Hannah (mother of Maryam)

Hannah (Hanna in Arabic) was the wife of Imran and the mother of Maryam AS. She is mentioned in Surah Ali Imran (3:35-37) in a passage that sets the stage for the entire story of Maryam and Isa AS. Her story begins with a private vow made to Allah while she was still pregnant: 'My Lord, I have dedicated what is in my womb entirely to You — to Your service — so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.' This vow of dedication was a practice among the Israelites where a child would be consecrated to serve in the temple. Hannah expected — or perhaps hoped — for a son, as only males traditionally served in the temple. When she gave birth to a girl, she said: 'My Lord, I have given birth to a female — and Allah was most knowing of what she delivered — and the male is not like the female. I have named her Maryam, and I seek refuge with You for her and for her descendants from the accursed Satan.' Allah accepted Maryam: 'So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner' (Surah Ali Imran 3:37). Hannah's dedication of Maryam to the temple, and Allah's acceptance of it, is the Quranic foundation for one of the greatest lineages of prophethood. Her prayer for protection of Maryam and her descendants from Shaytan is considered by scholars to be among the reasons why Isa AS was the only person (along with Maryam herself) born without being touched by Satan at the moment of birth — as established in a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ.