Al Imran

Surat Āl ʻImrān (Arabic: سورة آل عمران‎, "The Family of Imran") is the third chapter of the Qur'an with two hundred verses.

Context

Imran in Islam is regarded as the father of Mary. This chapter is named after the family Imran, which includes Imran, Saint Anne, Mary, and Jesus. The chapter is believed to have been revealed in Medina and is either the second or third of the Medinan suras as it engages both the event of Badr in its first section and the battle of Uhud at its end. Almost all of it also belongs to the third year of the Hijra with the possible exception of verse 61, which mentions Mubāhalah and therefore might have been revealed during the visit of the Najrān Christian deputation which occurred in the 10th year of the Hijrah. This chapter primarily focuses on the departure of prophethood from the Mosaic dispensation.

Another speculation is that since the event of Mobahela is the highlight of this surah, Āl ʻImrān refers to the ancestry of Mary who is named by her mother it could also refer to the progeny of Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, whose name has been reported as Imran by Shi'i commentators. Either way the Quran juxtaposes the male lineage of the family of Abraham and the distinctly feminine lineage of Jesus and the family of Imran as a challenge to the Jews and Christians of Medinah.