- Muslims are certainly very familiar with the letter of Ali Imran found in the Quran. Yes, that letter is the third letter consisting of 200 verses. The name Ali Imran itself turns out to be in accordance with the content of the verses of the letter which tells the story of the Imran family. In that letter, it tells about the birth of Prophet Isa. If we talk about Prophet Isa, many Muslims may already know his story. He is the son of Maryam who was born without a father. However, not many people know about the Imran family. Who exactly is the Imran family that is immortalized as the name of a letter in the Quran? Here is the explanation as summarized by Dream for you.

"Indeed, Allah has chosen Adam, Noah, the family of Ibrahim, and the family of 'Imran above all people (of their time), as a lineage from one another. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." (QS. Ali Imran: 33-34) It is narrated that Imran married Hannah binti Faqudz, who is the sister of Asy-ya (known as Elizabeth by Christians), who became the wife of Prophet Zakaria. Through the marriage of Imran and Hannah, they gave birth to a daughter named Maryam. As we know, Maryam is the mother of Prophet Isa."

She is a devout and pure woman. Unfortunately, when Hannah was pregnant at her menopausal age, Imran, who was Hannah's husband, passed away before Maryam was born. Since Imran's death, Hannah migrated to Al-Quds, where Prophet Zakaria was located. Before departing, Hannah said in her mihrab: "O my Lord, I dedicate to You the child in my womb to be a righteous servant and to serve (in Baitul Maqdis). So accept this dedication from me. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

That was explained in the letter of Ali Imran verse 37: "So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, "O Mary, from where is this [coming] to you?" She said, "It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account." (Surah Ali Imran: 37)

That is explained in the book al-Jami' litafsir ahkam by Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Abu Bakr Al-Anshari al-Qurthub. The name Maryam is mentioned in Surah Ali Imran verse 42 and Surah Al-Thamrin verse 12. In a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said: "The best woman is Maryam and the best woman is Khadijah." In addition, another special characteristic of Maryam bint Imran is her perpetual purity. In other words, she never experienced menstruation like women usually do.