16
It was also said that he meant the inheritance of prophethood and knowledge.
It was said that he meant inheritance of the priesthood, for Zechariah was the chief of the rabbis. (1)
Al-Zajjaj said: It is more appropriate to understand this as inheritance other than wealth, for it is far-fetched that Zechariah—being one of the prophets—should be concerned that his paternal cousins would inherit his wealth.
The meaning is that he feared his paternal cousins would neglect the religion of Allah and alter its rulings, in view of what he had witnessed among the Children of Israel in their changing the religion and killing the prophets. He therefore asked his Lord for a righteous heir (2), whom he could trust with his community and who would inherit his prophethood and knowledge, lest the religion be lost. This is the meaning of the statement of Ata' from Ibn Abbas. (3)
“And make him, my Lord, pleasing to You”: that is, righteous, God-fearing, and approved.
“O Zechariah, indeed We give you glad tidings of a boy whose name will be John. We have not given this name to anyone before him. (7)”
His saying, exalted is He, “O Zechariah, indeed We give you glad tidings,” contains an ellipsis; its meaning is: Allah answered his supplication and said: “O Zechariah, indeed We give you glad tidings of a boy”—that is, a male child (4)—“whose name will be John. We have not given this name to anyone before him.” Qatadah and al-Kalbi said: No one before him had been named John. (5)
(1) See these views in Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 16:47-48; Zad al-Masir, 5:207-208; and al-Durr al-Manthur, 5:480.
(2) In manuscript B: “a son.”
(3) The view favored by the author, may Allah have mercy on him, is the one preferred and supported by Ibn Kathir on several grounds. He wrote (3:112): “The reason for his fear was that he feared they would deal badly with the people after him. He therefore asked Allah for a son who would be a prophet after him, to govern them through his prophethood according to what would be revealed to him. He was granted this. His fear was not that they would inherit his wealth, for a prophet is too exalted in rank and too noble in standing to be concerned about his wealth to such an extent, to resent that his agnatic relatives should inherit from him, and to ask for a son merely to secure his inheritance against them.
“This is one point. The second is that it is not mentioned that he possessed wealth. Rather, he was a carpenter who lived from the earnings of his own hands, and such a person does not accumulate wealth, especially the prophets, for they were the most ascetic of people regarding this world.
“The third is that it has been established through various chains in the two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘We do not leave inheritance; what we leave is charity.’ In a sound chain reported by al-Tirmidhi, he said: ‘We, the community of prophets, do not leave inheritance.’ Accordingly, the statement, ‘Grant me from Yourself an heir who will inherit from me,’ must refer to inheritance of prophethood. This is why He said, ‘and who will inherit from the family of Jacob,’ just as He said, ‘Solomon inherited David’—that is, in prophethood. Had it referred to wealth, he would not have singled him out from among his brothers, nor would there have been any great benefit in mentioning it, since it is well known and established in all laws and religious communities that a child inherits his father. Had it not been a special inheritance, it would not have been mentioned. All of this is confirmed and established by the authentic hadith: ‘We, the community of prophets, do not leave inheritance.’
“Accordingly, the statement, ‘Grant me from Yourself an heir who will inherit from me,’ must refer to inheritance of prophethood. This is why He said, ‘and who will inherit from the family of Jacob,’ just as He said, ‘Solomon inherited David’—that is, in prophethood. Had it referred to wealth, he would not have singled him out from among his brothers, nor would there have been any great benefit in mentioning it, since it is well known and established in all laws and religious communities that a child inherits his father. Had it not been a special inheritance, it would not have been mentioned. All of this is confirmed and established by the authentic hadith: ‘We, the community of prophets, do not leave inheritance; what we leave is charity.’”
Ibn Kathir then cited several reports and narrations indicating that the inheritance was of wealth, but commented: “These are mursal reports and cannot counter the sound reports.” And Allah knows best. See Masa'il al-Razi wa Ajwibatuh min Ghara'ib Ay al-Tanzil, p. 209.
(4) Added from manuscript B.
(5) Al-Tabari preferred this interpretation in his Tafsir, 16:50. If it is objected: What is praiseworthy about a name that no one before him bore, when many names have not previously been used? The answer is that its virtue lies in the fact that Allah Himself named him and did not leave this to his parents; thus, He gave him a name that no one had borne before. See Zad al-Masir, 5:210-211.
وَقِيلَ: أَرَادَ مِيرَاثَ النُّبُوَّةِ وَالْعِلْمِ.
وَقِيلَ: أَرَادَ إِرْثَ الْحُبُورَةِ، لِأَنَّ زَكَرِيَّا كَانَ رَأْسَ الْأَحْبَارِ (١) .
قَالَ الزَّجَّاجُ: وَالْأَوْلَى أَنْ يُحْمَلَ عَلَى مِيرَاثِ غَيْرِ الْمَالِ لِأَنَّهُ يَبْعُدُ أَنْ يُشْفِقَ زَكَرِيَّا وَهُوَ نَبِيٌّ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ أَنْ يَرِثَهُ بَنُو عَمِّهِ مَالَهُ.
