Phrases such as Baptist and Baptizer are not used
in reference to him in the qUran. Rather, as has
been and continues to be a common practice
in naming people in the Muslim world, John is
known as the son of his father. John is mentioned
five times in the Quran. In Q 3:39 the angels tell
Zechariah, “God bids you rejoice in the birth of
John, who shall confirm the word of God. He shall
be princely and chaste, a prophet from among the
righteous.” In stating that John shall confirm the
word of God, the Quran is referring to the affirm-
ing role that he was to have with respect to Jesus’
life and message.
In the context of God’s giving instructions and
wisdom to abraham, the Quran lists John as one
of many upright men, including such figures as
Isaac, Jacob, Noah, david, Solomon, Job, Joseph,
moses, Aaron, and Zechariah (Q 6:83–87). In Q
19:7, God tells Zechariah that he should rejoice
because he will be given a son, “and he shall be
called John; a name no man has borne before
him”; the uniqueness of John’s name in this regard
denotes for many Muslims his special role in the
tradition. In one of the Quran’s longest references
to John (Q 19:12–15), God commanded John to,
“ ‘Hold fast to the book!’ And we bestowed upon
him wisdom while he was still a child, and grace,
and purity. He was a godfearing man, honoring
his father and mother, and neither arrogant nor
rebellious. Blessed was he on the day he was born
and the day of his death; and may peace be on him
when he is raised to life.” Thus, John embodied
many of the virtuous qualities that Muslims are to
emulate in their own lives.
Also, Muslim interpreters believe that the
scripture to which this passage refers is the torah,
the sacred text of the Jews, reflecting the idea
that John exists at an intersection between Juda-
ism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Quran’s 21st
chapter, entitled “The Prophets,” God recounts
significant aspects of history and provides sum-
maries of his relationships to various prophets
and states: “And of Zechariah, who invoked his
Lord, saying ‘Lord, let me not remain childless,
though of all heirs you are the best.’ We answered
his prayer and gave him John, curing his wife of
sterility. They vied with each other in good works
and called on us [i.e., God] in love and fear” (Q
21:89–90). These verses reaffirm the significant
position John had in the line of prophets who
preceded Muhammad. Even though there are a
relatively small number of references to John in
the Quran, they have been the basis of extensive
discussions among Muslim scholars. There have
been debates about John’s chasteness and short
biographies written about his life based on the
New Testament and other Christian sources.
A church dedicated to John the Baptist was
built by Christians on the site of a Roman temple
in the ancient city of damascUs. This shrine, said
to contain his head, was subsequently incorpo-
rated into the grand Umayyad mosqUe that now
stands on the site.
See also christianity and islam; holy books;
JUdaism and islam; mary; prophets and prophecy;
Umayyad dynasty.
Jon ArmajaniFurther reading: John C. L. Gibson, “John the Bap-
tist in Muslim Writings.” Muslim World 45 (1955):
334–345; Geoffrey Parrinder, Jesus in the Quran (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 55–59; Jaafar
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, The Ancient Kingdoms,
The History of al-Tabari. Vol. 4, Translated by Moshe
Perlmann (Albany: State University of New York Press,
1987), 101–108; Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Thalabi,
Arais al-majalis fi qisas al-anbiya, or “Lives of the Proph-
ets,” Translated by William M. Brinner (Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 2002), 627–637.Jordan (Official name: The Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan)
The state boundaries of Jordan were created by the
British in the aftermath of World War I. Jordan
gained formal independence from the British only
in 1946. Although it has a small population of 6.2K 404 Jordan