Zakariyya and Yahya

THE TWO MARTYRS

By: Momina Mateen

ZAKARIYA م السال عليه AND YAHYA م السال عليه

These two Prophets were sent to the

Children of Israel

Zakariya عليه السالم

Yahya عليه السالم

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ZAKARIYA السالم عليه

He was a servant of Allah sent in times

where people were more involved with

worldly pleasures.

He worked as a priest in the temple of

Jerusalem and also watched over Maryam.

Zakariyah, along with his wife, was very

keen on serving his Lord and mankind.

He was worried that because of his age,

there would be no-one left to spread the

message of Allah. So he dearly wanted a child

who he could nurture for spiritual reasons.

Why was Zakariyah Sad?

Who was Maryam?Back to Prophets

WHY WAS ZAKARIYA SAD?

He was saddened by the fact that the only reason why people were

working at the the temple was for power and praise.

But Zakariya wanted to remain steadfast and so he prayed for a

son that would carry on spreading the message of Allah.

So Allah gave him a son, Yahya السالم .عليه

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Zakariyah

MARYAM

The future mother of Prophet Isa (Jesus Christ)

She was a relative of Zakariya’s wife

She grew up under the special protection of Allah

She used to spend a lot of time alone worshipping

Allah under Zakriya’s special supervision.

Allah provided for her sustenance.How?

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Zakariyah

MARYAM’S SUSTENANCE

When Zakariya would check up upon her he would always

find her with sufficient food including types of fruit that were

out of season.

Proof (Surah Imran V37):

And because of this Zakariya wished that he had an offspring

like her.

"O Mary, from where is this [coming] to you?" She said, "It is from Allah . Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account."

Zakariya’s Prayer

ZAKARIYA’S PRAYER

Seeing Maryam was an encouragement for him as he

believed that Allah could bless him with a child even in

his old age. This belief, this trust, his Tawakkul (sincere

reliance on Allah) therefore urged him to turn to Allah.Zakariya’s Prayer

(Arabic)

Zakariya’s Prayer

(English)

ZAKARIYA’S PRAYER (ARABIC)

Surah Maryam V4-6

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ZAKARIYA’S PRAYER (ENGLISH)

He said, "My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened, and my head has filled with white, and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Lord, unhappy. (4)

And indeed, I fear the successors after me, and my wife has been barren, so give me from Yourself an heir (5)

Who will inherit me and inherit from the family of Jacob. And make him, my Lord, pleasing [to You].” (6)

The Conversation That Followed

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CONVERSATION

[He was told], "O Zechariah, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be John. We have not

assigned to any before [this] name.”(7)He said, "My Lord, how will I have a boy when my wife has been barren and I have reached extreme old age?” (8)

[An angel] said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, for I created you before, while you were nothing.' ” (9)[Zechariah] said, "My Lord, make for me a sign." He said, "Your sign is that you will not speak to the people for three nights, [being] sound.”(10)So he came out to his people from the prayer chamber and signaled to them to exalt [ Allah ] in the morning and afternoon.(11)

The Result

RESULT

Prophet Zakariya came out of his chamber and, by using

signs, he told his people to praise and worship Allah.

Because Allah is so merciful, he accepted Zakariya’s prayer

and granted him a son.

Yahya, The Righteous Son

YAHYA, THE RIGHTEOUS SON

Yahya was kind, obedient and not rebellious.

Allah wanted Yahya to learn and practice His

guidance

His parents were very very proud of him.

The greatest thing about Yahya was that he

kept hold of God’s teachings with all his might,

not allowing any worldly affairs to distract him.

Prophet Yahya was unjustly killed at the

hands of a tyrantYahya’s Mission

Gifts to Prophet Yahya

Characteristics of Prophet

Yahya

Yahya’s Death

Similarity between Prophet Yahya and

Prophet Isa

Relating to modern time

YAHYA’S MISSION AND TEACHINGS

Allah ordered Yahya السالم with five commands to establish عليه

amongst the Children of Israel. So Yahya gathered them all in

Temple of Bayt Al-Maqdis. He started off by praising Allah and

thanking Him and then ordered the five commands:

1. Worship Allah and worship none along with Him

2. Offer prayers

3. Observe fasting

4. Give charity

5. Continue your remembrance of Allah in your daily life.

The fasting person is like a jar of musk from which all the people passing by can benefit from the beautiful aroma. When you give charity it is like a the prisoner who has been captured and ready to be executed, then asks his captor, “May I ransom myself?” Then he spends his own money to save his own neck.

He continued… Back to

Prophet Yahya

HE CONTINUED…

Allah created you and provided for you and sustained you. Worship

Him and do not ascribe partners with Him. The worshipper becomes

closer to Allah when he prays to Him.

Always remember Allah in your daily affairs – one who is constant in

the remembrance of Allah is like the man who is being chased by an

enemy. After a tiring journey the man finds a fortress and seeks

protection and security within it. The remembrance of Allah is one’s

fortress from Satan.

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GIFTS TO PROPHET YAHYA

1. Wisdom and knowledge

2. Empathy and love for all God’s

creatures

3. Humility in his manners and his

clothing and his possessions (he

despised luxury)

4. Piety

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPHET YAHYA

1.Active in serving Allah

2.He never used violence

3.He never mistreated any creature

4.He was particularly kind and merciful with his

parents

5.He stayed away from people because he liked

worshipping in solitude.

6.He gave up the world and went to live in the

wilderness until his family came searching for

him.

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YAHYA AND ISA – SPIRITUAL BROTHERS

They were both sent to the same group

of people.

They were both brothers in spirit and

were given the task of prophet-hood.

They were treated harshly by their

people.

Yahya prepared the way for Isa who

came to renew and re-interpret the

Torah.

They both shared the same devotion to

the five commands that Allah had ordered

them to propagate amongst the people.

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YAHYA’S DEATH

The story goes…

Herod(provincial leader under Roman Empire)

wanted to marry his niece because she was

very pretty and he wanted the approval of

Prophet Yahya as marrying the niece was

prohibited in Judaism. The Prophet didn’t

approve of this.

Herod’s wife herself was evil and convinced

him to kill(behead) the Prophet so she could

marry her uncle.

Herod sent his soldiers to kill the Prophet

whilst he was praying. And shortly after that

the same group killed Prophet Zakariya. These

two martyred Prophets were said to be “the

Martyr, and the son of the Martyr” by Prophet

Muhammad.

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RELATING TO MODERN TIME

Prophet Yahya did not “go with the flow”.

He followed the path of Allah despite how people treated him.

We have to learn to ignore the ‘flow’ and make the right choices.

You could also make the following dua:

God suffices me. There is no God but He: On him is my trust; He is the Lord Of the Throne, Supreme!

توكلت عليه هو، إال إله ال الله� العظيم َح�س�ِب� العرش رَب� هو و .

Don’

t

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