THE PROPHETS OF ISLAM Al-Huda Foundation
PROPHET
ZAKAMYA
Zakariya
was a prophet amongst Banu Israil and was the father of Yahya.
He was responsible for the rituals of worship as well as the upkeep of Bait-ul
Muqqadas.
Fostering
care of Maryam
Maryam
was a niece of his wife. The mother
of Maryam had dedicated her unborr. child to serve Bait-ul Muqqadas.
When she gave birth to a daughter, she did not retract from her vow
of dedicating her child in the service of Bait-ul Muqqadas and gave her
to the foster care of her uncle, Zakariya.
When
she grew up, he started to take her along to the great Mosque and taught her how
to take care of all the sacred objects and how to conduct the rituals of
worship. When she grew older, he alloted
her a room inside the Mosque so that she could carry out her duties
independently, and at all times.
The
Birth of Yahya
Zakariya
had grown old and his wife was infertile. Allah
revealed to him that he would have a son very soon who would be a great
prophet and a leader. His conduct would
be exemplary to all mankind. There had
never been any one before him with the same name, and that his name would be
Yahya. He would affirm the innocence of Maryam.
Zakariya was struck with amazement over the possibility of having a child
at his old age and through his wife who had been infertile all her life.
Allah conveyed to him that there is nothing that is impossible for Him to
do. Allah gave Zakariya His sign for the
prophecy, that he would be incapable of verbal communication with any one for a
period of three days. So Zakariya was
unable to talk for three days as the angel of Allah had forewarned him.
Soon afterwards he had the son whom he named Yahya, according to the Will
of Allah.
He
is known as Zacharia in the Torah.
References: al Qur'an: Sura Ale Imran, Anam, Maryam, Anmbiya'.