ABSTRACT
If we assume that the verses of the Qur’an reflect the religious milieu of the prophet Muhammad, then the Qur’anic stories about Mary should help us reconstruct the type (or types) of Christianity the nascent religion came into contact with in early seventh-century-CE Arabia. Moreover, it should allow for a more concrete understanding of the nature of the religious movement that Muhammad initiated and how it fits in the context of the other two monotheistic traditions, Judaism and Christianity.
