\nThe\nyears had taken their toll on the Prophet Zakariyah (pbuh). He was\nnow old and bent with age, in his nineties. Despite his feebleness,\nhe went to the temple daily to deliver his sermons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nZakariyah\nwas not a rich man, but he was always ready to help those in need.\nHis one disappointment in life was that he had no children, for his\nwife was barren. This worried him, for he feared there was no one\nafter him to carry out his work. The people needed a strong leader,\nfor it they were left on their own, they would move away from Allah’s\nteachings and change the Holy Laws to suit themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nDuring\none of his visits to the temple, he went to check on Mary, who was\nliving in a secluded room of the temple. He was surprised to find\nfresh out of season fruit in her room. Besides him, no one had entry\nto her room. When he inquired, she told him that the fruit was from\nAllah. She found it every morning. But why was he so surprised, she\nasked him. Did he not know that Allah provides without measure for\nwhom He wills?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThis\nnoble girl had opened this eyes to a startling idea. Could he not ask\nhis Lord to bless him with a child in his old age? Even if his wife\nwas past childbearing age, nothing was impossible for his Gracious\nLord!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAllah\nthe Almighty revealed: ‘Kaf,\nHa, Ya, Ain, Sad, (These letters are one of the miracles of the\nQuran, and none but Allah Alone knows their meanings). This is a\nmention of the Mercy of your Lord to His slave Zakariyah. When he\ncalled out his Lord (Allah) – a call in secret, saying: “My\nLord! Indeed my bones have grown feeble, and gray hair has spread on\nmy head, and I have never been unblest in my invocation to You, O my\nLord! And Verily! I fear my relatives after me, since my wife is\nbarren. So give me from Yourself an heir, – who shall inherit me, and\ninherit also the posterity of Jacob (inheritance of the religious\nknowledge and Prophethood, not the wealth, etc.) And make him, my\nLord, one with whom You are Well-pleased!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAllah\nsaid: “O Zakariyah! Verily, We give you the glad tidings of a\nson. His name will be Yahya (John). We have given that name to none\nbefore him.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nsaid: “My Lord! How can I have a son, when my wife is barren,\nand I have reached the extreme old age.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nsaid: “So (it will be). Your Lord says, It is easy for Me.\nCertainly I have created you before, when you had been nothing.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nZakariyah\nsaid: “My Lord! Appoint for me a sign.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nsaid: “Your sign is that you shall not speak unto mankind for\nthree nights, though having no bodily defect.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThen\nhe came out to his people from Al Mihrab (a praying place or a\nprivate room, etc.), he told them by signs to glorify Allah’s Praises\nin the morning and in the afternoon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt\nwas said to his son: “O John! Hold fast to the Scripture (The\nTorah).” And We gave him wisdom while yet a child, and made him\nsympathetic to men as a mercy or a grant from Us, and pure from sins\n(John) and he was righteous, and dutiful towards his parents, and he\nwas neither an arrogant nor disobedient (to Allah or to his parents).\nAnd Salamun (peace) on him the day he was born, the day he dies, and\nthe day he will be raised up to life again! (Ch 19:1-15 Quran)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAlmighty\nAllah also said: At that time Zakariyah invoked his Lord, saying: “O\nmy Lord! Grant me from You, a good offspring. You are indeed the\nAll-Hearer of invocation.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThen\nthe angels called him, while he was standing in prayer in Al- Mihrab\n( a praying place or a private room), saying: “Allah gives you\nglad tidings of John confirming (believing in) the Word from Allah\n(“Be!” – and he was! (i.e. the creation of Isa (Jesus), son\nof Mariam (Mary), noble keeping away from sexual relations with\nwomen, a Prophet, from among the righteous.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nsaid: “O my Lord! How can I have a son when I am very old, and\nmy wife is barren?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAllah\nsaid: “Thus Allah does what He wills.” He said: “O my\nLord! Make a sign for me.” Allah said: “Your sign is that\nyou shall not speak to mankind for three days except with signals.\nAnd remember your Lord much (by praising Him again and again), and\nglorify Him in the afternoon and in the morning.” (Ch 3:38-41\nQuran).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nJohn\n(pbuh) was born a stranger to the world of children who used to amuse\nthemselves, as he was serious all the time. Most children took\ndelight in torturing animals whereas, he was merciful to them. He fed\nthe animals from his food until there was nothing left for him, and\nhe just ate fruit or leaves of trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nJohn\nloved reading since childhood. When he grew up, Allah the Exalted\ncalled upon him:\n“O John! Hold fast to the Scripture (The Torah).” And We\ngave him wisdom while yet a child. (Ch 19:12 Quran).