Hazrat Fatema Zahra (S.A.), the Noblest Lady of all times, from the beginning till the end
\nThe life of the Noblest Lady of all times, from the beginning till the end. She was the greatest of the daughters of Eve. She was the Pride of the Virgin Mary \u2013 the mother of Jesus. She is called by God in the holy Qur\u2019an as Kowsar \u2013 the blessed spring of perpetual abundance. Her spotless purity, and that of her immediate household, is vouched by none other than the Almighty Creator in ayah 33 of Surah Ahzaab. If her father was the Noblest Person created by God, her peerless husband was next best creation of God, while her two immaculate sons have been hailed as Leaders of the Youths of Paradise.
\nShe was born to a mother, who remains till this day as the only Mother of all True Believers. She is the ancestress of a line of Infallible Imams, the last of whom is the Promised Saviour of mankind, for whose global government of peace, prosperity and justice, humanity is eagerly waiting, and whose lieutenant would be Jesus son of Mary. She is the paragon-par-excellence of faith, truthfulness, and patience \u2013 eve under the most adverse circumstances. She is the Lady, who without the least doubt is the supreme symbol of virtuous feminine virtues, and hence the perfect example for all daughters, wives, and mothers, striving to build sound and healthy societies. She is none other than Fatema (peace upon her), whose very name means immunity for her faithful followers from the fire of hell.
\nBorn on the 20th of Jamadi al-Akher to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) in the 5th year following the public proclamation of his universal mission of Islam, she was conceived in the womb of Hazrat Khadija (SA), shortly after the Prophet\u2019s me\u2019raj or ascension to the highest point in the heavens and back to earth in the fraction of a night. Hence, she was called by her father as \u201cTuffahat al-Ferdows\u201d or the Apple of Paradise.
\nWhile growing she faced the calamities, as a result of the economic-social boycott of the Muslim community by the Arab infidels of Mecca when it was the vast wealth of her mother that fed, clothed, sheltered and protected the neo Muslims from the persecution of pagans. She was about seven years, when her noble mother left the mortal world with nothing remaining of her proverbial wealth. The little girl, now took upon herself the responsibility of caring for her widower father to such an extent that she earned the epithet \u201cOmm Abiha\u201d, in addition to the sobriquet \u201cBatoul” that indicates cleanliness from all worldly impurities that women have to undergo because of their biological nature, and from which the only other lady who was immune was the Virgin Mary. Unlike, Mary, who did not marry because no male of her time was worthy of her hand, Fatema found her equal in the opposite gender, in the immaculate Imam Ali (AS), and became the mother of four impeccable children \u2013 sons Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, and daughters, Zainab and Omm Kolsoum \u2013 all of whom have earned immortality in the annals of history in view of their role in shaping the destiny of Islam.
\nNo wonder, that at her birth, when the heathens of Arabia who prided on male issue mocked the Prophet, Archangel Gabriel had informed her father of the Great Gift of Surah al-Kowsar bestowed by God upon him to ensure the perpetuity of his progeny through this blessed daughter, while it were his enemies who would be issueless.
\n“Indeed We have given you abundance.”
\n“So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice [the sacrificial camel].”
\n“Indeed it is your enemy who is without posterity.”
\nVolumes are recorded to recount the virtues of Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) that are outside the scope of a brief radio programme. Married with a simple dowry, she used to do all the household chores, while her husband would take care of work outside the house. She enjoyed very cordial relations with her mother-in-law, Fatema bint Asad (SA), the lady who had brought up her father the Prophet as her own son and to whose care the Prophet had entrusted her when she was orphaned on the death of Hazrat Khadija (SA). She never allowed her mother-in-law to trouble herself with household chores and left to her the social relations for keeping the necessary contact with family members and friends.
\nIn 7 AH when the Prophet provided Hazrat Fatema (SA) with the virtuous Abyssinian maid, Fizza, she divided the work equally, by giving rest to her maid a whole day after a day\u2019s work and discharging the duties that day herself. Among her outstanding merits, is her presence as the only woman, who accompanied her father, husband and two young sons, for the famous Mobahela with the Christians of Najran, in order to ascertain the truth of Islam by invoking divine curse on the liars, upon revelation of ayah 61 of Surah Aal-e Imran, in which the word \u201cNisa ana\u201d (our Women) solely refers to Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA).
