Prophet Zechariah – The Righteous Father Of Prophet John

(Cite: Hamdani, Mufti Shah Rafi Uddin & Khan, Dr. (Mufti) Imran. (2018), Prophet Zechariah , Encyclopedia of Muhammad , Seerat Research Center, Karachi, Pakistan, Vol. 1, Pg. 321-324.)

Zechariah , also spelt Zacharias (flourished 6th-century BC), was a Jewish prophet whose preaching is recorded in one of the shorter prophetical books in the Old Testament, the Book of Zechariah. ¹ The Catholic encyclopedia tells us that his name was spelt zekharyahu and Zechariah which means ‘Allah remembers’. ² The Jewish encyclopedia says that he was a son of Berechiah and a grandson of Iddo, and was loosely called the son of Iddo; the latter was possibly identical with the Iddo mentioned as high priest in Neh. which would make the prophet himself the high priest named in Neh. Zechariah was probably born during the Captivity but was brought back early to Palestine. He began his prophetic ministry in the second year of King Darius Hystaspes, a little later than Haggai his preoccupation being the rebuilding of the Temple. ³

However, the authentic Islamic sources claim that Zechariah was of those sons of the prophets who used to write the revelation of Allah. He was one of the children of Israelites Kings. He was the child of Solomon’s progeny. ⁴ Regarding Zechariah’s profession, Abu Hurairah ؓ narrated that The Holy Prophet said:

كَانَ زَكَرِيَّا نَجَّارًا. ⁵

Zakariya was a Carpenter by profession.

Ibn e Kathir stated that Zachariah preached divine revelation for a long time and those years took their toll on him. He entered his nineties, became physically weak, but continued to deliver his sermons at the temple on a daily basis. He was not rich, but always helped those who were in need. With every passing day, he became worried about the next generation since he did not have any children and his wife was barren. He knew that if the people didn’t get a leader, they would leave the right path and descend into ignorance. ⁶

During one of his visits to the temple, he went to check on Mary , who was living in a secluded room of the temple. He was surprised to find fresh out of season fruit in her room. Besides him, no one had entry to her room. When he inquired, she told him that the fruit was from Allah. She found it every morning. But why was he so surprised, she asked him. Did he not know that Allah provides without measure to whom He wills?

This noble girl had opened his eyes to a startling idea. Could he not ask his Lord to bless him with a child in his old age? Even if his wife was past childbearing age, nothing was impossible for his Gracious Lord!

The next set of events is described in the Holy Quran as:

كهيعص 1 ذِكْرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّا 2 إِذْ نَادَى رَبَّهُ نِدَاءً خَفِيًّا 3 قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا وَلَمْ أَكُنْ بِدُعَائِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا 4 وَإِنِّي خِفْتُ الْمَوَالِيَ مِنْ وَرَائِي وَكَانَتِ امْرَأَتِي عَاقِرًا فَهَبْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَلِيًّا 5 يَرِثُنِي وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ وَاجْعَلْهُ رَبِّ رَضِيًّا 6 يَازَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا 7 قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ وَكَانَتِ امْرَأَتِي عَاقِرًا وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا 8 قَالَ كَذَلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئًا 9 قَالَ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ لِي آيَةً قَالَ آيَتُكَ أَلَّا تُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ ثَلَاثَ لَيَالٍ سَوِيًّا 10 فَخَرَجَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنَ الْمِحْرَابِ فَأَوْحَى إِلَيْهِمْ أَنْ سَبِّحُوا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا 11 يَايَحْيَى خُذِ الْكِتَابَ بِقُوَّةٍ وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْحُكْمَ صَبِيًّا 12 وَحَنَانًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا وَزَكَاةً وَكَانَ تَقِيًّا 13 وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَيْهِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ جَبَّارًا عَصِيًّا 14 وَسَلَامٌ عَلَيْهِ يَوْمَ وُلِدَ وَيَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ يُبْعَثُ حَيًّا 15⁷

Kaf-Ha-Ya-A’in-Sad. (* Alphabets of the Arabic language – Allah and to whomever He reveals know their precise meanings.) This is the remembrance of the mercy of your Lord upon His bondman Zakaria. When he softly prayed to his Lord. He submitted, “O my Lord – my bones have become weak and old age shines forth from my head, and O my Lord, I have never been disappointed in my prayer to you.” “And I fear my relatives after me and my wife is barren therefore bestow upon me from Yourself one who will take up my work.” “He being my successor and the heir of the Descendants of Yaqub (Jacob); and my Lord, make him a cherished* one.” (* Make him a Prophet among the Descendants of Israel.) “O, Zakaria! We give you the glad tidings of a son whose name is John (John) – before him; We have not created anyone of this name.” He submitted, “My Lord – how can I have a son whereas my wife is barren and I have reached infirmity due to old age?” He (the angel) said, “So it is; your Lord says, ‘This is easy for Me – in fact, I created you before this, at a time when you did not exist.’” He said, “My Lord, give me a sign”; He said, “Your token is that you will not speak to people for three nights, although in proper health.” He, therefore, emerged upon his people from the mosque, and told them through gestures, “Keep proclaiming the Purity (of your Lord) morning and evening.” “O John – hold the Book firmly”; and We gave him Prophethood in his infancy. (Prophet John was only two years old at that time.) And compassion from Ourselves, and chastity; and he was extremely pious. And was good to his parents and not forceful, nor disobedient. And peace is upon him the day he was born, and the day he will taste death, and the day he will be raised alive.

