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Wa `aaykum as-sSalaam waramatullah wabarakatuh,
Dear brother, thanks for forwarding this question to us.
Before answering your question, I’d like to preface it with brief notes on how Islam views Mary, mother of Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him. The reason for this is that knowing the status of Mary in Islam will throw much light on her descriptions in the Qur’an. It’s through that we will get to know what kind of message Islam preaches concerning the noble family of Jesus as a whole.
Mary is held in high esteem in Islam, as the Glorious Qur’an sheds light on her nobility, devotion and chastity. This is the trend Islam follows in drawing the attention of Muslims to the chain of men and women of God, who preceded the advent of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh); making it clear that the message of God is from a pure source and was brought down to people through what we can call ‘pure medium of revelation’.
According to Islam, Mary is highly regarded and revered as a mother of one of God’s prophets, Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him. She is regarded as one of the purest of God’s servants. In fact, there are more verses in the Qur'an that mention Virgin Mary, than there are mentions of her in the whole of the New Testament. This confirms her high status in Islam.
Mentioning her is not only confined to the Qur’an. Rather, there are many traditions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) whereby Mary is given one of the finest descriptions accorded people in general, i.e. ‘perfection’. This is clear in the hadith narrated by Abu Musa Al-Ashari, quoting the Prophet (pbuh), as saying:
‘... among women none attained perfection except Mary the daughter of Imran, and Asiya the wife of Pharaoh …’
The Prophet (pbuh) also says in the hadith narrated by Ali Ibn Abi Talib:
‘The best of the world's women is Mary (in her lifetime) ....’
Now, moving to your question: I’d like to stress here, as I have done before when addressing a comment on some passages from the Qur’an, that being the words of the Supreme Creator, Almighty Allah, the Qur’an must not be given a superficial interpretation. Its verses need to be understood alongside with the preceding and following ones and in the light of the historical context that surround their revelation.
So this calls for resorting to the books of the Qur’an exegesis, especially those written by renowned exegetes, like Imam Kurtubi, Ibn Kathir … etc. This as well as resorting to fine commentary made by eminent Muslim scholars, like Sheikh Sha’rawi and others. For this will help us in gasping the full message of God imbedded in the glorious book.
As regard the verses in Surah 3 (42 & 45), the word ‘angels’ here refer to Gabriel, as confirmed by eminent exegetes: Kurtubi, authors of Jalalain and others. You may ask: ‘how come the word – angels - is in plural form, meaning one angel?’ The answer to this is provided by the following verse in the same Surah: She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: God createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!
Surah 3 Verse 47
The pronoun ‘He’ here refers to Angel Gabriel, according to Imam Kurtubi, who further made it clear that the whole dialogue (mentioned in the verse) was between Angel Gabriel and Mary. This was when the former appeared to her in a beautiful human form, and he assured her that the message he brought was a will of God, and whatever God wills happens.
This fact is also confirmed by another exegete, Ibn Hashur, as he says, in backing his opinion that it was Gabriel meant by the word ‘angels’ here: ‘There is a reference to this in the gospel of Luke [where it was repeatedly mentioned that Gabriel appeared unto Virgin Mary, giving her glad tidings of the birth of Jesus].
Using the plural word ‘angels’ in reference to one angel is in the sense of ascribing one act to a family of the doer, as one says: ‘The elephant was killed by the poachers [though it was a single poacher that carried out the act – but he was one of the poachers). (For reference, check al-Tahrir wa Tanwir - by Imam Ibn `Ashur - volume 3 - published by Dar Su’nun, Tunis, page 239.)
Adding to this is the statement of the late eminent dai`yah(inviter to Islam), Sheikh Mutwali Sha’rawi, as he made a fine philosophical analysis of this verse: ‘The words "Behold! the angels said …" refers to angel Gabriel. This stems from the fact that there’s a big difference between listening to something said by mortals and words voiced by angels, especially when the source of this voice is Angel Gabriel. When it’s quite easy to discern the direction of the voice, as regards mortals, this may not be the case when the voice comes directly from angel, as the voice may echo from many directions, making it seem strange at first instance. This is why the words here were referred to ‘angels’ despite the fact that they came from one angel - Gabriel.’ (For reference, check Tafsir as-Sharawi - volume 3 - published by Akhbar al-Youm, page 1452.)
So brother, in the light of the above-mentioned facts, it’s clear that there’s no contradiction between the two passages within the Glorious Qur’an. The angel that brought the annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Mary was Gabriel, and it was the same angel meant in verses 17-18, (Surah 19). This is as he appeared to Mary in a very nice human form, to make himself easily seen by Virgin Mary.
His appearance in the form of a man made Mary utter the following statement:
She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (God) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear God."
Surah 19 Verse 18
There is a great wisdom behind this brother - Allah knows best. To me, it’s to draw people’s attention to the unquestionable chastity of Mary, as a woman who devoted her life to the worship of her Lord. So she was worried to see someone gaining entry to her place of retreat. But the angel quickly allayed her fear by saying: He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.
Surah 19 Verse 19
There is also a reference to this in the Bible:
‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.’ (Luke 1: 26-33)
Also to me, by making Gabriel appear to Mary in the form of a man, might be to stress, that though conception must be through ordinary and normal means - contact between man and woman - it’s in God’s supreme power to change the law of causation as He pleases, according to His Divine Will. This is for us to have a strong and firm belief in Him, as the True Lord of mighty power, and to Him alone should be our worship and devotion!
Brother, I hope this clarifies the confusion you may have regarding the two passages from the Qur’an.
As-salaam `alaykum
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