\nThe Muhaddessa, as she is also known because of the fact that angels used to speak with her, the Prophet used to stand to his feet whenever the noble daughter entered his presence. After him, she barely lived for 95 days, and was martyred in defence of not just the rights of women in Islam but the Wilaya or God-given authority to rule, of her husband, when a roguish group of her father\u2019s companions usurped the political rights of Imam Ali (AS).
\nHer famous sermon, delivered on this occasion, is a firm testimony to her knowledge, courage, and eloquence. She patiently bore the hardships, even a miscarriage as a result of being pinned between the wall and the door of her house that was flung open in her face, without any respect for her status, by an unruly group of her father\u2019s companions intending to force her husband to swear allegiance to their political rule.
\nThe Most Truthful Lady (Siddiqat- al-Kubra), was laid to rest, as per her will, in the dead of night at a secret spot. No doubt the Prophet had remarked: \u201cFatema is part of me; whoever displeases her has displeased me and whoever displeases me has [in fact] displeased Allah the Glorious).\u201d<\/p>\n
Hazrat Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Mother of all True Believers<\/strong> Fatema the daughter of Asad, the ancestress of all Saadaat<\/strong> The Virgin Mary (Peace be upon Her)<\/strong> Hannah (peace upon her), the mother of the Virgin Mary (peace upon her)<\/strong>
\nOne of the Greatest Ladies of all time, to whom faith, loyalty, and humanitarian values will always remain indebted. Such lofty was her stature that till this day she is known as Mother of all True Believers.
\nShe was Omm al-Momineen, Hazrat Khadija bint Khuwaylid, who spent over 25 years of marital bliss with the Almighty\u2019s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), and as long as she was alive, the Prophet never took another spouse.
\nKhadija was a monotheist, following the creed of her ancestor Prophet Abraham (PBUH), in the days when Islam had not yet been formally announced and the Arabs lived a life of darkness, ignorance, and idol-worship. She was the wealthiest woman of Arabia, and was known as Malikat-al-Arab or the uncrowned Queen Arabia, having inherited from her father, Khuwaylid, the trade caravan business and expanded it considerably to include transactions with the neighbouring lands, such as Yemen, Syria that was part of the Roman Empire and Iraq that was part of the Iranian Sassanid Empire.
\nHer caravans were greater than the caravans of all other traders of the Quraish put together. With the profits she made, Khadija helped the poor, the widows, the orphans, the sick and the disabled. She was exceptionally pious and for this reason was known as at-Tahera or Pure. Her wealth and impeccable characteristics made many renowned men of Arabia to send marriage proposals, but she rejected them all, since she did not deem the idolatrous Arabs worthy of her monotheist hand.
\nKhadija did not travel with her trade caravans, and relied on honest managers to conduct trade on her behalf. She was in search of a highly sincere and efficient manager, when several persons whom she trusted recommended the name of her distant relative, Mohammad (SAWA) ibn Abdullah, who was known in those days as as-Sadeq or the Truthful and al-Amin or the Trustworthy. She thus employed him and sent him as head of her trade caravan to a neighbouring land. On return, he brought her a huge profit, and as related to her by her servant who had accompanied the trade caravan, he conducted business in the most fair and honourable ways. The report of her trusted servant that the young Mohammad(SAWA) was the kindest, gentlest and most honest person that he had ever met amazed Khadija. He was courteous to even the servants harshly, and had the profit he brought was double of what was anticipated. Khadija was profoundly impressed and after serious thought, considered offering marriage proposal to her poor but honest relative, who was orphaned in childhood and was brought up by his uncle, Abu Taleb, the renowned leader of Mecca.
\nKhadija knew that her proposal would be seen as strange as many wealthy men of the Quraysh had been rejected by her. Through Abu Taleb the formal proposal was made, and soon despite opposition from her wealthy family and friends under threat of boycott, she married the 25-year old youth, who was destined to become the Almighty\u2019s Last and Greatest Messenger with the universal message of Islam. After marriage, Khadija placed all her wealth, property, and trade transactions under the care of her husband.
