Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:47
She said, "My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?" [The angel] said, "Such is Allah; He creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, 'Be,' and it is.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying: "She said: My Lord, how can I have a child, when no human being has touched me? He said: Thus does Allah create what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it: Be, and it is." (3:47)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by this: Maryam said — when the angels said to her that Allah gave her glad tidings of a word from Him —: "My Lord, how can I have a child?", by what way could I have a child? By means of a husband whom I marry and a man with whom I wed, or do You begin its creation within me without a husband and without a man, and without a human being touching me? Then Allah said to her: "Thus does Allah create what He wills," that is to say: thus does Allah create from you a child for you, without a human being touching you, and He makes it a sign for the people and a lesson. For He creates what He wills and makes what He desires: He grants the child to whom He wills, with or without a man, and He withholds that from whichever of the women He wills, even though she has a husband. For it does not seem impossible to Him to create something whose creation He wishes; rather it is only that, when He wills something whose creation He wills, He says to it: "Be, and it is" — what He wills, of what He wills, and how He wills. As:
7079 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "She said: My Lord, how can I have a child, when no human being has touched me? He said: Thus does Allah create what He wills" — He makes what He desires and creates what He wills, human or non-human — "When He decrees a matter, He only says to it: Be" — what He wills and how He wills — "and it is" — what He desires.