The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 51
PT. 16 MARYAM CH. 19 إِذْ قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ يَابَتِ لِمَ تَعْبُدُ مَا لَا ,When he said to his father. 43 "O my father, why dost thou يَسْمَعُ وَلَا يُبْصِرُ وَلَا يُغْنِي عَنْكَ شَيْئًا worship that which neither hears "6:76; 21:53; 26:71; 37:86-87. of Zachariah, the father of Yaḥyā who was a forerunner of Jesus. Zachariah's mention is followed by a concise description of the birth of Yaḥyā. Then a somewhat detailed description is given of the birth of Jesus who was the harbinger of the Holy Prophet and light is shed on the falsity of Christian beliefs and doctrines about him and his mother. This description of Jesus is followed by a narration of some important incidents in the life of Abraham. This seems to be a historical anachronism but in reality it is not. The Quran is not a book of history. It sometimes deliberately departs from the chronological order of events. The account of Abraham given in the present and the following verses is a case in point. The account of Jesus is followed by that of Abraham in order to drive home the point that when Abraham, the great progenitor of Moses who was the Founder of the Mosaic Dispensation of which Christianity is only an offshoot, was a firm believer in the Unity of God, how could Jesus depart from the Faith of his forefather, and claim to be God or son of God? Secondly, God had made a promise with Abraham that He would multiply exceedingly through his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. God's promise with Abraham was fulfilled first through Isaac, and then when Isaac's him progeny disobeyed and defied Divine commandments and consistently rejected Divine Prophets and went so far as to kill John and crucify Jesus, God's covenant with Abraham became transferred to Ishmael and was finally and fully fulfilled through the latter's progeny. This is the real reason why the account of Jesus is followed by that of Abraham. After this a brief mention is made of Moses who was a descendant of Jacob and in whom God's covenant with Abraham through Isaac found its highest fulfilment. After dealing with God's covenant with Abraham through Isaac, the Surah proceeds to make a mention of the Divine promise with Abraham through Ishmael. This is why after Moses, mention has been made of Ishmael and this is the significance of the order which the Quran has kept in view while giving an account of the life of some Prophets and making only a brief mention of others and this is the right and natural order which should have been observed while dealing with the subject under discussion. The taunt of some Christian critics of Islam that the seeming historical anachronism was due to the Holy Prophet's lack of the knowledge of history is absurd because elsewhere (chapter Hūd) the Quran has given the accounts of some Prophets of very remote past in their proper chronological order which fact 1965