Category: Americas, Faith & Spirituality, Life & Society Topics: Islam, Prophet Muhammad (S) Views: 20019
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John the Baptist: A Prophet of Islam
Amongst the 25 Prophets mentioned by God in the Quran, one name is Prophet John (peace be upon him). In Arabic, his name is Yahya. He is also a Prophet who figures prominently in Christianity, where he is known as John the Baptist. His story in the Christian tradition is described in Luke 1:5-22.
In Islam, belief in all of Allah's (God) Prophets is a fundamental article of faith. A person who denies belief in any of the Prophets, be it Jesus (peace be upon him) Moses (peace be upon him), or any of the others leaves the fold of Islam.
His miraculous birth
Prophet Jesus was not the only Prophet who was born miraculously. By miraculous, we mean outside of the normal process of human reproduction Allah has ordained which requires a man and a woman to conceive a child. In the case of Jesus, this meant being born of a mother but no father.
But Prophet Adam' (peace be upon him) birth was even more miraculous in this sense since he was created with no mother or father. Similarly, Hawwa or Eve (may Allah be pleased with her) was created from a man, her husband, and no parents.
The birth of Prophet John is miraculous because he is the offspring of a barren mother and an elderly father. His father, it should be noted, was also a Prophet named Zecheriah or Zakaraya.
"'Zecheriah, We bring you the good news of the birth of a son whose name shall be John, one whose namesake We never created before.' He said: 'My Lord! How can I have a child when my wife is barren and I have reached an extremely old age?' He answered: 'So shall it be.' Your Lord says: 'It is easy for Me', and then added: 'For beyond doubt, I created you earlier when you were nothing' (Quran 19:7-9).
"Zecheriah exclaimed: 'My Lord! How shall I have a son when old age has overtaken me and my wife is barren?' He said: 'Thus shall it be; Allah does what He wills'" (Quran 3:40).
With the birth of John, Allah granted Zecheriah his desire for an heir.
"And We bestowed favor upon Zecheriah, when he cried to his Lord: 'Lord! Leave me not solitary [without any issue]. You are the best Inheritor.' So We accepted his prayer and bestowed upon him John, and We made his wife fit (to bear a child). Verily they hastened in doing good works and called upon Us with longing and fear, and humbled themselves to Us" (Quran 21:89-90).
The beautiful qualities of John
Allah did not just miraculously grant Zecheriah a son. He made this child a blessing for his parents and beautiful in character. Prophet John is described in the Quran as chaste and righteous.
"Then Zecheriah prayed to his Lord: 'O Lord! Grant me from Yourself out of Your grace the gift of a goodly offspring, for indeed You alone heed all Prayers. As he stood praying in the sanctuary, the angels called out to him: 'Allah gives you good tidings of John, who shall confirm a command of Allah, shall be outstanding among men, utterly chaste, and a Prophet from among the righteous" (Quran 3:38-39).
"'O John! Hold fast the Book with all your strength. We had bestowed wisdom upon him while he was still a child; and We also endowed him with tenderness and purity; and he was exceedingly pious and cherishing to his parents. Never was he insolent or rebellious. Peace be upon him, the day he was born, and the day he will die, and the day he will be raised up alive. (Quran 19: 12-15).
Part of a line of honored Prophets
Finally, as mentioned above, Prophet John is one of the Prophets Muslims must believe in. He is one of the 25 mentioned in the Quran.
"And We bestowed upon Abraham (offspring) Isaac and Jacob and each of them did We guide to the right way as We had earlier guided Noah to the right way; and (of his descendants We guided) David and Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward those who do good. (And of his descendants We guided) Zecheriah, John, Jesus and Elias: each one of them was of the righteous." (Quran 6:84-85).
Category: Americas, Faith & Spirituality, Life & Society
Topics: Islam, Prophet Muhammad (S)
Views: 20019
Topics: Islam, Prophet Muhammad (S)
Views: 20019
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Older Comments:
JUNAID TAJUDDIN FROM NIGERIA said:
In fact am impress the way the article. First time of following you on facebook
2010-09-16
MUSTAFA AZIZ FROM USA said:
Yusra you are correct in doubting the description of Eve's creation. Christians believe she was created from the rib of Adam. My understanding is that in Islam, the belief is that Adam and Eve were both created the same way. This is a mistake on the author's part.
