John the Baptist

In last week’s essay, we talked about the prophet Zacharias who became the custodian of Mary, and how she was being blessed by God which inspired him to seek God’s bounties and asks to be granted a child despite his advanced age. Following is the rest of the story as is told in the Quran.

“Thereupon, Zacharias supplicated to his Lord. He said: O Lord grant me from your favor, good progeny, for You are the Hearer of prayers. So, the angels called out to him as he stood in prayers in the sanctuary, God gives you the good tidings of Yahya (John) who would confirm the Word of God.[1]He will be noble, chaste, and a prophet, one of the righteous,

He (Zacharias) said: My Lord, how can I have a son, As I am already old, and my wife is barren. He (the angel) said: So, God even so does whatever He Wills.

He said: My Lord give me a sign. He said: your sign is that you shall not speak to people For three days except in gesture, And repeatedly invoke the remembrance of your Lord And glorify Him in the evening and the morning.” Quran, 3:39–41

A strikingly similar story is told in the Gospel of Luke but not in any of the others, with some variation that I leave it to the reader to evaluate. Here is how the story is told:

“Zakariah was in the sanctuary when suddenly the angels appeared to him while he was standing at the altar of incense. Zaharias was startled and terrified. But the angel said, don’t be afraid Zachariah, For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayers and that your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son! And you are to name him John.

You will both have great joy and gladness at his birth, and many will rejoice with you. For he will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor And he will be filled with the holy spirit, even before his birth! And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord, his God. He will be a man of rugged spirit and power like Elijah, The prophet of old and he will precede the coming of the Messiah. Luke, 1:12–17

“But Zacharias said to the angel, but this is impossible! I am an old man now and my wife is well along in years. Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel I stand in the very presence of God. It was He who sent me to you with this good news! And because you did not believe me, you are to be stricken silent, Unable to speak until the child is born.” Luke, 1:18–20

The observing reader of the Quran will notice that when Mary was given the good tidings of Jesus, the Quran referred to him as “the Word of God”. The same phrase is repeated in the above verses on how John will also confirm “the Word of God” about the coming of Jesus. The reader will also note that the Quran does not punish Zachariah for not believing God when given the good news of having a son, but rather, it was Zachariah who asked God for a sign from Him and the angels told him that his sign is not to speak to any living person for three days only. That is quite different from the story in Luke where Zacharia is punished for doubting God and was struck mute, lasting for the whole duration of pregnancy.

[1] Word of God here refers to Jesus, as mentioned in the last essay about Mary.