\nThe pair soon became the proud parents of a boy, who was named Qassim, and from whom her husband acquired his famous kunya or agnomen, known till this day as Abu\u2019l-Qassim, although the son died in infancy. They had other sons as well, but all died in infancy. They made an excellent pair loyal to each other, and soon the husband decided to adopt his young cousin, Ali, the son of his beloved uncle and guardian Abu Taleb. Fifteen years after marriage, when God formally entrusted her husband, through the Archangel Gabriel, the universal message of Islam, Khadija immediately believed in Prophet Mohammed (SAWA). With the formal proclamation of the message of Islam, the most difficult times set in for the couple, as the Arabs and even family members, mocked and ridiculed Khadija\u2019s husband. In those days, it was a strange sight to see only three persons praying to the One and Only God, with the Prophet leading the prayer, while behind him stood his wife, and his young ten-year cousin. Soon after the Prophet\u2019s Me\u2019raj or miraculous ascent to the heavens and back in a fraction of a single night, Khadija became pregnant again. This time God granted her a radiant daughter, who was named Fatema (SA), and who was chosen by God as the Noblest Lady of all times.
\nKhadija bore patiently the hardships, and sacrificed all her proverbial wealth to feed, clothe, and shelter the neo Muslim community of Mecca. She helped free slaves with her money, and when the Muslims were placed under social and economic boycott at She\u2019b Abi Taleb, the gorge outside Mecca known till this day by this name, it was Khadija\u2019s money that helped procured much-need grains for the Muslims. Nevertheless, Khadija stood steadfast beside her husband, and for the sake of God spent all her money, to the extent that when she finally departed from the world in the month of Ramadhan, shortly after the end of the social-economic boycott, she had become penniless, and there was no inheritance for her daughter, Fatema (SA) her only surviving child. The same year, the Prophet\u2019s beloved unlce, Abu Taleb also passed away, and because of the profound grief of the Prophet, the year is known as Aam al-Hozn or the Year of Grief in the annals of history. The Prophet ceremonially washed Khadija and enshrouded her with the cloth that Gabriel has brought from God Almighty for her.<\/p>\n
\nFatema the daughter of Asad, the son of Hashem \u2013 the Prophet\u2019s great-grandfather after whom the monotheist Hashemite clan is known. Her marriage with Abu Taleb made the two the first ever Hashemite couple to enter the nuptial bond. She was the lady who nurtured in her lap two of the noblest ever persons of all time. In other words, if as the foster mother she brought up the future Prophet as her own son (following the death of his parents in early childhood), her own biological son, Imam Ali (AS), was destined to be the divinely-decreed vicegerent of the Almighty\u2019s Last and Greatest Messenger to mankind.
\nIf for the miraculously pregnant Virgin Mary, God had ordered her to leave the sacred precincts of Bayt al-Moqaddas for delivery of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), for Fatema bint Asad, the Lord Most High made the walls of Abraham\u2019s edifice, the holy Ka\u2019ba, to miraculously part and close behind her, so that Imam Ali (AS) could be born in the holiest spot on Planet Earth.
\nLater she said: Allah preferred me to the virtuous ladiesof the past. Mary shook the trunk of the palm-tree and ripe dates fell upon her. I entered the House of Allah and ate fruits of paradise; and when I was about to leave the place, I heard the divine call: \u201cO Fatema! Name your son Ali, because he has been exalted by the Lord Most High. His name is a derivative of My Own Name… I made known to him the intricacies of My Knowledge. He will smash and remove the idols installed in My House (Holy Ka\\’ba). He is the one to call people to prayer from the roof of My House. Blessed are those who love him and woe to those who are his foes.\u201d
\nAll Islamic historians and compilers of hadith are unanimous that she was among the foremost Muslims and the second among women after the Prophet\u2019s wife Hazrat Khadija (SA), to publicly declare faith in Islam.
\nIt was a great honour for Fatema bint Asad to be addressed as mother by Holy Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). He used to say that along with his uncle and guardian, Abu Taleb, she cared the utmost for him. When the Holy Prophet (SAWA) lost to the cold hands of death, his loyal wife, the Mother of all True Believers, Omm al-Momineen Khadija, he entrusted his orphaned daughter, Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) to the motherly care of his foster-mother, Fatema bint Asad.
\nLater in Medina, by virtue of the blessed marriage of Imam Ali and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon them), she became mother-in-law to the Prophet\u2019s Immaculate Daughter. As we said last week, the two enjoyed very cordial relations. Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) never allowed Fatema bint Asad to trouble herself with household chores, and left to her the social relations for keeping the necessary contact with family members and friends. With the birth of the Prophet\u2019s grandsons, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain (peace upon them), Fatema bint Assad became the proud paternal grandmother of the Leaders of the Youths of Paradise. Consequently, she is the ancestress of all Saadaat (plural of Seyyed), as all direct descendants of Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA) are reverently called till this day.
