This statement implies what is not mentioned, that his supplication was
answered. It was said to him,
[يزَكَرِيَّآ إِنَّا
نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَـمٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى]
((Allah said:) "O Zakariyya! Verily, We give you the glad tidings of a son,
whose name will be Yahya...'') Similarly Allah, the Exalted, said;
[هُنَالِكَ دَعَا
زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنْكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً
إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَآءِ - فَنَادَتْهُ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّى
فِى الْمِحْرَابِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحْيَـى مُصَدِّقاً بِكَلِمَةٍ
مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَسَيِّدًا وَحَصُورًا وَنَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّـلِحِينَ ]
(At that time Zakariyya invoked his Lord, saying: "O my Lord! Grant me from
You, a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation.'' Then the
angels called him, while he was standing in prayer in the Mihrab, (saying):
"Allah gives you glad tidings of Yahya, confirming (believing in) the word from
Allah, noble, keeping away from sexual relations with women, a Prophet, from
among the righteous.'')[3:38-39] Allah said,
[لَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُ
مِن قَبْلُ سَمِيّاً]
(We have given that name to none before (him).) Qatadah, Ibn Jurayj and Ibn
Zayd said, "This means that no one had this name before him.'' Ibn Jarir
preferred this interpretation, may Allah have mercy upon him.
[قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّى
يَكُونُ لِى غُلَـمٌ وَكَانَتِ امْرَأَتِى عَاقِراً وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ
عِتِيّاً - قَالَ كَذَلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَىَّ هَيِّنٌ وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ
مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئاً ]
(8. He said: "My Lord! How can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I
have reached the extreme old age.'') (9. He said: "Thus your Lord says: `It is
easy for Me. Certainly I have created you before, when you had been
nothing!''')[19:8-9]