Mufti Menk – The Story of Prophet Zakariya AS and Maryam AS

You know, the wife of Imran, this surah

is named after the family of Imran.

So the wife of Imran was the mother

of Mary, the Virgin Mary who was the

mother of Jesus Christ or Isa Alaihi Salam,

may peace be upon him. So Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala says the mother of Mary

used to pray to Allah to say, Oh

Allah, if you bless me with

offspring, I will actually sacrifice this offspring for

your cause.

And Allah blessed her with

a girl child. SubhanAllah.

A girl child. Now many times people want

to have boys,

some want to have girls. Allah says, you

know what? It's in me. It's in my

hands. It's up to me what I'm going

to do. Allah blessed her with the girl.

That girl was Mariam. Something unique used to

happen to Mariam, Mary, the mother of Jesus,

may peace be upon them both.

Something amazing used to happen.

Zakaria

used to take care of her

and she was in her own space or

place of worship

and every time she was in that place

of worship when Zakariya used to go there,

he used to find with her some food.

Where did you get this food from? It

was fruit. What type of fruit? Fruit that

was out of season. SubhanAllah.

It's not even a seasonal fruit. So who

brought it for you? It couldn't have been

a human being. So every time Zakaria went

to this place of worship

to see Mary, Mariam,

as she grew older and she was young,

he saw fruit with her that was amazing.

Strange. So he asked her, where did you

get this from? Verse number

38, she says,

It is from Allah. Allah gives whomsoever He

wishes without account.

So when you pray to Allah, He gives

you that which people consider impossible. That's what

Zakariya learned immediately.

If I were to pray to Allah, Allah

will give me something that others might consider

impossible.

Your faith

will carry you during times of crisis. My

beloved brothers and sisters, your faith keeps supplicating

and have conviction in Allah. He is the

one.

If he granted fruit and vegetable to Mary

or some types of food to Mary, the

mother of Jesus,

when she prayed and she was close to

him. Do you think he cannot create a

miracle for you and I? Look at Zakaria.

He immediately saw that and he knew he

doesn't have offspring, male offspring to carry his

lineage. So, Huna'lika daa zakariyahrabah.

The next verse Allah says

in verse number

38, Allah says at that juncture, Zakariya immediately

called out to Allah. He says, oh, my

Lord,

I want progeny. I need you to give

me progeny.

You know, children who will carry my name

and continue with the goodness for indeed you

hear the prayer.

Oh my Lord, grant me progeny

from you,

good pure progeny for indeed you, you hear

all the prayers. He was inspired by Mary,

Mariam, may peace be upon her. He knew

he was old. His wife was barren and

at the same time he wanted a child.

So he called out to Allah. The angels

called

Zakariyah

and informed him that, you know what? Good

news. Allah is going to bless you with

a child called Yahya,

John,

SubhanAllah,

may peace be upon them all.

Imagine

he now didn't know what to do because

his wife was old, she was barren and

at the same time he

is calling out to Allah and Allah has

given it to him and Allah says your

wife is expecting. Woah, what am I going

to do? How am I going to face

the people? I'm so old. SubhanAllah.

But

the point I've learned here is look at

how he was inspired by Mary who called

out to Allah, may peace be upon her,

and look at how he's calling out to

Allah and now he's gotten something that

others would have considered impossible. So there is

nothing impossible for Allah.

Nothing impossible for Allah. Allah

says, oh Zakariyah,

we are

giving you good news of a child. He

immediately says, how will I face my people?

Give me a sign.

SubhanAllah.

There was a crisis.

What was the crisis? The crisis was, yes,

he they were given the goodness, but now

facing people sometimes is a crisis. A person

goes through some hardship. A person has made

some money sometimes, people will start spreading rumors.

How do I protect myself from those rumors?

So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala revealed amazing verses

to teach him what to do.