ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Roots of Religion Lesson 18: Hazrat 'Isa Jesus ( a.s.) The Messiah, The Messenger, and Servant of Allah Maryam, the mother of Isa The wife of Imran was a barren and sterile woman, but she heard from her husband that God had promised him a boy who would be able to bring people to life and to cure the sick as well through the power and command of God.[^1] She believed that Almighty God could do this, and prayed to Him to give her the child.

God granted her prayer and she became pregnant. As a sign of thankfulness for this great blessing and gift, she vowed that she would give her child to the service of the House of God (in Jerusalem).[^2] The child who was born was a girl, and when her mother saw her she said, “This is a girl, but I will be faithful to my vow; I will call her Maryam She and her children, I commend to Your protection from the mischief of Satan.”[^3] The wife of Imran took Maryam to the House of God.

She entrusted her to the custodians of that place. Since the infant was the daughter of their leader, Imran everyone wanted to pay for her upbringing and guardianship so that the honour of having looked after the daughter of Imran would fall on him. In the end a dispute arose between them, and to resolve their differences they drew lots. Among the custodians of the House of God the draw came out in favor of Hazrat Zakariyya.

So Maryam came under the tutelage and supervision of Hazrat Zakariyya and she gradually grew up engaged in nothing but worship and serving the House of God.[^4] Her purity and devotion reached such a stage that whenever Hazrat Zakariyya (a.s.) went into Maryam's sanctuary; he found heavenly food beside her.

He would ask in surprise, “Where does this food come from?”Maryam would reply, “From Allah; truly Allah gives to everyone who He wants without reckoning.” (3:37) Zakariyya and Yahya The wife of Zakaryya (a.s.) was also, like the mother of Maryam barren, and for this reason Zakaryya had been without children till his old age.

At that time when Zakaryya (as) was looking after the spiritual advancement of Maryam in her sanctuary and saw the infinite mercy of God towards her, he was taken with the desire to have a pious child like Maryam.