughter whom Allah would raise above the women of the worlds. Her plan was smaller than His.

Does Allah need to be told that He hears? He needs nothing (35:15). She needed to say it. Saying it placed the unknown child where it was safest: in the knowledge of the One who sees inside every womb. The savings account is a good idea. The prayer is a better one.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.