Can Maryam be considered a prophet even though she's a female? She seems to have had angelic meetings/messages and held in such high esteem by both Allah and followers. I'm new to understanding Islam, so by what basis is one considered a prophet?

My question falls under the 'those interested in learning more about Islam' category, so please forgive any naivety in my question here. I've read the majority of the Quran, and I've always been struck by the prophecy of the infant Jesus shorty after his birth in Sura 19: Sura 19 Maryam, Ayat 30-33 > He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet; "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; "(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"! My question is regarding the last line. I do not believe that, in the Quran, Jesus dies; he ascends to heaven without ever dying. Maybe the 'raised up to life' is referencing the resurrection of the dead at the divine judgment? But how is he to be raised if he never died? What am I missing here?

I read the verses 19:23 and 19:25 which says: > And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, "Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten."` ... > And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. So Maryam is pregnant and she is in pain because of the pregnancy. And Allah gives her dates and water to "calm her down". But my question is: Are dates and water really that what a woman needs before giving a birth, full in pain? I mean Allah knows everything and is always doing the right. Is this verse just a metaphor?

I'm reading Sura 19, Maryam, and while I've always been familiar of the birth narrative of Isa, I never pondered how the Qur'an reconciles the immaculate conception of Maryam & miraculous birth of Isa. Of course, Islam does not believe that Isa is the son of God, but who then is Isa's father? Isa's identifying title as "son of Mary," places unconventional emphasis on Mary's motherhood because for both texts and cultures at this time, individuals were identified by their male relatives. So does the Quran and its commentators not have any statement on who Isa's father is? Indeed it was miraculous, but how/why would Isa be born without a father?

The Jews were people of faith and clinged to a strict hereditary practices of marriage based on strict constrained sexual contract. They have achieved pinnacle status in doing so to the point of the adoption of مريم (Maryam/Marry) AS in their محراب (mi7rab/sanctuary/monastary) in order to preserve the status of sexual purity (احصان الفرج). Yet Allah SWT showed the world a different path in the meaning of life by introducing عيسى 3eesa/Jesus to the world without the need of a fatherly figure to balance the motherly figure of Maryam AS. Why would Allah SWT do such thing? What is the message? Why was Maryam accused of بغاء Bigha or بغيا Baghiyya, and what was Allah SWT answer to this accusation?