\nBesides Imam Ali (AS), Fatema bint Assad was the mother of two other virtuous sons, Ja\u2019far and Aqeel, who are immortal names in Islamic history. Ja\u2019far was the first migrant in Islam. Following the death of his father Abu Taleb and the increase in the persecution of the fledgling Muslim community in Mecca, he was instructed by the Holy Prophet (SAWA) to migrate to Abyssinia or what is now called Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa.
\nHe returned to Arabia some years later on the day his younger brother, Imam Ali (AS), single-handedly conquered the impregnable Israelite fortress of Qamous in the Khaiber region, north of Medina. Ja\u2019far was entrusted with the command of the Muslim forces in some of the armed encounters that were imposed upon the Holy Prophet (SAWA) by the enemies of Islam. He achieved martyrdom, fighting bravely in the battle against a joint army of Christian Arabsand Romans in Mo\u2019ta, which is now in Jordan.
\nBoth his hands were cut off in the battle, and the aggrieved the Holy Prophet (SAWA) gave tidings of Ja\u2019far being granted a pair of wings in paradise by God Almighty. Thus, posthumously he became famous in Islamic history as Ja\u2019far at-Tayyar or the One who flies \u2013 like birds. The Holy Prophet (SAWA) took under his personal care Abdullah, Mohammad, and Aun, the orphaned sons of Ja\u2019far, that is, the grandsons of his foster-mother Fatema bint Assad (peace upon her). Later on growing up, Abdullah and Mohammad were married respectively to their first cousins, Hazrat Zainab and Hazrat Kolsoum, the noble daughters of Imam Ali and Hazrat Fatema Zahra (peace upon them). In other words, all four were grandchildren of Fatema bint Asad.
\nAs all books of hadith and history testify, Fatema bint Asad was a very virtuous and God-fearing lady. The degree of her faith could be gauged by the Holy Prophet\\’s (SAWA) assurance to her of immunity from the constriction of the grave to which almost all dead bodies are subjected.He also gave tidings to her that on the Day of Resurrection when the dead are revived she will be among the pious ones who will be raised fully clothed for being extremely mindful of modesty.
\nAmong other proofs of the pride of place in Islam of Fatema bint Asad is that, when she died the Holy Prophet (SAWA) gave his own tunic to be used as shroud, shouldered her bier, lay down himself for a while in her grave before her burial, and recited the \u201ctalqeen\u201din her ears in mournful tones, saying at one instance \u201cibnaki, ibnaki\u201d which means \u201cyour son, your son.\u201d When the companions asked him what he meant by these words while laying her foster-mother to rest, he replied: The angels asked my aunt about my mission of prophethood (nubuwwat) and she gave the exact answer, and when they questioned her about the issue of imamate (divinely-decreed leadership after the Holy Prophet (SAWA)), she was overcome with modesty, so I said: \u201c(it is) your son, your son\u201d \u2013that is, Imam Ali (AS).
\nSo profound was his state of grief that after the burial that the Holy Prophet (SAWA) sat down beside her grave for lengthy moments, weeping and supplicating to God. While returning from the Jannat al-Baqie Cemetery he told his companions that today he had become totally deprived of the munificence of his late uncle Abu Taleb. He said Fatema bint Asad (SA) loved him as her son, preferring him to her own children. He said God has sent 70,000 angels for her funeral prayer.<\/p>\n
\nMary or Maryam, as she is called in the holy Qur\u2019an, grew up into such an exceptionally virtuous lady that the Almighty Creator raised her status as the noblest woman of her age, and sent angels to convey His message to her, as we read in ayahs 42 and 43 of Surah Aal-e Imran: “And when the angels said, \u2018O Mary, Allah has chosen you and purified you, and He has chosen you above the world\u2019s women.”
\n“O Mary, be obedient to your Lord, and prostrate and bow down with those who bow [in worship].”
\nMaryam was indeed the picture of innocence, piety and dedication. One day while she was engrossed in worshipping God, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her in human form. She was frightened, and at the same time wondered how could a man intrude on her privacy in the cloistered women\u2019s quarters of the sanctuary? In ayah 18 of Surah Maryam, God quotes her as saying: “I seek the protection of the All-Beneficent from you, should you be Godwary!”
\nArchangel Gabriel, in order to remove the fear that she felt within herself, said, as is related in the next ayah of the same Surah: “I am only a messenger of your Lord that I may give you (tidings of) a pure son.”
