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fa-nādathu l-malāʾikatu wa-huwa qāʾimun yuṣallī fī l-miḥrābi ʾanna llāha yubashshiruka bi-yaḥyā muṣaddiqan bi-kalimatin mina llāhi wa-sayyidan wa-ḥaṣūran wa-nabiyyan mina ṣ-ṣāliḥīna
Then, as he stood praying in the sanctuary the angels called out to him: ‘Allah gives you the good news of John, as a confirmer of a Word of Allah, eminent and chaste, a prophet, and one of the righteous.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah 'Ali-Imran, Verses 38-39
38. "It way then (that) Zakariya prayed to his Lord; he said: 'My Lord! grant me from You a good offspring; verily You are the Hearer of all prayers'."
39. "Then the angels called unto him while he way standing praying in the sanctuary: 'Verily Allah gives you the glad tidings of Yahya (who comes) to confirm a Word from Allah, and honourable and chaste, and a prophet from among the righteous'."
The first Qur'anic word mentioned in the above verse is /hunalika/ which means: 'in that place'. It was the place at the sanctuary where Zachariah saw the position and honour of Mary with Allah and wished he had also a child from his wife, 'Isha', similar to the child of his sister, Hannah, although his wife was barren.
Zachariah prayed and asked his Lord to give him an auspicious, pious and sound child.
At that time, when Zachariah (as) was standing praying in the sanctuary, some angels called him that Allah granted him the glad tidings of a son, Yahya (John), in the case that he (John) would confirm the Word of Allah (Hadrat Masih, Jesus), and would become a leader and honourable. He would be apart from low desires and a prophet from among the pious. Thus, not only Allah informed him the acceptance of his prayer by the angels, but also stated five characteristics of the qualities of that pure child. They are as follows:
1. Yahya (John) acknowledged Jesus (as) as a true prophet and he believed him. John was six months older than Jesus (as), and he confirmed his prophet hood. He was the first certifier of him and testified that Jesus (as) was the Word and the Spirit of Allah.
This very fact was one of the miracles concerning Jesus (as) as well as the most authoritative means of the advent and propagation of his auspicious prophet hood, because people did accept the statement of John due to his piety and truthfulness. By the way, in Arabic, the terms 'Isa and Yahya nearly have a similar meaning. Both of them mean 'to live long'.
2. Yahya (John) became the chief of his tribe and had preference over them from the point of honesty, knowledge, worship, and good manner.
3. He restrained himself from the low desires, and also from following the violent filthy passions, and mammonism.
4. He would become an honest exalted prophet. It should also be noted that the prophet hood of John had been settled from his childhood. The reference for this meaning is Surah Maryam, No, 19, verse 13 which says:
That is, we gave him the rank of prophet hood at the time of his childhood. In many Islamic traditions, the Imamate of Hadrat Imam Jawad (as), who became Imam when he was seven years old, as well as the Imamate of Hadrat Mahdi (may Allah hasten his glad advent), have been reasoned to John and Jesus (as) who became prophets when they were in the course of their childhood.4
5. This prophet (John) was from amongst the righteous people.
Footnotes