(Quran 19:12)

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 thirty first prophet, Yahya or John The Baptist (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. 

Do not become too proud or arrogant for wherever you have and remember Allah regularly.

The Bani Israel became arrogant as they thought they were the chosen people by Allah and they started committing evil acts. They even killed many prophets. They also thought they were the only ones to have authority over Allah’s laws. 

You are not allowed to change Allah’s laws for your own benefit.

The Bani Israel would commit sins by doing this. 

You should have a balance between thinking that Allah is merciful but you should also fear Him.

The Bani Israel would commit sins and they thought Allah would forgive them and send them more prophets to guide them.

Almost all the prophets that were sent to Bani Israel were from Prophet Ishaq (pbuh) and the only prophet from Ismail (pbuh) is Muhammad (pbuh).

Allah sent the final prophet from Ismail’s lineage. Allah gave the Bani Israel a final chance by giving them two great prophets who were Yahya (pbuh) and Isa (pbuh) who were cousins.

They were both born in a miracle way and they were both born in the same year.

Prophet Yahya (pbuh) is mentioned in four Surahs in the Qur’an. 

He is mentioned in Surah Maryam, Al-Imran, Al-An’am and Al-Anbiya.

Never give up or lose hope even when you get old.

Prophet Yahya (pbuh) was born to very old parents and his father was Prophet Zakariya (pbuh). His parents prayed for a child and then he was born. Allah granted their wish.

Allah is surely the most Intelligent and the Best of Planners.

Allah showed to the people that Prophet Yahya (pbuh) was a prophet as he was born in a miracle way very similarly to Prophet Ishaq (pbuh).

Allah always gave many chances to the Bani Israel.

Allah gave the Bani Israel multiple opportunities to follow His guidance and He told the Bani Israel not to mistreat Prophet Yahya (pbuh) and listen to him.

Being a Hafiz (someone who has memorised the Quran) is quite good.

Obviously, this is not compulsory but having the intelligence and intellect to be able to memorise the Holy Book is so good. Prophet Yahya (pbuh) was very smart and he memorised the Torah and Zabur sent to Prophets Musa and Dawud (pbut) respectively.

The Old Testament of the Bible has some portions of those Holy Books.

However, a lot of the Holy Books except the Quran have been changed so they are not fully reliable.

Age should not stop you from fulfilling your (Halal) dreams.

Prophet Yahya (pbuh), from a very young age, guided the Bani Israel and went into depth about Allah’s laws.

You should love, respect and listen to your parents. You should also seek forgiveness from Allah.

Prophet Yahya (pbuh) used to do this and it is Haram to not listen to your parents if they are speaking good.

As parents, you should not be quick to be angry with your child. If they do wrong, be patient and hear them out first then advise them.

Once, when Prophet Yahya (pbuh) hadn’t come home, his parents went to look for him. When they found him, he was crying near the Jordan river, very far away from their home. Instead of his parents being angry about him, they asked him why he was crying. He replied that he was crying for Allah’s mercy and forgiveness.

Everyone in this world is imperfect and this is why even if you make sins accidentally, you should seek forgiveness from Allah.

This is why the prophets who had no sins used to still seek forgiveness and humble themselves.

Allah loves to forgive us so we should seek forgiveness. Prophet Yahya (pbuh) used to sometimes cry day and night in the grave and seek forgiveness from Allah without any sleep. 

You should also have a level of seriousness within you.

 Prophet Yahya (pbuh) was always serious and never liked enjoyment. We are allowed to enjoy in a Halal way but also remember that the entertainment in this world is temporary and the real permanent happiness is in Jannah.

 Be kind to animals.

 Prophet Yahya (pbuh) was very nice to animals and sometimes if the animals were hungry, he would give them food from his own plate and he would be hungry (only eating fruits and leaves). We should just be kind to animals.

You should have some time where you really think about Allah.

 Prophet Yahya (pbuh) sometimes went into such deep thinking about Allah that he would even enter a lion or bear’s cave during his sleep but the animals would not hurt him and left the cave for him as they recognised that he was a prophet.

You may have haters if you try to do good.

You should not wish to have haters but this can be inevitable. Because the Bani Israel had a very bad king named Herod who used to gain the support of the bad priests and the Roman king, he changed Allah’s laws and influenced the Bani Israel to do bad. Whenever Prophets Zakariya and Yahya (pbut) tried to correct the bad acts, the people would hate him as it wasn’t in their own benefits.

According to Allah’s laws, a man cannot marry his niece and vise versa.

KIng Antipas, who was one of the three sons of King Herod and who ruled a part of Palestine, wanted to marry his brother’s daughter. This is Haram. When the prophets tried to stop this and tell the people about how the king was destroying the laws, the bad people decided to arrest him and put him in prison.

The niece was desperate to be the Queen of Palestine and she was so angry at Prophet Yahya (pbuh) that she commanded the king to have Prophet Yahya’s head. They killed Prophet Yahya (pbuh). The bad people also killed Prophet Zakariya (pbuh).

Allah finally decided to give new laws and the final chance by sending Prophet Isa (pbuh) to Bani Israel.

These were some of the lessons that I captured from Yahya (pbuh). The story of Yahya(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!