The name is in Arabic
Zechariah, peace be upon him.
Title
Guardian of the prayer niche, and caretaker of Mary.
Chronological order
He came after Solomon, peace be upon him, and was a contemporary of Jesus and Yahya, peace be upon them.
Mission location
Jerusalem (Sham and Palestine).
📜 Lineage and upbringing
Lineage: He is a descendant of Suleiman bin David, peace be upon them, and a descendant of Jacob, peace be upon him.
Profession: He was a carpenter, as mentioned in some hadiths of the Prophet.
His status: He was an imam and preacher to the children of Israel in Jerusalem, and he was in charge of worship and religious care in the temple.
🕋 Maryam’s sponsorship and care
Mihrab: Zechariah, peace be upon him, was the sponsor of Maryam bint Imran (the mother of Jesus, peace be upon him) after her mother vowed her to serve Jerusalem.
The miracle of sustenance: He used to find with Mary in her sanctuary a strange provision at the wrong time (summer fruit in the winter and winter fruit in the summer), and when he asked her: $He said, “O Mary, how did this come to you?” She said, “It is from God.” Indeed, God provides for those who He wills without reckoning (Al Imran: 37).
The lesson: Zechariah realized that God is capable of everything, and that livelihood is not linked to material reasons, so he was inspired by this miracle to ask for the boy despite his old age.
🙏 Zechariah’s prayer and God’s response
Supplication: Zechariah had reached an old age, and his wife was barren (not giving birth), so he feared that the nation would die after him and would not find anyone to inherit prophecy and knowledge. So he prayed to his Lord, a secret and sincere supplication: “My Lord, do not leave me alone, for You are the best of heirs” (Al-Anbiya: 89).
Good news: God responded to his supplication and gave him good news of Yahya, peace be upon him: $O Zachariah, indeed we give you good news of a boy whose name is Yahya to whom We have not previously given a name by name$ (Maryam: 7).
A sign of good news: Zechariah was astonished by this miracle, so he asked God for a sign of his wife’s pregnancy, and the sign was that he would not speak to people for three days except as a symbol (sign), even though he was together and there was no harm in it: $He said, “My Lord, give me a sign.” He said, “Your sign is that you will not speak to people for three nights together” (Maryam: 10).
👶 The birth of Yahya, peace be upon him
Birth: Yahya, peace be upon him, was born to him. He grew up in obedience to God and inherited prophecy after him.
🔪 Death (according to unconfirmed statements)
Place and reason: The Holy Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah do not mention how Zechariah died. However, there were historically unconfirmed narratives (in Israelites) indicating that he was killed by the Children of Israel, and it was said that they killed his son Yahya before him, then they pursued him until he hid inside a tree and sawed it with a saw while he was inside it, and these narratives are not definitively proven.
⌛ His age
His age: There is no confirmed information about his age.
Note: The story of Zechariah, peace be upon him, is an example of not despairing of God’s mercy and resorting to Him with supplication even with weak financial reasons.