(3:35-40)(19:7-15)(21:89-90)(6:85-86)
The
story of the prophet Zachariah is noted in the Quran for two important events;
besides these two events, other details of his own life are not specifically
given, except that he was a prophet sent to Israel. Zachariah was very famous
for leading a spotless and virtuous life; he was the head priest in the
synagogue. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was
given under his care when she came to live in the synagogue. Mary was a person of bewitching beauty and
celestial virtues; the synagogue and all the space where she went and prayed
glittered due to her presence.
In
this synagogue, Zachariah was performing his duties as the head priest. He prayed to God for a virtuous offspring. Until that time Zachariah was childless. As he was praying in the synagogue, he heard
the voice of angels giving him the glad news of a son, John, who would be a
prophet with outstanding abilities, such as maintaining discipline and
testifying to the laws of God.
“How
can I have a child?” exclaimed Zachariah with surprise. “I am old and my wife
is barren. Will the child be an adopted one
like Mary or my own?”
“You
will have a child of your own, as children are born in accordance with the
law,” was the answer. The defect of his
wife was cured and she gave birth to a boy.
“Are
there any particular directions for me?” inquired Zachariah.
“Nothing,
except you will talk to people for three days by means of signs,” was the answer. “Always remember God; otherwise go about your
daily business in your routine manner.”
In ancient times Jews did not talk during the fast and Zachariah was
keeping the tradition by not talking to the people.
The
same incident is repeated in another part of the Quran with more details. Zachariah silently prayed to his creator and
said, “Oh, the nourisher of the universe, I am getting old and weak; my hair is
turning white. You have always given me
what I have asked. Please grant my
prayer of old age. I am feeble and my
wife is barren; apparently there is no chance for getting a child in this
situation. I want a virtuous successor
who should inherit of me and the house of Jacob. All the people around me are incapable of handling this legacy; I am
afraid they will destroy it. Please give
me a worthy successor for this inheritance.”
Zachariah’s
prayer met with a positive response from the Almighty. He was told that he would have a boy who
should be named John. This name had not
been given to anyone before; like his name, he would be unique in the family.
According
to the Quran John was a great leader and a prophet of his time; all the
prophets came into the world to establish the rule of Divine Law. In order to do that they fought against all
the forces that hindered their mission; John did the same as other prophets
have done, even though other religious books portray him as a powerless
preacher, who lived in the wild and baptized people with water. In the end, he was killed at the request of a
dancer by the order of Roman ruler Herod. Marcello Craveri in his book The Life of Jesus portrays John as a critic
of the Roman Empire. John boldly
declared that falsehood, however powerful it may appear, can’t exist in this
universe, because it is not compatible with the universal principle that is the
reason for its existence. If the Israelites
perished, and did not perform the duty of eradicating evil, as Moses and other
prophets enjoined them, God would create another nation to complete His
program.
G.
Lankester Harding, a researcher on the Dead Sea Scrolls, wrote an article in
1955, in which he presented Qumran as a building in which John the Baptist and
probably Christ studied. The research on
this topic points out that besides the Pharisees and the Sadducees, there was
another group known as Esseness. John
was the leader of this group. He had the
record of Jacob and was criticizing Jews for not presenting the true picture of
religion, so they removed his name from their books.
