When Mary returned to her people carrying the infant Jesus, they accused her of committing fariyy, a monstrous act. This word signifies both a great indecency and, as Lane’s lexicon notes, “a forger of lies”, a double accusation targeting both Mary’s chastity and her child’s future prophethood. Yet Allah provided two miraculous witnesses to vindicate her: the speaking child and the female palm tree that bore dates.
The Infant Who Spoke Truth
When Mary’s people questioned her,
“O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother an unchaste woman” (19:29).
She simply pointed to the child. Their bewilderment deepened:
“How can we hold converse with one who was but yesterday a child being rocked in a cradle?” (19:30).
Then Jesus spoke with profound authority:
“I am a servant of Allah. He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet” (19:31).
Ibn Arabi illuminates the nature of this sign through a striking example: if a prophet declares a wall will speak, and the wall speaks to call him a liar, the miraculous sign is still established. The wall spoke. The sign lies not in what is said, but in the impossibility made possible. Jesus’s eloquent speech from the cradle proved divine intervention, regardless of the people’s acceptance, vindicating his mother through the sheer fact of the miracle.
The Female Palm That Bore Fruit
The second witness was the barren palm tree that produced fresh ripe dates when Mary shook it:
“And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree; it will cause fresh ripe dates to fall upon thee” (19:26).
The Quran uniquely employs al-nakhlati (النَّخۡلَۃِ),the feminine form, only here, while nakhla (النَّخۡل), the masculine or general term, appears in nine other verses. This linguistic precision emphasizes the miracle: a female date palm producing fruit without apparent pollination from male trees, mirroring Mary’s virgin conception.
The timing also matters as fresh ripe dates in Judaea appear in August-September, suggesting Jesus’s birth season (19:26). The contrast with 20:72 , where Pharaoh says
“I will surely crucify you on the trunks of palm-trees”
(fi judhu’i al-nakhli), where the masculine form appears, further highlights the deliberate feminine designation in Mary’s narrative.
The Complete Vindication
The expression tahmilu-hu (“mounted” or “carrying”) in 19:28 may reference the biblical prophecy that Jesus would enter Jerusalem with his mother riding on an ass (Matthew 21:4-7), indicating this scene occurred after Jesus had attained prophethood. The verses therefore present both immediate vindication through infant speech and prophetic fulfillment through the manner of their arrival. Together, these two witnesses, the speaking child and the fruit-bearing virgin tree, established Mary’s innocence through impossibilities made manifest by divine power.
Applying it to our times, The Promised Messiah(as) says :
“As my mission is towards the Christian nation, this was the reason for naming me as Son of Mary. Heaven is pouring down signs, the earth says: This is the time. These two witnesses have stood up in my confirmation.“