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Zachariah and Elizabeth: Their spirituality
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Biblical Version:
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Qur'anic Version:
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'There was in the days of Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of A-bi-a: 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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And remember Zakariya, when he cried to His Lord: 'Oh my Lord! leave me not without offspring, though thou art the best of inheritors'
'So We heard his prayer and bestowed on him John and cured his wife for him. They used to vie with one another in good works and they called on Us in hope and in fear and they humbled themselves before Us.'
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The Petition in Zachariyah's words:
'Grant me a waliya from Thyself that he may be heir to me and heir to the House of Jacob, and make him, O my Lord one in whom Thou art well-pleased.' Qur'an 19: 6
Four separate parts:
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A waliya from Thyself |
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Heir to me |
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And heir to the House of Jacob |
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One in whom Thou art well-pleased |
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The Thought Process
Zachariah's mind was ticking away like a clock over the following:
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Mary was chosen as mother of the Messiah |
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She was an Imranite, of Aaron's descent - a Levite |
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God's promise is a Messiah of Judah's line |
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Zachariah was a pure blooded Jew of David's line |
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Only in him resides the seed of Jewish righteousness |
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His wife was righteous but deemed barren |
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Over-run by old age, both were beyond parenthood. |
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What a dilemma! |
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The situation demands nothing less than a miracle |
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Hence his invocation for God's intervention |
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Zachariah's Petition
Study it well. In essence it constitutes a demand on God of only what nothing but a miracle could have fulfilled. Divinity of Mercy was summoned and tasked and that Attribute responded the marvelous manifestation of Allah's Attribute of Rahmah that resulted in John's birth can only be imagined not explained. History of mankind has no parallel not even in the case of Abraham and Sarah.
It was not an exhibition of God's Power. O no. It was an act of Allah's Rahmah.
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Commentary # 380 by Yusuf Ali
'The birth of Mary, the mystic mother of Jesus, of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus, and of Jesus, the mystic prophet of Israel, whom Israel rejected, occurred in that order chronologically and are told in that order. They are all inter-connected. Zakariya prayed for no ordinary son. He and his wife were past the age of parenthood
Seeing the growth of the mystic girl Mary, he prayed for some mystic child from God, - "from Thee, a progeny that is pure'. Perhaps he had adoption in his mind. Did he want to adopt Mary? To his surprise, he is given a son in the flesh, ushered in by a mystic Sign.'
'His was not merely a vulgar desire for a son. If it had been, he would have prayed much earlier in his life, when he was a young man. He was too full of true piety to put merely selfish things into his prayers. But here was a public need in the service of the Lord. He was too old, but could he perhaps adopt a child - who could be an heir "as from God". # 2459
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From God Himself, by Zachariah, for the House of Jacob.
What a demand on God!
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| Comments:
The argument in Qur'an 19:5, shows that Zachariah prayed for a Waliya from the presence of Allah - ( MIN LADUN -KA WALEY(AN)). 19.6 goes on to to extend the request to let that person inherit and represent the House or posterity of Jacob. Going back to verse 5, Allah testifies that Zachariah said that his prayers has never been unblessed or unsuccessful in his supplications. This has far reaching consequences, for if Zachariah's only offspring was to be terminated, then the posterity of Jacob will be terminated. That would be the end. Allah testifies to this by relating this story to the beloved Messenger Muhammad, in the Qur'an. Allah also testifies that the Messengers were all offsprings one of the other Qur'an 3: 37.
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