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAllah\nguided him to read the Book of Jurisprudence closely; thus, he became\nthe wisest and most knowledgeable man of that time. Therefore, Allah\nthe Almighty endowed him with the faculties of passing judgments on\npeople’s affairs, interpreting the secrets of religion, guiding\npeople to the right path, and warning them against the wrong one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nJohn\nreached maturity. His compassion for his parents, as well as for all\npeople and all creatures, increased greatly. He called people to\nrepent their sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThere\nare quite a number of traditions told about John. Ibn Asaker related\nthat one time his parents were looking for him and found him at the\nJordan River. When they met him, they wept sorely, seeing his great\ndevotion to Allah, Great and Majestic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIbn\nWahb said that, according to Malik, grass was the food of John Ibn\nZakariyah, and he wept sorely in fear of Allah. A chain of narrators\nreported that Idris Al Khawlawi said: “Shall I not tell you he\nwho had the best food? It is John Ibn Zakariyah, who joined the\nbeasts at dinner, fearing to mix with men.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIbn\nMubarak stated that Wahb Ibn Al-Ward narrated that Zakariayah did not\nsee his son for three days. He found him weeping inside a grave which\nhe had dug and in which he resided. “My son, I have been\nsearching for you, and you are dwelling in this grave weeping!”\n“O father, did you not tell me that between Paradise and Hell is\nonly a span, and it will not be crossed except by tears of weepers?”\nHe said to him: “Weep then, my son.” Then they wept\ntogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nOther\nnarrations say that John (pbuh) said: “The dwellers of Paradise\nare sleepless out of the sweetness of Allah’s bounty; that is why the\nfaithful must be sleepless because of Allah’s love in their hearts.\nHow far between the two luxuries, how far between them?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey\nsay John wept so much that tears marked his cheeks. He found comfort\nin the open and never cared about food. He ate leaves, herbs, and\nsometimes locusts. He slept anywhere in the mountains or in holes in\nthe ground. He sometimes would find a lion or a bear as he entered a\ncave, but being deeply absorbed in praising Allah, he never heeded\nthem. The beasts easily recognized John as the prophet who cared for\nall the creatures, so they would leave the cave, bowing their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nJohn\nsometimes fed those beasts, out of mercy, from his food and was\nsatisfied with prayers as food for his soul. He would spend the night\ncrying and praising Allah for His blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWhen\nJohn called people to worship Allah, he made them cry out of love and\nsubmission, arresting their hearts with the truthfulness of his\nwords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nA\nconflict took place between John and the authorities at that time. A\ntyrant king, Herod Antipas, the ruler of Palestine, was in love with\nSalome, his brother’s daughter. He was planning to marry his\nbeautiful niece. The marriage was encouraged by her mother and by\nsome of the learned men of Zion, either out of fear or to gain favor\nwith the ruler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nOn\nhearing the ruler’s plan, John pronounced that such a marriage would\nbe incestuous. He would not approve it under any circumstance, as it\nwas against the Law of the Torah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nJohn’s\npronouncement spread like wildfire. Salome was angry, for it was her\nambition to rule the kingdom with her uncle. She plotted to achieve\nher aim. Dressing attractively, she sang and danced before her uncle.\nHer arousing Herod’s lust. Embracing her, he offered to fulfill\nwhatever she desired. At once she told hi: “I would love to have\nthe head of John, because he has defiled your honor and mine\nthroughout the land. If you grant me this wish, I shall be very happy\nand will offer myself to you.” Bewitched by her charm, he\nsubmitted to her monstrous request. John was executed and his head\nwas brought to Salome. The cruel woman gloated with delight. But the\ndeath of Allah’s beloved prophet was avenged. Not only she, but all\nthe children of Israel were severely punished by invading armies\nwhich destroyed their kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The years had taken their toll on the Prophet Zakariyah (pbuh). He was now old and bent with age, in his nineties. Despite his feebleness, he went to the temple daily to deliver his sermons. Zakariyah was not a rich man, but he was always ready to help those in need. His one disappointment in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prophets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1914,"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1913\/revisions\/1914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/syahadah.laailahaillallah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}