‘Mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariya.’
(Quran 19:2)
Assalamu alaikum, fellow Muslims and non-Muslims.
We may all know the importance of the Qur’an, the Holy Book written by Allah (swt). However, we may not necessarily follow the teachings of the Qur’an and follow the role models that were sent to the Earth to spread the word of Islam. In order to remind you of the important lessons taught by each of the significant prophets mentioned in the Qur’an, I will In Sha Allah, be starting a prophets series. This will contain lessons I learnt from each of the prophets. I am trying my best to In Sha Allah post every day of Ramadan about each prophet.
Today, we will talk about our thirtieth prophet, Zakariya or Zechariah (pbuh). If you would like to know the story, sources are available below. If I also make any mistakes, I apologise and Allah (swt) knows the best.
Good actions are hard to follow over a long period of time.
To recap, Prophet Uzair (pbuh) brought the Bani Israel together and they were following Allah’s laws. However, later, the people slowly started to go back to their bad actions.
Do not use your power in the wrong way.
100 years after Prophet Uzair’s death, a Greek king ruled Palestine and 130 years later, another Greek king who was extremely bad misused his power and mistreated the Bani Israel.
After his death, Greece had an even worse king who forced the Bani Israel to not follow Allah’s laws and make idols inside Masjid Al Aqsa. They would have to do idol worshipping, and if they tried to follow Allah’s laws they would be hanged.
Do not leave a bad legacy in this world and do not influence others to do bad.
Surely, each king was influenced by the previous one in a bad way. Also, later because Imran was a good man in the church, everyone wanted to adopt his daughter after he died who was Maryam (pbuh).
The good will always win.
The good Bani Israel decided to fight with the bad people and they won. The Bani Israel got their own kingdom known as Maccabes, 168 years before Prophet Isa (pbuh).
Do not misuse Islam for your business.
The good Bani Israel turned bad over time and were changing Allah’s laws for their own benefit.
So within 100 years, they lost their kingdom. They even killed many prophets.
Time and effort is needed to do good in this world.
Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) spent his whole life trying to guide the Bani Israel. He was a religious leader, priest, prophet and carpenter for his living expenses.
The good people want good to pass on even after they die.
Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) was praying to Allah to have a child who could guide the Bani Israel after he died.
Maryam’s mother and Prophet Zakariya’s wife were sisters.
Allah is the best of planners. Little did Maryam’s mother know that she would give birth to one of the most important women in Islam, Maryam (pbuh).
Be sincere when asking for something to Allah.
Maryam’s mother promised Allah that if she had a child, she would give that child to the temple. She was sincere in her wishes to Allah. When Maryam (pbuh) was born, her father Imran (pbuh) died.
Keep your promises.
Maryam’s mother gave Maryam to the temple as per her promise.
Be completely fair.
As lots of people wanted to adopt the daughter of a respected man, Imran, they drew a lottery to keep it fair and see who would adopt Maryam (pbuh). They did it through pens by a child and through the river.
Women are special.
Allah respects women and Maryam (pbuh) was the only woman allowed inside the temple as she grew up in it. She had a special place in the temple.
Don’t assume the worst.
When Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) was 100 years old, he would go and visit Maryam (pbuh) regularly and she would give him fruits. When once Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) saw that she had some fresh out-of-season fruits, he did not just jump to conclusions, he asked her where she got them from. Be patient.
Allah rewards those whom he loves.
Allah loves us which is why he has given us so many blessings. You need to love Allah to have his love and this is how Maryam (pbuh) received fresh fruits from Him every morning as a miracle from Allah.
Be grateful for whatever you have.
After hearing about the fruits, Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) became grateful for Allah’s gifts and blessings.
Nothing is impossible for Allah.
After seeing the miracle fruits, Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) remembered how Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) had a child in his old age. Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) prayed to Allah for a son who would guide the Bani Israel and kept a strong faith. An angel came to Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) to tell the good news that he would have a baby son who would be named Prophet Yahya (pbuh) and he would tell Bani Israel about Prophet Isa (pbuh). He would also be able to control the things he desires very much and he would become the leader of Bani Israel. Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) was very shocked and as a sign he requested for, he couldn’t talk for the next 3 days. Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) was happy about the baby and prayed to Allah.
If you want to educate a child, it is best to start from their childhood.
Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) guided Prophet Yahya (pbuh) in his childhood about Allah’s laws. Prophet Yahya (pbuh) started to spread about Allah’s laws.
If you do good, you will most likely have haters.
Don’t wish for haters or purposely get haters. However, if you do good, you usually build up haters. Prophets Zakariya and Yahya (pbut) were hated by the religious priests and people.
This was especially because the prophets were trying to go against the evil king who was from Bani Israel and chosen by Rome.The king was very bad.
They decided to kill the prophets. First Prophet Yahya (pbuh) was killed and then Prophet Zakariya (pbuh) was killed and he was inside a tree. We don’t know about their graves.
These were some of the lessons that I captured from Zakariya (pbuh). The story of Zakariya (pbuh) is beautifully said in this Youtube video and book which I used to create this article:
Please share this article with your family and friends to get some rewards this Ramadan. In Sha Allah you will stay well.
Thank you for reading and have a lovely day!