Surah Maryam, Ayah 6

Which was revealed in Makkah

Muhammad bin Ishaq recorded a Hadith of Umm Salamah in his Sirah, and Ahmad bin Hanbal recorded from Ibn Mas`ud, the story of the Hijrah (migration) to Ethiopia from Makkah. The narration mentions that Ja`far bin Abi Talib recited the first part of this Surah to An-Najashi and his companions.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Story of Zakariyya and His Supplication for a Son The discussion about the separate letters has already preceded at the beginning ofSurat Al-Baqarah.

Concerning Allah's statement,

ذِكْرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ

(A reminder of the mercy of your Lord) This means that this is a reminder of Allah's mercy upon His servant Zakariyya. Yahya bin Ya`mar recited it, (ذَكَّرَ رَحْمَةَ رَبكَ عبدَه زكريا) "He has reminded of your Lord's mercy to His servant Zakariyya." The word Zakariyya in the Ayah has been recited with elongation and also shortened. Both recitations are well-known. He was a great Prophet from the Prophets of the Children of Israel. In Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is recorded that the Prophet said about Zakariyya that He was a carpenter who used to eat from what he earned with his own hand through carpentry. Concerning Allah's statement,

The Legacy of Prophets cannot be inherited

يَرِ‌ثُنِي وَيَرِ‌ثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ

"Who inherits me and inherits the house of Ya` qub." - 19:6.

The religious scholars are all agreed that here the inheritance does not mean wealth, because in the first place, it has not been established that Sayyidna Zakariyya (علیہ السلام) had much wealth. Hence, the question as to who would inherit the same, does not arise. Secondly, it is inconsistent with the exalted position of a prophet to concern himself with such matters. And thirdly, a saying of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، which has been unanimously accepted by all religious scholars, says:

ان العلماء ورثۃ الأنبیاء لم یورثوا دینارا ولا درھما انما ورثوا العلم، فمن اخذہ اخذ بحظ وافر۔ (رواہ احمد و أبو داؤد وابن ماجۃ والترمذی)

"Indeed the knowledgeable scholars are the inheritors of the prophets, because the prophets do not leave any material wealth. Their legacy is knowledge. One who has acquired knowledge has received great fortune."

The above saying of the Prophet ﷺ is also recorded in Al-Kafi, by Al-Kulaini, the well-known book of the Shiite school. It is narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari through Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

لا نورث، ما ترکنا صدقۃ

"No one inherits our (i.e. prophets' ) wealth, because whatever wealth we leave behind is Sadaqah (Charity) (صدقۃ)."

In the verse itself after يَرِ‌ثُنِي the addition of the words يَرِ‌ثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ (19:6) confirms the view that here the material inheritance is not implied, because the son, Yahya علیہ السلام ، could not have inherited the material wealth of the family of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، which could only be inherited by their near relations and not by Sayyidna Yahya (علیہ السلام) . It is against the law of inheritance for distant relations to receive any part of inheritance in the presence of close relatives.

Ruh ul-Ma` ani quotes the following from Al-Kafi, by Al-Kulaini, the well-known Shi'ah scholar:

عن ابی البختری عن ابی عبداللہ قال : إن سلیمان ورث داؤد وإن محمَّدا ﷺ ورث سلیمان

Sulayman Ali was the heir of Dawud (علیہ السلام) and Muhammad ﷺ was the heir of Sulayman

It is quite obvious that the Holy Prophet ﷺ did not inherit any material wealth from Sulayman (علیہ السلام) ، nor did Sulayman (علیہ السلام) receive any such inheritance from Dawud (علیہ السلام) . Clearly the reference here is to the wisdom and the knowledge which all prophets of Allah possess.

This is the prayer of one who had grown very old while pursuing a religious mission and failed to find among his family members anybody to carry on his task after him. The feeling of his own helplessness on the one hand, and the realization of the tremendous importance of his mission on the other, combine in the prayer expressed in these verses. In other words, this was not a mere prayer for a son in the usual sense: it was a prayer for a worthy successor capable of carrying on his prophetic mission after him.