O Maryam, be devoutly obedient to your Lord...

(O Maryam, be devoutly obedient to your Lord) The manifest interpretation is that this is also among the speech of the angels. They advised her to maintain prayer after they had informed her of the loftiness of her rank and the perfection of her proximity to Allah the Exalted, so that she would not grow lax or become heedless of worship. The repetition of the call is to indicate attention to what follows, as if it is the objective in itself, while what preceded it is a preamble.

Qunut (devout obedience) is the lengthening of standing in prayer, as stated by Mujahid; or the persistence in obedience, as stated by Qatadah, a view toward which al-Raghib inclined; or sincerity in worship, as stated by Sa’id ibn Jubayr; or the act of standing itself in prayer, as stated by some. The mention of the title of Lordship (al-Rububiyyah) serves to intimate the reason for the obligation to comply with the commands.

(And prostrate and bow with those who bow.)

It is possible that the intention behind all of this is a command for prayer, except that He, the Exalted, commanded her by mentioning its pillars as an exaggeration in the obligation to maintain it; for detailing a thing is a confirmation that is not present in its summary. Perhaps the prostration (sujud) was placed before the bowing (ruku’) because that is how it is in their prayers. It is also said: because it is the most excellent of the pillars of prayer and the furthest rank of humility, and in the hadith: "The closest a servant is to his Lord is while he is prostrating." Or [it was placed first] to signal that the [conjunction] 'wa' does not necessitate sequence, or so that "bow" (irka’i) would be joined with "those who bow" (al-raki’in) to signal that those who do not have bowing in their prayer are not [properly] praying.

Each of these viewpoints is not free from scrutiny. As for the first, it is only valid upon the saying that standing is not more excellent than prostration, as is narrated from Imam al-Shafi’i. As for the second, it is because the address of the Qur’an is to those who know the language of the Arabs, not to those learning the language from it. As for the third, its completeness depends upon explaining why it was not expressed as "with those who prostrate" (ma'a al-sajidin) to signal that those who do not have a prostration in their prayer are not [properly] praying. It seems this was addressed by what is inferred from the words of al-Zamakhshari, where he said: "It is possible that in her time there were those who would stand and prostrate in their prayer but would not bow, and among them were those who would bow; so she was commanded to bow with those who bow, and not to be with those who do not bow." Thus, the point in the phrasing is what was made the point in mentioning "and bow with those who bow." Some also supported this by saying that if bowing were placed first and it was said: "And bow with those who bow, and prostrate," that objective would be achieved, and the precedence or delay would have no role in conveying that.

It is also said: The intention by sujud (prostration) alone is the prayer itself, as in His, the Exalted’s saying: "And at the end of prostrations." Expressing prayer in this way is the use of a part to signify the whole. The intention by ruku’ (bowing) is humility and submissiveness, as if she were commanded to do this to protect her from falling into the pits of arrogance and haughtiness due to her high rank.

The first possibility is the most manifest, and it is supported by what Ibn Jarir extracted from al-Awza’i, who said: "She used to stand until pus flowed from her feet." And what Ibn ‘Asakir extracted regarding the verse from Abu Sa’id, who said: "Maryam used to pray until her feet swelled." The majority hold that the benefit of His, the Exalted’s, saying: "with those who bow" is guidance towards congregational prayer; al-Jubba’i inclined to this. Some verifiers mentioned that the point of this expression in this context, rather than "and prostrate with those who prostrate," is to indicate that whoever catches the bowing with the Imam has caught a rak’ah of the prayer. This was countered by the argument that if it had been said: "and prostrate with those who prostrate," perhaps it would have indicated that whoever catches the prostration with the Imam has caught the congregation. Perhaps this indication is more appropriate than the former in this context, and the implication that whoever catches what is after the prostration with him does not catch the congregation is a matter of debate. It is not hidden that the objector and the one objected to are nothing in the eyes of the fair-minded. More excellent than both is what the author of al-Kashshaf indicated.

Some have claimed that "with" (ma'a) is a metaphor for agreement in the action only, without congregation, meaning: "Perform as the bowers perform, even if you do not perform the prayer with them." They said: "Because she used to pray in her sanctuary." Furthermore, she was a young woman, and the prayer of young women in congregation is disliked (makruh). This was objected to on the grounds that it is committing to a metaphorical interpretation—which is contrary to the original—without a compelling reason. That she used to pray in her sanctuary at times is admitted, but it does not prove the claim, and that she did so always is something for which there is no evidence. Even assuming it, it does not prove the claim, for it is possible she followed [the congregation] while she was in the sanctuary. As for the dislike of the prayer of a young woman in congregation, its validity in the religious law of those before us has not been established for us; moreover, al-Maturidi denied the dislike of Maryam’s prayer in congregation, even if she was young. We have said: even if we accepted the dislike of [the prayer of] young women in their religious law, he attributed this to the fact that the people with whom she prayed were of her own kin and relatives, which is why they disputed over her guardianship. It is also sometimes explained by the lack of fear of temptation (fitnah), even if they were strangers. One finds support for this in her going with Yusuf to fill the water skin in the cave. Perhaps those with whom she bowed were of this type.

If we say that she followed [the Imam] while she was in her sanctuary—either alone or with other women—the problem is resolved. "With those who bow" (al-raki’in) came instead of "those who bow" (feminine, al-raki’at) because this plural is more general, as it includes men and women by way of preponderance (taghlib), and for the sake of the rhyming of the verse endings, and because following men is more excellent if we say that she was commanded to pray in congregation.

Some claimed that there is an implicit praise of Maryam, peace be upon her, in this expression. They did not qualify the latter two commands with what the first was qualified with, as the qualification from the initial moment was sufficient. Shaykh al-Islam said: "Stripping the command of the last two pillars of that with which the first was qualified is because the intention is to qualify the command to pray with those things, and that has been done by qualifying the first pillar of it." Perhaps what we mentioned is more appropriate, as it is consistent with all the opinions regarding Qunut. Ibn Abi Dawud extracted in al-Masahif from Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, that he used to read: "And bow and prostrate with those who prostrate."