Jesus in Qur'an 285offspring from Your presence - surely You hear prayer.'
And the angels called to him as he stood in prayer in
the sanetuary, 'Surely God givesyou good news of John,
who will confirm a Word (Jesus) from God, and who
will be honourable and chaste and one of the righteous
Prophets.' He said, 'My Lord, how can 1 have a son,
when 1 have become old and my wife is barren?' He
replied, 'Just like that - God does what He wants.' He
said, 'My Lord, give me a sign.' He replied, 'Your sign
shall be that you will not speakto anyone for three days
exceptby sign-Ianguage, and rememberyourLord much
and glorify Him at nightfall and in the early morning.'And (remember) when the angels said, '0 Mary, surely
God has chosen you, and He has made you pure, and
He has preferred you above all women in all the worlds.
o Mary, be obedient to your Lord, and prostrate and
bow down in worship (before Him) with those who bow
down in worship.'This is from tidings of the Unseen which We reveal to
you -and you were not there with them when they cast
their reeds (to decide) which of them should be Mary's
guardian, and you were not there with them when they
argued about il. (Qur'an3: 3344).John was the Prophet who directly preceded Jesus. It is said that
his mother, Elisabeth, and Mary's mother, Hannah, were either sis
ters or cousins, which means that Jesus and John were cousins.
The miraculous birth of John is~also mentioned in the foHowing
passages:
And (remember) when Zachariah called to his Lord, 'My
Lord, do not leave me without a child -and You are the
best of those who grant inheritance.' And We heard his
prayer, and We gave him [ohn, and We made his wife
fertile - surely they were swift to do good, and they
prayed to Us with longing and fear, and they were in
awe of Us. And (remember) the one who remained
chaste (Mary), and so We breathed in her of Our Spirit,
and made her and her son (Jesus) a sign for all the
worlds. (Qur'an 21: 89-91).