2010-07-09
BEN CHULDUN FROM INDONESIA said:
Assalamualaikum.This article is absolutely right and Prophet Yahya (John) PBUH is one of 25 Prophets as basic of faith in Islam. All of them were given each miracle by Allah as what Br.Babandi described. For other Ummah please be logical, the miracles is not the sign for human being God but it will be the sign how glorious of Allah, nothing else
2010-07-07
BABANDI A. GUMEL FROM U.K said:
The beauty about this Deenil Fitra is we don't descriminate against any of the Prophets unlike others who accept other prophets but reject others as if they were not prophets from the same God.
As far as we are concerned they were all prophets from the same God None is Worthy of Worship except God meaning Lailaha illallah. That was our proof given to Abraham against his people. We raise whom We will in degrees Certainly Your Lord is All-Wise,All Knowing.We bestowed upon him Isaac,Jaacob,each of them we guided,and before him, We guided Noah and among his progeny David Solomon,Job,Joseph,Moses,Aaron thus We reward the good doers. And Zechariah and John and Jesus and Elias each of them was of the righteous.And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot,each one of them We preferred to the Alamin (Universe).
And also some of their fathers and progeny and their brethren, We chose them and guided them to a Straight Path.This is the Guidance of Allah with which He guides whomsoever He wills of his bondsmen. Had they joined others in worship with Allah,all what they used to do would have been of no benefit for them.They are those whom We gave the Book and prophethood.But if these disbelieve therein then indeed We have entrusted it people (such as companions of Prophet Muhammad and all sincere Muslims) who are not disbelievers therein.They are those whom Allah had guided.So follow their guidance.Say "No reward I ask of you for this Message of Quran but it is Only a reminder to the whole Universe.
May Allah give us guidance which He gave to all His chosen people especially the Prophets from Adam to Muhammad All Peace be Upon them and the Companions of the Prophet Radhiyallahu Anhum and we continue to tread their path that will lead us to an everlasting success peace and tranquility in this Life and the real Life in the Hereafter ataining Paradise for ever which succes thus avoiding Hell.That is the real guidance which Laila ha Illallah and Muhammad is His Messenger like John and others A.S
As far as we are concerned they were all prophets from the same God None is Worthy of Worship except God meaning Lailaha illallah. That was our proof given to Abraham against his people. We raise whom We will in degrees Certainly Your Lord is All-Wise,All Knowing.We bestowed upon him Isaac,Jaacob,each of them we guided,and before him, We guided Noah and among his progeny David Solomon,Job,Joseph,Moses,Aaron thus We reward the good doers. And Zechariah and John and Jesus and Elias each of them was of the righteous.And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot,each one of them We preferred to the Alamin (Universe).
And also some of their fathers and progeny and their brethren, We chose them and guided them to a Straight Path.This is the Guidance of Allah with which He guides whomsoever He wills of his bondsmen. Had they joined others in worship with Allah,all what they used to do would have been of no benefit for them.They are those whom We gave the Book and prophethood.But if these disbelieve therein then indeed We have entrusted it people (such as companions of Prophet Muhammad and all sincere Muslims) who are not disbelievers therein.They are those whom Allah had guided.So follow their guidance.Say "No reward I ask of you for this Message of Quran but it is Only a reminder to the whole Universe.
May Allah give us guidance which He gave to all His chosen people especially the Prophets from Adam to Muhammad All Peace be Upon them and the Companions of the Prophet Radhiyallahu Anhum and we continue to tread their path that will lead us to an everlasting success peace and tranquility in this Life and the real Life in the Hereafter ataining Paradise for ever which succes thus avoiding Hell.That is the real guidance which Laila ha Illallah and Muhammad is His Messenger like John and others A.S
2010-07-04
ARIF FROM USA said:
very informative and I like the Quranic quotations to support this. I'd like to know:
1) how did John, the baptist die?
2) how can we be sure of the English transalation from Yahya to John?
Thank you and keep up the good work!
1) how did John, the baptist die?
2) how can we be sure of the English transalation from Yahya to John?
Thank you and keep up the good work!
2009-08-11
KHADRA FROM USA said:
Jazakum Allaah, I would like to see in this article what inspired Prophet Zakariya to make the du'aa to Allaah to have children. In the Qura'n it's when he saw Maryam(Jesus's mother) getting miracles of food from Allaah in her worship place, and Prophet Zakariya PBUH knew that no one came to give her, and asked her about it and she said "it's from Allaah" that's when he made the du'aa knowing that Allaah can grant him his wishes since he only can perform that miracle.
2009-07-29
ASIF FROM USA said:
Robert Mulcahy: if you are a Muslim, you need to revisit your approach to prophets.