While commenting on this verse, Mawdudi states:

“This dialogue is meant to impress that Allah is able to do whatever He wills and can make an impotent man and a barren woman give birth to a child, and likewise a virgin can be made to conceive a child. Secondly, the details regarding the birth of John , according to the divine will, and his coming of age, have been left out. Here, in one sentence, the mission of prophet hood entrusted to him on attaining maturity has been stated, which was to observe and follow the Torah in letter and spirit, and to exhort the Israelites as well to do the same.” ⁸

John was a delight to his parents and a successor to his noble father (Zechariah ). He took on the burden of calling the people towards guidance and Allah. He had a great passion for knowledge and was endowed with righteousness even when he was a young man. ⁹

John found comfort in the open and never cared about food. He ate leaves, herbs, and sometimes locusts. He slept anywhere in the mountains or holes in the ground. He sometimes would find a lion or a bear as he entered a cave, but being deeply absorbed in praising Allah, he never heeded them. The beasts easily recognised John as the prophet who cared for all the creatures, so they would leave the cave, bowing their heads. John sometimes fed those beasts, out of mercy, from his food and was satisfied with prayers as food for his soul. He would spend the night crying and praising Allah for His blessings. When John called people to worship Allah, he made them cry out of love and submission, arresting their hearts with the truthfulness of his words.

One day, a conflict took place between John and the authorities at that time. A tyrant king, Herod Antipas, the ruler of Palestine, was in love with Salome, his brother's daughter and was planning to marry her. The idea of their marriage was encouraged by her mother and by some of the learned men of Zion, either out of fear or to gain favour with the ruler. On hearing the ruler's plan, John pronounced that such a marriage would be incestuous and that he would not approve it under any circumstance, as it was against the Law of the Torah. John's pronouncement spread like wildfire. Salome was angry, for it was her ambition to rule the Kingdom with her uncle. She plotted to achieve her aim. Dressing attractively, she sang and danced before her uncle. Her arousing Herod's lust. Embracing her, he offered to fulfil whatever she desired. At once she told him: "I would love to have the head of John because he has defiled your honour and mine throughout the land. If you grant me this wish, I shall be pleased and will offer myself to you." Bewitched by her charm, he submitted to her heinous request. John was executed, and his head was brought to Salome. Upon seeing it, the cruel woman gloated with delight. But the death of Allah's beloved prophet was avenged. Not only she, but all the children of Israel were severely punished by invading armies which destroyed their kingdom. ¹⁰

The Israelites thought that all this had happened due to Zechariah . Hence they decided to kill Zechariah and started looking for him. When Zechariah learned about their scheme, he decided to go and hide. While looking for a place to hide, he came in front of a tree. The Tree said “come towards me, come towards me”, and opened up. Zechariah entered it, but a small piece of his clothing was left out accidentally. The tree returned to its original condition, but the cloth was still sticking out. Satan was leading the evil people. When he saw this piece of clothing, he said, “Don’t you see he entered inside the tree, here is the piece of his cloth! He entered in this tree by his magic”. The Israelites then ruthlessly cut that tree into two pieces and martyred Zechariah . ¹¹

• ¹  Encyclopedia Britannica (Online Version): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zechariah: Retrieved: 12-07-17
• ²  Drum, W. (1912). The Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15741b.htm: Retrieved: 12-07-17
• ³  The Jewish Encyclopedia (Online Version): http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15198-zechariah: Retrieved: 12-07-17
• ⁴  Ali bin Abi Al-Karam I’zzudeen Ibne Al-Aseer, Al-Kamil Fil Tareekh, Zikar-ul-Ahadees Ayyam..., Dar-ul-Kitab Al-Arbi, Beruit, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 266.
• ⁵  Muhammad Bin Yazeed Abu Abdullah Al Qazweeni (Ibn-e-Maja’), Sunan Ibne Maja’, Kitab-ul-Tijaraat, Hadith: 2150, Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudia, Pg. 386.
• ⁶  Abul Fida Ismail Ibne Kathir, Stories of the Prophets, (Translated by Muhammad Mustapha), Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, Pg. 169
• ⁷  Holy Quran, Maryam (Mary) 19: 1-15
• ⁸ http://www.islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=19&verse=1&to=15: Retrieved: 13-07-17
• ⁹  Sayyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Stories of The Prophets, Uk Islamic Academy, Leicester, U.K, Pg. 148-149
• ¹⁰  Abul Fida Ismail Ibne Kathir, Stories of the Prophets, (Translated by Muhammad Mustapha), Darussalam, Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, Pg. 172
• ¹¹  Ali bin Al-Hassan Abul Qasim Al-Ma’roof Ibne Asakir (1994), Tareekh-e-Dimishq, Zakariya Bin Hana, Dar-ul-Fikr, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 19, Pg. 55-56