\nMary who was an exceptionally chaste and virtuous woman, said in a tone of surprise, as ayah 20 Surah Maryam informs us: “How shall I have a child, when no human being has ever touched me, nor have I been unchaste?”
\nThen the Angel said, as we learn from the next ayah of the same Surah: “So shall it be. Your Lord says, \u201cIt is simple for Me.\u201d And so that We may make him (that is, the Virgin-born Jesus) a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter [already] decided.”
\nThe angel vanished as suddenly as he had appeared, but Mary could not fully comprehend the meaning of these tidings from heaven. However, soon to her surprise she found her abdomen growing and felt movement inside it, indicating that she pregnant. This further astonished her because she had never been touched by any man. This obviously upset her greatly and to avoid any embarrassment she withdrew from her family and the public\u2019s eye and went to a far place.
\nIt is said that she travelled, or was miraculously transported, to what is now the Baratha Mosque near Baghdad in Iraq, where under a palm tree, after experiencing the pangs of childbirth, she delivered a radiant boy at a place where no one was present. She was further shocked and became apprehensive of the accusations people would heap against her, especially the Israelites, since she had no husband. At the same time, she felt helpless, while thirst and hunger overcame her, as we read in ayah 23 of Surah Maryam: “I wish I had died before this and become a forgotten thing, beyond recall.”
\nSuddenly she heard a voice saying, although no one was in sight, as God informs us in ayahs 24 to 26 of the same Surah: “Do not grieve! Your Lord has made a spring to flow at your feet.”
\n“Shake the trunk of the palm tree, freshly picked dates will drop upon you.”
\n“Eat, drink, and be comforted. Then if you see any human, say, \u201cIndeed I have vowed a fast to the All-beneficent, so I will not speak to any human today.”
\nMary, along with the infant Jesus, soon returned to her hometown, Bayt al-Moqaddas in Palestine, where the Israelites, aware of the piety and purity of character, felt shock at the sight of a baby in her lap. They asked her about the father of the child, but she said nothing and pointed to the infant. This further confused the people because there was no point in asking an infant about his birth. So they said, as we read in ayah 29 of Surah Maryam: “How can we speak to one who is yet a baby in the cradle?”
\nWhile the people taunted and reproached her, a miracle happened. To the surprise of the people, the infant spoke from the cradle, as God informs us ayahs 30 to 33 of Surah Maryam: “He said, \u2018Indeed I am a servant of Allah! He has given me the Book and made me a prophet.”
\n“He has made me blessed, wherever I may be, and He has enjoined me to [maintain] the prayer and to [pay] the zak\u0101t as long as I live”
\n“and to be good to my mother, and He has not made me self-willed and wretched.”
\n“Peace is to me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised alive.”
\nThis was the message of Jesus, the Messiah, who declared his mission as a prophet of God, saying that just as God had created the father of the human race, Adam, without parents, He the Almighty had decreed his birth without the association of any male with his mother Mary. Thus, the naming of a whole surah in the holy Qur\u2019an in her honour is proof of the fact that Mary was a chaste, pure and pious lady. According to Islamic narrations, Maryam is one of the 4 chosen women of all time. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) says: “The best women of the Paradise are Mary, (my wife) Khadijah, (my daughter) Fatema, and Asiyya (the virtuous wife of the tyrant Pharaoh).
\nAccording to some narrations, Mary passed away at the age of 63, after the end of the mission of her son, Prophet Jesus (PBUH).<\/p>\n
\nHannah was the wife of Prophet Imran whom God had commissioned to guide the Israelites. The coupled, although devoted to each other, were childless. Whenever Hannah would see a woman with a child, her longing for a baby increased. Years passed in this state of barrenness but she never lost hope. She had firm belief that one day Allah would bless her with a child, on whom she would shower all her motherly love. She would always pray to the Almighty Creator for a child of her own. She now made a vow that if granted a child she would dedicate this offspring to the service of Allah in the holy sanctuary of Bayt al-Moqaddas.
