ZECHARIAH (ZAKARIYA)
Zechariah (Zakariya) was a prophet amongst Bani Israel and was the father of John the Baptist (Yahya). He was responsible for the rituals of worship as well as the upkeep of Bait-ill Muqqadas.
Fostering care of Mary
Mary (Maryam) was a niece of his wife. The mother of Mary had dedicated her unborn child to serve Bait-id Muqqadas. When she gave birth to a daughter, she did not retract from her vow of dedicating her child to the service of Bait-ul Muqqadas and gave her for foster care by her uncle, Zechariah.
When she grew up, he started to take her along to the great Mosque and taught her how to take care of all the sacred objects and how to conduct the rituals of worship. When she grew older, he alloted her a room inside the Mosque so that she could carry out her duties independently and at all times.
The Birth of John the Baptist
Zechariah had grown old and his wife was infertile. God revealed to him that he would have a son very soon who would be a great prophet and a leader. His conduct would be exemplary to all mankind. There had never been any one before him with the same name and that his name would be John the Baptist. He would affirm the innocence of Mary. Zechariah was struck with amazement over the possibility of having a child at his old age and through his wife who had been infertile all her life. God conveyed to him that there was nothing that was impossible for was not! Him to do. God gave Zechariah His sign for the prophecy, that he would be incapable of verbal communication with any one for a period of three days. So Zechariah was unable to talk for three days as the angel of God had forewarned him. Soon afterwards he had the son whom he named John, according to the Will of
God.
(Zakariya is known as Zechariah in the Torah)
References: The Qur’an: Sura Anbiya.
Ale Imran, An’am, Maryam and
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 