The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 13
PT. 16 MARYAM 3. This is an account of the mercy of thy Lord shown to His servant, Zachariah. 2148 that Jesus did not die on the cross but after having remained on it only for a few hours was taken down alive, was kept in a sepulchre and then in fulfilment of his own prophecy, viz. "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16), he travelled to Afghanistan and Kashmir to reclaim and retrieve the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel who had been dispersed to these countries by the Babylonian kings. See 23:51. 2148. Commentary: The account of Zachariah precedes the account of Jesus. This is due to two very valid reasons. Yaḥyā, the son of Zachariah, and John of the New Testament, was a harbinger of Jesus. He heralded Jesus' advent and acted as his precursor to give to the Jews the glad tidings that their deliverer was about to make his appearance. That Yaḥyā or John was Jesus' harbinger is apparent from the following prophecy of Prophet Malachi: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5). The words "the great and dreadful day" here signify the advent of Jesus. This is why when Jesus was asked where Elias was who was to come before him, he replied: "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, CH. 19 ذكَرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّا في which was for to come" (Matt. 11:14). As according to Malachi's prophecy Elias must have appeared before the coming of Jesus, it was in the fitness of things that while giving an account of Jesus, the Quran should have made a mention of Yaḥyā. Secondly, Mary, the mother of Jesus, had unknowingly become the cause of Yahya's birth. We are told (3:38, 39) how Zachariah was deeply moved by a pious reply of Mary and prayed to God to be blessed with a good child like her. Thus whereas Yaḥyā became a harbinger of Jesus, Mary, Jesus' mother having indirectly become the cause of the birth of Yaḥyā may as well be said to have become a precursor of Yaḥyā (John) himself. See also 3:38-42. The words, "Thy Lord" in the sentence, "This is an account of the mercy of thy Lord," appear to be misplaced because whereas the account given in the following verses is that of the mercy of God shown to Zachariah the words "Thy Lord" seem to indicate as if some account is about to be given of God's mercy to the Holy Prophet. In fact these words signify that the account of Divine mercy to Zachariah does imply a mercy to the Holy Prophet also. Prophet Yaḥyā, as stated above, was a harbinger of Jesus and Jesus was a harbinger of the Holy Prophet. A description of the birth of Yaḥyā followed by a somewhat detailed description of Jesus' birth pointed to the fact that by the introduction of the 1927