The True Story of Jesus — Page 3
Chapter One—Historical Background 3 ‘My Lord, my bones have indeed become feeble and the hair on my head have turned white like flames, but never, my Lord, have I been unblessed in my prayer to You. And I fear my relations after me, and my wife is barren. Grant me, therefore, a successor from Yourself that he may be heir to me and the House of Jacob. And make him, my Lord, well-pleasing to You. ’ God replied, ‘O Zachariah, We give you glad tidings of a son whose name shall be Yahya, a name We have not given to anyone before. ’1 Thus, Yahya as was born according to Allah’s promise and God made him a Prophet to the Israelites. Yahya as or John the Baptist, as he is generally known in the Christian world, also happened to be a forerunner of Jesus as, in fulfilment of the prophecy men- tioned in the Old Testament, which states: ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dread- ful day of the Lord. ’2 The Jews believed that Prophet Elijah as had ascended to Heaven bodily and would descend before the coming of the Messiah. The fact was that Elijah as was never taken up to Heaven bodily and therefore could not have descended from Heaven. The Biblical prophecy was fulfilled in the person of John as the Baptist, who came in the spirit of Elijah as. 1. Holy Quran 19:5–8 2. Malachi 4:5