Whether they were a prophet for one day or 100 yrs, it does not matter to us - that is Allah's (swt) choice.
As for prophet Issa (pbuh) - his mission was just for a few yrs and was to teach about mercy and compassion of Allah (swt) to a local tribe (Bani Israel). If people want to invent things about him and make him divine, that is their foolishness.
As for prophet Muhammad (pbuh), he taught us to respect the prophets and make no difference between them. You can say the same things w/o sounding condescending to the other prophets.
Or, as is my guess, you and Yohan are playing the good cop/bad cop routine. Christians are well known for playing games of duplicity - for them all means are possible if the end goal is achieved
Whether they were a prophet for one day or 100 yrs, it does not matter to us - that is Allah's (swt) choice.
As for prophet Issa (pbuh) - his mission was just for a few yrs and was to teach about mercy and compassion of Allah (swt) to a local tribe (Bani Israel). If people want to invent things about him and make him divine, that is their foolishness.
As for prophet Muhammad (pbuh), he taught us to respect the prophets and make no difference between them. You can say the same things w/o sounding condescending to the other prophets.
Or, as is my guess, you and Yohan are playing the good cop/bad cop routine. Christians are well known for playing games of duplicity - for them all means are possible if the end goal is achieved
2009-07-26
ROBERT MULCAHY FROM CANADA said:
Yohan, what are the acheivements of your Lord Jesus, before he became Prophet for just 3 years? Lost Eh. Nothing Eh! Even at the Prophethood, he has acheived nothing except few followers who were traitors and organized to crucify him, but failed with the blessings of Allah the Almighty. In comparison, Moses has estabished a mini kingdom. Oh' Mohammad, please don't even talk. He is by faaaaaaaaaaar the most greatest thing to happen in the history of mankind. However, due to my article of faith, we do not discriminate between the prophets. Eh! nobody will save you man. Nobody has died for you guy. Wake up! And do some good works and ask forgiveness from your true Lord, Lord of Jesus and Mohammad. Come on, get up. Get up from you couch. Shut down that TV boy.
2009-07-25
YOHAN FROM BHUTAN said:
The article looks biblically correct except that God's only Son Jesus is understood merely as a prophet. He is greater than any of all the prophets. He is the Messiah, the Savior of world's mankind. However, the following statement brings the Muslims closer to the Christians: "A person who denies belief in any of the Prophets, be it Jesus (peace be upon him) Moses (peace be upon him), or any of the others leaves the fold of Islam."
Yes, the fold of Islam is the fold that keeps the teachings of the prophets and the doctrines of Christ, the crowning of all the past messengers of God. In fact, the very sweet name "Islam" pertains to the person of Jesus Christ the mighty victor that conquered death and blessed for ever, exalted to the right hand of God. Amen.
Yes, the fold of Islam is the fold that keeps the teachings of the prophets and the doctrines of Christ, the crowning of all the past messengers of God. In fact, the very sweet name "Islam" pertains to the person of Jesus Christ the mighty victor that conquered death and blessed for ever, exalted to the right hand of God. Amen.
2009-07-24
ASIF FROM USA said:
From Quran- there is only 1 way to interpret:
From Hadith: saying about rib below.
Allah the Exalted said: O Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from Him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women. [Ch 4:1]
Allah also said: It is he Who has created you from a single person (Adam) and then He created from him his wife (Eve), in order that he might enjoy the pleasure of living with her. [Ch 7:189]
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "O Muslims! I advise you to be gentle with women, for they are created from a rib, and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part. If you try to straighten it, it will break and if you leave it, it will remain crooked, so I urge you to take care of the women." [Sahih Bukhari]
From Hadith: saying about rib below.
Allah the Exalted said: O Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from Him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women. [Ch 4:1]
Allah also said: It is he Who has created you from a single person (Adam) and then He created from him his wife (Eve), in order that he might enjoy the pleasure of living with her. [Ch 7:189]
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "O Muslims! I advise you to be gentle with women, for they are created from a rib, and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part. If you try to straighten it, it will break and if you leave it, it will remain crooked, so I urge you to take care of the women." [Sahih Bukhari]
2009-07-24
YUSRA GILANI FROM PAKISTAN said:
This is more a question for the author or anyone else about the creation of Hawwa. My question is how the author has concluded that Hawwa was created from a man? Is there any Quranic evidence i.e. ayats that refer to such a creation?
2007-12-27
FAHAD FAHEEM ANSARI FROM PAKISTAN said:
Thank you for this article, I hope it bolsters Christian-Muslim unity and faith in One God!
2007-12-24