وَالْمَعْنَى: أَنَّهُ خَافَ تَضْيِيعَ بَنِي عَمِّهِ دِينَ اللَّهِ وَتَغْيِيرَ أَحْكَامِهِ عَلَى مَا كَانَ شَاهَدَهُ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مِنْ تَبْدِيلِ الدِّينِ وَقَتْلِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، فَسَأَلَ رَبَّهُ وَلِيًّا (٢) صَالِحًا يَأْمَنُهُ عَلَى أُمَّتِهِ وَيَرِثُ نُبُوَّتَهُ وَعِلْمَهُ لِئَلَّا يَضِيعَ الدِّينُ. وَهَذَا مَعْنَى قَوْلِ عَطَاءٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ﵄ (٣) .
﴿وَاجْعَلْهُ رَبِّ رَضِيًّا﴾ أَيْ بَرًّا تَقِيًّا مَرْضِيًّا.
﴿يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا (٧) ﴾
قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ﴾ وَفِيهِ اخْتِصَارٌ، مَعْنَاهُ: فَاسْتَجَابَ اللَّهُ دُعَاءَهُ فَقَالَ: يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ، ﴿بِغُلَامٍ﴾ بِوَلَدٍ ذَكَرٍ (٤) ﴿اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا﴾ قَالَ قَتَادَةُ وَالْكَلْبِيُّ: لَمْ يُسَمَّ أَحَدٌ قَبْلَهُ يَحْيَى (٥) .
(١) انظر هذه الأقوال في: "تفسير القرطبي": ١٦ / ٤٧-٤٨، "زاد المسير": ٥ / ٢٠٧-٢٠٨، "الدر المنثور": ٥ / ٤٨٠.
(٢) في "ب": ولدا.
(٣) وهذا الذي مال إليه المصنف ﵀ هو ما رجحه ابن كثير وأيده من وجوه، فقال: (٣ / ١١٢) : "وجه خوفه أنه خشي أن يتصرفوا من بعده في الناس تصرفا سيئا، فسأل الله ولدا يكون نبيا من بعده، ليسوسهم بنبوته ما يوحى إليه، فأجيب في ذلك، لا أنه خشي من وراثتهم له ماله، فإن النبي أعظم منزلة، وأجل قدرا من أن يشفق على ماله إلى ما هذا حده، وأن يأنف من ورائه عصباته له، ويسأل أن يكون له ولد ليحرز ميراثه دونهم. هذا وجه. والوجه الثاني: أنه لم يذكر أنه كان ذا مال، بل كان نجارا يأكل من كسب يديه، ومثل هذا لا يجمع مالا، ولا سيما الأنبياء، فإنهم كانوا أزهد شيء في الدنيا. والوجه الثالث: أنه قد ثبت في "الصحيحين" من غير وجه أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: "لا نورث ما تركناه صدقة" وفي رواية عند الترمذي بإسناد صحيح: "نحن معاشر الأنبياء لا نورث" وعلى هذا فتعين حمل قوله: (فهب لي من لدنك وليا يرثني) على ميراث النبوة، ولهذا قال: (ويرث من آل يعقوب) ، كقوله: (وورث سليمان داود) أي في النبوة، إذ لو كان في المال لما خصه من بين إخوته بذلك، ولما كان في الإخبار بذلك كبير فائدة، إذ من المعلوم المستقر في جميع الشرائع والملل: أن الولد يرث أباه. فلولا أنها وراثة خاصة لما أخبر بها. وكل هذا يقرره ويثبته ما صح في الحديث: "نحن معاشر الأنبياء لا نورث" وعلى هذا فتعين حمل قوله: (فهب لي من لدنك وليا يرثني) على ميراث النبوة، ولهذا قال: (ويرث من آل يعقوب) ، كقوله: (وورث سليمان داود) أي في النبوة، إذ لو كان في المال لما خصه من بين إخوته بذلك، ولما كان في الإخبار بذلك كبير فائدة، إذ من المعلوم المستقر في جميع الشرائع والملل: أن الولد يرث أباه. فلولا أنها وراثة خاصة لما أخبر بها. وكل هذا يقرره ويثبته ما صح في الحديث: "نحن معاشر الأنبياء لا نورث، ما تركنا فهو صدقة". ثم ساق -ابن كثير- بعض الآثار والروايات فيها ما يدل على أن الوراثة وراثة مال، وقال عنها: "وهذه مرسلات لا تعارض الصحاح" والله أعلم. وانظر: "مسائل الرازي وأجوبتها من غرائب آي التنزيل" ص (٢٠٩) .
(٤) زيادة من "ب".
(٥) رجح الطبري هذا التأويل في "التفسير": ١٦ / ٥٠. فإن اعترض معترض فقال: ما وجه المدحة باسم لم يسم به أحد قبله ونرى كثيرا من الأسماء لم يسبق إليها؟ فالجواب: أن وجه الفضيلة أن الله تعالى تولى تسميته، ولم يكل ذلك إلى أبويه، فسماه باسم لم يسبق إليه. انظر: "زاد المسير": ٥ / ٢١٠-٢١١.