Article appeared Friday, June 30th, 2017 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (482) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

As we go through each day, who/what is the focus of our life? In other words, who do we do
most of the activities for? Are the activities geared towards fulfilling a need a need for our self
or for a near and dear one? For example, who do we rush out to buy the latest mobile for? Who
do we take selfies of? In other words, are we focused on our self and on deriving pleasures out
of the life given as a gift by God?

While enjoying the pleasures of intelligent life, do we ever think about God or think about our
self from Gods point-of-view? For example, why did God create me or myself as a unique
individual is it just to enjoy the pleasures of life? Or do we ever give a thought to what He does
for us, e.g., have we ever attributed the gifts to His Qualities?

One of Gods Qualities as mentioned in the Holy Quran is Ar-Rahman or the Most Merciful. The
meaning of this Quality/Attribute/Nature {1, p.70} of God is given in two parts,
a) Allahs comprehensive mercy which He shows to all His creation without exception
by creating them and providing for them, and
b) the particular mercy that He has exclusively for the believers, both in this life and in
the Hereafter.

The Arabic term Ar-Rahman is sometimes translated as The Most Gracious {2} and The
Compassionate {3}. This Attribute of God is mentioned 57 times {2} in the entire Quran and in
the chapter under review (Chapter 19) it appears at least 6 times {3, p.765}. The chapter opens
(Verse 19.2) with a mention of the special Mercy of God, as that given in meaning b) above, i.e.,
towards believers, in this case, towards His servant Zechariah. The special mercy mentioned
means that he was accepted as a believer and was therefore granted special blessings from
Gods unbounded Mercy [14.5, 14.7].

Who then, is a believer or how does a believer behave? And why should God bestow special
blessings on believers? To answer the first question we may get clues from the nature of
worship. This is particularly evident at the times and in the communities into which prophets and
messengers were born. To fulfill their needs, what did people do? To fulfill their needs, what do
people do now, in modern times? For example, if a child is seriously sick, how many places do
we run to for restoration of health? One may increase the frequency of ritual prayer, visit
religious sages, tie pieces of papers around the childs arm/neck/waist and/or put papers on the
door of the childs room, ask others for prayers, put black spots on the childs forehead, cry and
plead with doctors to save the child and/or purchase lucky charms/amulets. During all this run
around, what do we have in our mind? Is recovery our primary concern? And we try all means at
our disposal whatever might work?

Or do we calmly analyze whether the objects other than God can affect a cure? For example,
does the lucky charm/amulet or piece of paper with inscription (in the tabij or on the door)
know what the illness is? Does the best doctor in the world and the best medicine have the
power to cure the patient? Or is it only God who knows what is going on, what you are doing
and the only One who has the power to cure the illness? In the Quran we find the complete
story of how Prophet Abraham (pbuh) explained useless worship of other things to his father
and others in Verses 26.69 to 26.83.
..and when I am ill it is He Who cures me; [26.80]

Therefore, what should a believer do, while consulting with a doctor or giving medicine to the
patient? The believer would completely trust God, i.e., would not plead with the doctor nor would
he/she think that the medicine can directly cure. He/she would only cry and plead with God,
Call on your Lord with humility and in private: for Allah loves not those who trespass
beyond bounds. [7.55]

Chapter 19 opens with reference letters that are not found anywhere else in the Quran.
19.1 Kaf. Ha. Ya. `Ain. Sad.
Similarly, at the beginning of Chapter 10 we find,
Alif. Lam. Ra. These are the Signs of the Book of Wisdom. [10.1]

The abbreviated letters are most likely a reference to the Mother of the Book with God [43.4]
where the nature of guidance to be sent to mankind is documented [20.123 20.124].

19.2 (This is) a recital of the Mercy of your Lord to His Servant Zakariya.
This guidance presents an example of how God responds to prayers of His believing servants.

19.3 Behold! He cried to his Lord in secret.

A believers conviction and trust in God and His Power and Purpose leads to prayers in various
ways [32.16 32.18]

19.4 Praying: "O my Lord! Infirm indeed are my bones and the hair of my head
glistens with grey: but never have I been unblessed, O my Lord, in my prayer to
You!
Zakariya acknowledged fulfillment of all previous prayers to God. Now, getting old as a believer,
whose purpose was to deliver guidance, he had a special concern.

19.5 "Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues might do) after me: but my
wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Yourself
He had no candidate to continue the work of God that he was doing to demonstrate actions of
a believer and give guidance on matters of belief [e.g., 14.5].

19.6 (One that) will (truly) represent me and represent the posterity of Jacob; and
make him O my Lord, one with whom You are well-pleased!
Feel the understanding of Zakariya he understood the need for pleasing God and wanted to
please Him in this matter as well so the concern was more for God rather than for himself.

19.7 (His prayer was answered), "O Zakariya! We give you good news of a son:
his name shall be Yahya: on none have We conferred this name before."

19.8 He said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when my wife is barren and I
have grown quite decrepit from old age?"
It is by giving him a son at this age that God shows His special Mercy.

19.9 He said, "So the Lord said, 'That is easy for Me: I did indeed create you
before when you were nothing!' "
Without further ado, Zakariya simply asked for an indication that his prayer was accepted.

19.10 (Zakariya) said, "O my Lord! Give me a Sign." "The Sign", was that, "you
shall not be able to speak for three nights although you are not dumb."

19.11 So Zakariya came out to his people from his chamber: he told them by
(hand) signs to celebrate Allah's praises in the morning and in the evening.
As gratitude, Zakariya asked his followers to continue acknowledging the greatness of God.
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{Notes}:
{1} Farid, A.A. (2016). The Most Excellent Names of Allah. Dakwah Corner Publications Sdn.
Bhd. ISBN 978-967-0835-16-7
{2} The Alim. (2000). Translation of the Meanings of the Holy Quran. Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The
Worlds Most Useful Islamic Software.
{3} Nasr, S.H., Editor-in-Chief. (2015). The Study Quran. A New Translation and Commentary.
HarperCollins Publishers.