19:26 Fasting and speaking
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Some interesting thoughts I am having about Holy Qur'an 1926
Mary is instructed to "abstain/fast" (arabic root SWM) and eat and drink and not speak to anyone.
The situation Mary has just given birth in the preceding verses. Usually when a woman gives birth, she bleeds for a few weeks.
Bear with me while I try to work this out logically - I might need some help, please feel free to jump in.
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SWM means fasting
or SWM means abstaining from something / anything
or SWM means abstaining from speech and/or abstaining from food or drink -
Mary was not bleeding right after the birth
or
Mary was bleeding right after the birth
She has to eat and drink because SWM does not necessarily HAVE to mean abstinence from food and drink
or
She has to abstain from speech in place of abstaining from food and drink because of the bleeding (from childbirth)
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She has to abstain from speech so that Jesus a.s. can speak and be heard (in 1930)If she was bleeding it proves a woman can do SWM during times of bleeding
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If she was bleeding it proves a woman can do SWM during times of bleeding, but the SWM is from speech not food/drink
or
Whether she was bleeding or not, it is not mentioned so it is irrelevant and I'm looking for an example where a different example is shown, i.e. childbirth is an indescribable pain but you have to trust in Allah s.w.t. to get through it. And that cooling your face with water and eating dates helps.
or
The vow of silence (abstinence from speech) was a measure to prevent her from saying anything in the heat of the moment again such as crying out about wishing for death and wishing it had never happened because of the pain (in 1923).Allahu alim. I'm just thinking out loud. May Allah s.w.t. increase us in knowledge and guidance.
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Peace
From my understanding, SWM means "he abstained / stopped. What abstains from or stops is determined by the context in AQ.
I also think that we must be careful not to take an incident from AQ and use the specifics for sweeping generalisations. Most often AQ seems to give a principle. This principle can then be applied in the applicable context and time frame. An example would be
Whether she was bleeding or not, it is not mentioned so it is irrelevant and I'm looking for an example where a different example is shown, i.e. childbirth is an indescribable pain but you have to trust in Allah s.w.t. to get through it. And that cooling your face with water and eating dates helps.
It is not about whether or one should use water and dates, but rather that one should use whatever is necessary to help make the childbirth easier. This would vary from time to time and place to place and individual to individual. Time brings about new developments as knowledge advances. Different areas may have discovered and utilised different natural plants, herbs, etc that assist in doing the same. Different individuals can make a choice fromm all the alternatives availble to them.
Imraan