Nabi Zakaria

Zakaria was the prophet of the Children of Israel who raised Maryam bint Imran. Every time he entered the mihrab, he found sustenance at Maryam's side. "Where is this from?" he asked; Maryam answered, "From Allah's side; indeed, Allah gives sustenance to whom He wishes without reckoning." It was in that place that his long-buried hope grew.

He called to his Lord in a gentle voice: "O my Lord, indeed my bones are weak, my head is filled with gray hair, and I have never been disappointed in praying to You. I worry about my relatives after I die, while my wife is barren; so grant me from Your side a successor." Allah answered with good news: a child named Yahya — a name Allah had never given him before. The sign: Zakaria could not talk to humans for three nights even though he was healthy.

Zakaria's prayer is a madrasa of adab munajat: soft, full of recognition of weakness, remembering the track record of Allah's mercy, and never giving up due to age and external causes. Allah praised his family: "They always hasten to goodness and pray to Us with hope and anxiety."