"So, her Lord accepted her, a good acceptance, and made her grow, a good growth, and made Zakariyya her guardian. Whenever Zakariyya visited her in the Arch, he found with her some food. He said: "Maryam, from where has it come for you?" She said: 'It is from Allah. Surely, Allah gives whom He wills without measure.[37]" (3:37)

Commentary

In order to fulfil her vow, Sayyidah Maryam's (A.S) mother took her to the Mosque of Baitul-Maqdis and talked to the care-takers and worshippers at the Mosque, Sayyidna Zakariyya (A.S) being one of them, and told them that she had vowed to dedicate the child in the service of God and therefore, she could not keep the child with her. She asked them to take her and keep her.

Sayyidna 'Imran was the Imam of this Mosque. He had died during the pregnancy of Maryam's mother, otherwise he would have been the most deserving person to have taken charge of the child, being the father and the Imam of the Mosque. Therefore, every keeper and worshipper of the Mosque wished to take her in his custody. Sayyidna Zakariyya (A.S) pleaded his bid for custody by saying that his wife was Maryam's aunt and she being next to her mother certainly deserved to keep her. But, people did not agree to prefer him over the others. Finally, everybody agreed to draw lots, which turned out to be fairly strange as it would appear later. Here too, it was Sayyidna Zakariyya (A.S) who turned out to be the winner.

So, he got custody of Maryam. According to some reports, he em­ployed a wet-nurse to have her suckled. Other reports say that she just did not need to be suckled. She grew up able to sit and walk and Sayyidna Zakariyya (A.S) put her in a good house adjacent to the Mosque. When he went out, he locked the house and opened it on re­turn. This has been stated briefly in the present verse. [Ma'ariful Qur'an, Volume 2]

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 18th November 2011

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