I know this maybe a dumb question, but in this verse (19:26), it says:

"So eat and drink and refresh your eye; and if you meet any mortal, say: ‘Verily I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent (God), so never shall I speak today with any human being’.

I read the tafsir, and it said that, Prophet Jesus (PBUH) spoke and defended her chastity. But if she’s doing a silence fast, why does this verse say that if she meets a mortal she’ll say that she’s fasting. I know that Prophet Jesus (PBUH) talked and Lady Mariam (PBUH) didn’t but my question is why this verse says so.

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She signaled to them that she is fasting through hand gestures. This was a common fast that was done before Islam. Zakariya also did it after God informed him he will have a child.