David, and the father of Mary and Jesus. It was also said that he was Imran ibn Mathan. These in particular were singled out for mention because all the prophets and messengers were from their progeny.
“Offspring, one of another”: the word “offspring” is derived from a verb meaning “to create.” It was also said that it derives from a word meaning “scattered particles,” because they were brought forth from Adam’s loins like scattered particles. Both children and fathers may be called offspring: children because they were created, and fathers because their children were brought forth from them. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “And a sign for them is that We carried their offspring” [Ya-Sin 36:41]—that is, their forefathers.
The word “offspring” is in the accusative because of the implied meaning, “And He chose an offspring.” “One of another” means that some of them are descended from others. It was also said: some of them support one another. (1) And it was said: some of them follow the religion of others. “And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”
“When the wife of Imran said, ‘My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb, dedicated exclusively to Your service. So accept it from me. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.’ (35)”
Regarding His words, Exalted is He, “When the wife of Imran said”: she was Hannah, daughter of Qafudha, the mother of Mary. Imran was Imran ibn Mathan, not Imran, the father of Moses, peace be upon him; there were one thousand and eighty years between them. The descendants of Mathan were the leaders, religious scholars, and kings of the Children of Israel. It was also said that he was Imran ibn Ashham.
Regarding His words, Exalted is He, “My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb, dedicated exclusively to Your service”: that is, I have made what is in my womb a vowed offering to You. “So accept it from me. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” A vow is that which a person makes binding upon himself. “Dedicated exclusively to Your service” means freed and wholly devoted to Allah, set apart for the worship of Allah and service of the sanctuary, without being occupied by anything of this worldly life. Everything sincerely devoted is thus set apart. One says, “I freed the slave,” when one emancipates him and delivers him from bondage.
Al-Kalbi, Muhammad ibn Ishaq, and others said: When a child was dedicated, he was placed in the sanctuary, where he would attend to it, sweep it, and serve it, and would not leave it until he reached puberty. He was then given the choice: if he wished, he remained; and if he wished, he went wherever he pleased. But if, after choosing to remain, he wished to leave, he was not permitted to do so. There was no prophet or scholar without someone from his descendants having been dedicated to Bayt al-Maqdis. Only boys could be dedicated; a girl was not suitable for this because of menstruation and the attendant impurity. Thus Mary’s mother dedicated what was in her womb.
The account of this was that Zechariah and Imran married two sisters. Ishyaʿ, daughter of Qafudha, the mother of John, was married to Zechariah; and Hannah, daughter of Qafudha, the mother of Mary, was married to Imran. Hannah had been denied children until she had grown old, though they were a household held in high standing with Allah. As she sat in the shade of a tree, she saw a bird feeding its chick, and this stirred within her a longing for a child. So she prayed to Allah to grant her a child and said, “O Allah, I vow to You that, if You grant me a child, I shall donate him to Bayt al-Maqdis”