Conceiving Child After Senility

Darse Quran at Chennai Porur mosque on 10.3.2013
Published in Muslim Murasu, April 2013

Surah Maryam, 19. Kaaf. Haa. Yaa. Ain. Saad. We don’t know its meaning. This is a Mutashabihaatun verse. We cannot be certain or definite about its meaning. Allah has sent down a Surah in honor of Maryam (alai).
Allah’s Names are first explained. Kaaf can refer to Kaafi. Haa can refer to Haadi. Yaa refers Raheem. Ain refers Aleem and Saad refers Saadiq. Some commentators construe these letters to be abbreviations of these Attributes of God. Allah is sufficient for His creations. He will guide His servants. His Hand is above their hands. He knows His creations well. Allah is true in His promises. This is one possible explanation.
Allah alone knows the true meaning. Prophet (s.a.w.s) and his companions have explained verses and words from the Quran. But Hurfe Muqattaat should be taken as they are. We should not get dogmatic.
Verse continues. ‘zikru rahmati rabbika abduhu zakariya’. It is to mention your Lord’s mercy on His servant Zakariya. Allah explains how He helped Zakariya (alai). ‘iz naadaa rabbahu nidaa’an kafiyyaa’. He called his Lord in secret. He prayed in silence.
Maryam’s mother and Zakariya’s wife were sisters. Maryam’s mother was elder. They both did not have offspring. Maryam’s mother Hanna prayed to God. It is ignominy to live without a child. Give me a child and I will devote it to Your service. I will dedicate the child to Baitul Muqaddas. This was first Kaaba. Prophet prayed towards it for sixteen months. I will dedicate to that mosque. She conceived a child. It was a girl. The mosque had nine Hazrat. Zakariya was one of them. The child Maryam was brought up in a chamber in the mosque as decided earlier. Zakariya made arrangements for her food and security and she grew in his care.
There used to be fruits out of season in her chamber. Summer fruits were available with her in winter and winter fruits in summer. Zakariya wondered and asked her about it. Maryam replied that she gets them from Allah.
Zakariya did not have child. He was in senile age. He had become very old and lost hope. Now he got a ray of hope in his heart. He prayed in silence. Give me a child. It was midnight. People were asleep. No other creation should hear his prayer. Allah alone should hear it. He lowered his voice.
Those were words from an old, mature, experienced man. He was careful in his prayer. ‘My Lord! My bones are infirm and the hair of my head has grown grey’. ‘qaala rabbi inni wahanal azmu minni’.
Bones are the strongest in human body. They will be the last to disintegrate. They will remain as fossil for quite some time. Strength in bones resembles sound body. Back will get hunched in old age. Bones will bend. Bones will grow again even if they are broken in young age. This can’t happen in elderly age. This shows weakness.
His wife was barren. Her age was 98. ‘Grant me a progeny from Thee’. Give me a descendant and a descendant for Yakoob. Make him pious and pleasing for You.
Prophet (s.a.w.s) used to starve. Prophets will come by with human nature. He was attacked with black magic. It impacted him. We got two protecting Surahs as a result, Surah Falaq and Surah Naas. They give us security. But some features in the lives of prophets will be beyond human ability or comprehension.
Fruits bestowed on Maryam’s chamber were out of season. Zakariya saw this. Allah gives fruits of different season. He can give me a child the same way. He implored God. I did not get child in my days. Now those days are gone. But even now God can give me a child. He prayed.
He was greeted with good news of a child named Yahya. This name has never been used earlier. Allah gave the child and the name.
Wife was very old. How can this happen. This is the doubt that any person can have. Will she conceive in her present condition, that is, old age, or will she be returned to her youth and then conceive. Pregnancy is impossible after cessation of menstruation. I am at the height of old age. I can’t even walk, I wobble. Allah replied. ‘qaala kazaalika’. So will it be. You will get child while you are still an old person. It is easy for Me.
Verse 9. ‘qaala rabbuka huwa alaiyaa hayyinun waqad kalaqtuka min qablu walam taqu shaiyyaa’. I created you when you were nothing.