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Glimpses of John and Mary
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| Jesus, Son of Mary and John |
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| "This is an account of the mercy of thy Lord shown to His servant Zachariah. When he called upon his Lord a secret calling. |
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He said, 'My Lord, the bones have indeed waxed feeble in me, and the head glistens with hoariness, but never my Lord, have I been unblessed in my prayer to Thee. And I fear my relations after me, and my wife is barren. Grant me therefore a 'waliya' from Thyself;
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| That he may be heir to me and heir to the House of Jacob. And make him my Lord, well-pleasing to Thee'." |
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Commentary # 403 by Bashir M. Ahmad:
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Zachariah was the name of an Israelite holy person whom the Quran presents as a Prophet (6:86) but of whom the Bible speaks only as a priest (Luke 1: 5)
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| "There was in the days of Herod, a certain Priest named Zacharias, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. " |
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Commentary # 1739 by Bashir M. Ahmad:
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"The account of Zachariah precedes that of Jesus because Yahya (John the Baptist) the son of Zachariah was the harbinger of Jesus. He heralded Jesus' advent to give to the Jews the glad tidings that their deliverer was about to make his appearance (Mal. 4:5) As according to Malachi's prophesy Elias should have come before the coming of Jesus it was in the fitness of things that while giving an account of Jesus, the Quran should have made a mention of Yahya (John) who came in the spirit and power of Elijah."
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"Allah chose Adam and Noah, and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran above all people - offspring one of the other; and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
Behold! A woman of Imran said: 'O my Lord, I have vowed to Thee what is in my womb to be dedicated to Thy service; so do accept this of me; verily, Thou alone art All-Hearing, All-Knowing'."
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Commentary # No.375 by Yusuf Ali:
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"Now we begin the story of Jesus. As a prelude we have the birth of Mary and the parallel story of John the Baptist, Yahya the son of Zakariya. Yahya's mother Elizabeth was a cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36) and therefore John and Jesus were cousins by blood, and there was a spiritual cousinhood in their birth and career. Elizabeth was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5) of a priestly family which went back to Aaron the brother of Moses and son of Imran. Her husband Zakariya was actually a priest and her cousin Mary was presumably also of a priestly family. By tradition Mary's mother was called Hannah and her father was called Imran. Hannah is therefore both a descendant of the priestly house of Imran and the wife of Imran - "a woman of Imran" in a double sense."
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"Hannah's lamentations: 'Woe is me! Who begot me and what womb produced me, for I am reproached, and they have driven me with jeers from the Lord's Temple. Woe is me! What am I like? I am not like the birds in heaven, for the birds of heaven are fruitful before Thee. O Lord. Woe is me! What am I like? I am not like the earth, for even the earth bears its fruits in season and blesses Thee, O Lord. Bewail must I my sorrows, and bewail must I my childlessness.'
Hannah prayed: 'O God of Israel! Bless me and hearken unto my prayer, as thou didst bless the womb of Sarah and gave her a son, even Isaac.' Hannah vowed: 'As the Lord my God liveth, if I bring forth a child, I will bring it for a gift unto Thee, my God.'
Extract from Jesus in Heaven on Earth, page 132
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© Rafeek Mirza; Portions © Information Interchange International
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