\nAllah then revealed to her husband Imran that a son would spring from his progeny, who would give sight to the blind, cure lepers, quicken the dead by Divine commandment, and would be one of the greatest prophets for the Israelites. Imran gave the good news to his wife Hannah and she soon conceived. She was naturally overjoyed and the coupled thanked the Almighty Creator for granting their request. Hannah thought that Allah has given the good news of a male child, although the Divine Promise to Imran was that a son would emerge from his progeny. Her supplication to the Lord Most High is preserved in ayah 35 of Surah Aal-e Imran of the holy Qur\u2019an, which reads: “My Lord, I dedicate to You what is in my belly, in consecration. Accept it from me; indeed You are the All-hearing, the All-knowing.”
\nIt is worth noting that in those days, devout Israelites would often dedicate their sons for service at the sanctuary of Bayt of Moqaddas. Thus when Hannah delivered, to her dismay, it was not a son but a daughter. The couple named the daughter Maryam, and Hannah supplicated to God in a distressed tone, saying how can she fulfill her vow of dedicating the offspring to the sanctuary when the custom was that only boys would be taken for the sacred service? Allah revealed to her husband Imran that a girl child can also serve at the sanctuary, as is mentioned in part of ayah 36 of Surah Aal-e Imran, which says: “and Allah knew better what she had borne\u2014 \u2018and the female is not like the male.”
\nThrough this revelation God means to say that He the All-Wise knows better whatever He has granted, irrespective of the difference between a male and a female. In other words, in the case of Hannah, the newborn daughter Maryam would be harbinger of greater blessings than what could be brought by a male. The words of God comforted Hannah in view of the fact that a virtuous and pious lady lays the foundation of a sound and healthy family for the progress and betterment of the society through proper grooming of her children. For this reason she named the newborn daughter, Maryam which literally means the \u2018Maidservant of Allah\u2019. She prayed to God saying, as part of ayah 36 of Surah Aal-e Imran informs us: “I have named her Maryam and I commend her and her offspring to Your care against [the evil of] the outcast Satan.”
\nHannah now had to overcome the hurdle of convincing the elders of the sanctuary to allow her to fulfill her vow to Allah by accepting the girl-child Maryam for service at the sanctuary, although it was the custom amongst the Israelites to accept boys only. Her sister\\’s husband Zakariyya comforted her, saying that Allah\u2019s promise and words are far superior to any manmade custom. It seems her husband, Imran had expired, but nonetheless Hannah decided to fulfill her vow by handing over the girl Maryam to the elders of the sanctuary of Bayt al-Moqaddas. The elders, realizing that Maryam was the child of their late beloved leader, accepted Hannah\u2019s offer, and discussed the issue of guardianship to take charge of the little daughter. Zakariyya, who as a Prophet of God, was among the principal trustees of the sanctuary, volunteered to be the guardian of Maryam in view of his close blood-relationship with her.
\nNonetheless, as per the custom, lots were cast amongst the sanctuary elders for determining the guardianship of the girl-child Maryam, by taking turn to throw into the river a reed, which if kept afloat, would be considered a sign of Divine approval. To everyone\u2019s surprise, the reeds of all the elders sank except that of Zakariyya that floated on the surface of the water. He was thus made the guardian, and taught her all the rituals. For instance, when Maryam turned 9 years old, he instructed her to fast during the days and spent the nights in prayer and supplications to God. She was so pious that she excelled even the most pious scholars. Whenever Zakariyya would see Maryam he was surprised to find fresh fruits with her, even fruits that grow in different seasons. When he enquired, Maryam gave an answer which God has preserved in ayah 37 of Surah Aal-e Imran: “It comes from Allah. Allah provides whomever He wishes without any reckoning.”
\nZakariyya understood that these are all gifts of God and Maryam is indeed an exalted lady. Her spiritual status and high devotion to God amazed him. Zakariyya, who childless, longed for a child of his own, who would be as pious and virtuous as the daughter of his sistern-in-law, Maryam. Although he and his wife had grown old, he never felt dismayed, supplicating to God with the words, preserved in Ayahs 5 and 6 of Surah Aal-e Imran: “So grant me from Yourself an heir”
\n“Who may inherit from me and inherit from the House of Jacob, and make him, my Lord, pleasing [to You]!”
\nHis prayer was answered with the revelation preserved in Ayah 7 of Surah Maryam, which reads: “O Zakariyya! Indeed We give you the good news of a son, whose name is \u201cJohn.\u201d Never before have We made anyone his namesake.”
\nThus, Maryam and John were first cousins. The holy Qur\u2019an informs us of the exalted status of Maryam to the extent that by Divine Commandment, angels would speak to her and tell her that God has chosen her as the most noble lady of the world of her days.<\/p>\n