In the Quran, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is described in 19:28 as يَاأُخْتَ هَارُونَ, which can be interpreted in one of two ways: either as “O sister of Aaron” or as “O descendant of Aaron.”
19:27 She came to her family, carrying him. They said, “O Mary, you have committed something that is totally unexpected.
19:28 “ O descendant of Aaron, your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother unchaste.”
The Quran never places Mary in the time of Moses & Aaron
Some opponents of the Quran often claim that this is a mistake on the Quran and that the author of the Quran did not know that Mary and Jesus were not in the same timeline as Moses and Aaron. However, a key point is often overlooked at the outset: the Quran never places Mary or Jesus in the time of Moses and Aaron. Their narratives are entirely separate. Moses and Aaron belong to the story of Pharaoh and the Exodus, while Mary appears generations later in the setting of Zechariah, John, and Jesus. Nothing in the Quran suggests that Mary personally lived alongside Aaron. The claim of a chronological “mix-up” therefore rests almost entirely on assuming that the phrase “sister of Aaron” in 19:28 must mean his literal, immediate sister—the very assumption the language itself does not require.
Both the Bible and the Quran use kinship language often as ancestral
In the Arabic of the Quran, the terms father, mother, brother, and sister can be used for both someone’s immediate family member or an ancestral family member. The most notable example of this is with the term “the Children of Israel” used towards people who are descendants of Israel (Jacob).
2:83 We made a covenant with the Children of Israel: “You shall not worship except GOD. You shall honor your parents and regard the relatives, the orphans, and the poor. You shall treat the people amicably. You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat).” But you turned away, except a few of you, and you became averse.
We also see similar language used for the believers toward Abraham, whose son Ismail was a descendant of the Arab people.
22:78 You shall strive for the cause of GOD as you should strive for His cause. He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion—the religion of your father Abraham. He is the one who named you “Submitters” originally. Thus, the messenger shall serve as a witness among you, and you shall serve as witnesses among the people. Therefore, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and hold fast to GOD; He is your Lord, the best Lord and the best Supporter.
7:27 O children of Adam, do not let the devil dupe you as he did when he caused the eviction of your parents from Paradise, and the removal of their garments to expose their bodies. He and his tribe see you, while you do not see them. We appoint the devils as companions of those who do not believe.
Another example can be found in 46:21 in reference to ‘Ād, the community that Hud was sent to. While ‘Ād is the name of the community, the origins of this name comes from the legendary king named ‘ Ad, who ruled over a region whose capital was “Wūbar”. From this person you have the name of the tribe. So the term “ أَخَا عَادٍ” can be translated as either the “brother of ‘Ād” or the “descendant of ‘Ād.” Obviously, this expression does not mean that Hud was the immediate brother of ‘Ād, but the descendant of ‘Ād.
46:21 Recall that the brother of ‘Ãd warned his people at the dunes—numerous warnings were also delivered before him and after him: “You shall not worship except GOD. I fear for you the retribution of a great day.”
In 7:28, the same word “أُخْتَهَا” ( ukhtahā) “its sister” for an ancestral group
In addition, we see that the expression أُخْتَهَا, which could be translated as “its sister,” is used in reference to an “ancestral group” in 7:38.
7:38 He will say, “Enter with the previous communities of jinns and humans into Hell.” Every time a group enters, they will curse their ancestral group. Once they are all in it, the latest one will say of the previous one, “Our Lord, these are the ones who misled us. Give them double the retribution of Hell.” He will say, “Each receives double, but you do not know.”
The understanding that 19:27 is in reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus, being the descendant of Aaron, also corresponds with the fact that Mary is never indicated to live in the same time period or location as Aaron and Moses. Their histories are separate in the Quran, so this verse only informs us that Mary was the descendant of Aaron, and not that Mary was the sister of Aaron.
What proof do we have that Mary was a descendant of Aaron?
From the Bible and the Quran, we can determine that Mary was part of the priestly class, as she was offered to God to be brought up under the guardianship of Zachariah.
3:36 When she gave birth to her, she said, “My Lord, I have given birth to a girl”—GOD was fully aware of what she bore—”The male is not the same as the female. I have named her Mary and I invoke Your protection for her and her descendants from the rejected devil.”
3:37 Her Lord accepted her a gracious acceptance, and brought her up a gracious upbringing, under the guardianship of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah entered her sanctuary he found provisions with her. He would ask, “Mary, where did you get this from?” She would say, “It is from GOD. GOD provides for whomever He chooses, without limits.”
The priest class in Jewish History were the descendants of Levi, and in Exodus 28, it indicates that Aaron’s lineage would continue this role. Additionally. The Gospel of Luke records that Zachariah and Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, and therefore their son John the Baptist, were all descendants of Aaron. This implies that Mary was a descendant of Aaron.
Even Luke 1:5 calls Elizabeth a “daughter of Aaron”
Interestingly, in the Gospel of Luke, it also uses a similar expression as the Quran towards Elizabeth, the wife of Zachariah, where the literal Greek states “the daughters of Aaron.”
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also of the daughters of Aaron. (Luke 1:5)
Further evidence of Mary’s genealogy through Aaron appears in the Proto-Gospel of John, which indicates that Mary was raised in the Temple, something that would have been permissible only if she belonged to Aaron’s lineage.