Grown in Goodly Growth

Allah (swt) says: fa-taqabbalahā rabbuhā bi-qabūlin ḥasanin wa anbatahā nabātan ḥasanā — so her Lord accepted her with goodly acceptance, and He made her grow in a good manner. Allah (swt) is the One who was raising Maryam in a very good way.

And this is a proof and an evidence that Maryam, from her birth until the end of her life, was always righteous; was always taken care of by Allah (swt); and was always on the straight path. This is Maryam, Mary. And it is very important to note this fact about her whole life. Why? Because the Jews accused Maryam — they accused her of zinā, they accused her of fornication; and they do not see ʿĪsā as being a legitimate child; and they accused her of sleeping with a carpenter, and all of these made-up, fabricated stories.

Allah (swt) is saying the contrary: that Maryam, Mary, from her birth until the end of her life, was always a ṣiddīqah. And Allah (swt) called her ṣiddīqah in the Qur'an. Ṣiddīqah is an extreme form of righteousness — it is a high level of righteousness, due to an extreme form of ṣidq, truth.

And Allah (swt) in many ayat, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in many ahadith, told us about the virtues of ṣidq, truth. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says that ṣidq, truth, leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise; and the man would continue saying the truth until he is written with Allah (swt) as being a ṣiddīq. The more truth you say, and the more truthful you are, the closer you are to this status, this station of ṣiddīq.

And the best, or the most prominent, type of truth is being truthful with Allah. There are different forms of truth: truth with the creation, truth with yourself, and then there is truth with Allah. The highest of all is truth with Allah (swt) — that you are true in your covenant with Allah (swt). What does that mean? When you say that you are a Muslim, truth with Allah means that you are true in that claim, and you fulfil all of the terms of the contract between you and Allah — because we have a contract between us and Allah (swt). And that is the highest level of truth.

Allah (swt) said about the Companions that they are men: ṣadaqū mā ʿāhadū Allāha ʿalayh — they have been truthful in their covenant with Allah. They gave Allah bayʿah. ʿAhd is a contract, or a promise, between you and Allah. The Companions gave Allah a promise; they had a contract between them and Allah, and that contract is that they are going to worship nobody but Allah, and that they are going to give nuṣrah, victory, to the religion of Allah. And they fulfilled the terms of that contract. So Allah (swt) says about them: they are men who fulfilled, and have been truthful with Allah.

Allah (swt) says about ʿĪsā, Jesus: wa ummuhu ṣiddīqah — and his mother was a ṣiddīqah. So she reached this level. And what is the next level above ṣiddīq? Nabī. That is the highest it could get; and then after that you get into prophethood.