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Stories of the prophets

The story of Prophet Yahya (John)

Yahya was the answer to Zakariya's dua, a name no one had carried before. He was given wisdom as a child and is greeted with peace on the day of his birth, his death and his raising.

By the AmalKit team · 30 Oct 2026 Pending scholar review

The story in short

Arabic name
يحيى
English name
John
Named in the Quran
5 times
Sent to
The Children of Israel
In the list of 25
23 of 25

In short: Yahya, son of Zakariya, was born to an old father and a barren mother. Allah told him to "take the Scripture with determination" and gave him wisdom while still a child. He was kind, pure, dutiful to his parents and never arrogant or disobedient. He confirmed "a word from Allah", that is Isa, and is honoured with peace on the day he was born, the day he dies and the day he is raised alive.

The story of Yahya

His qualities

"O Yahya, take the Scripture with determination. And We gave him judgement while yet a boy, and affection from Us and purity, and he was fearing of Allah, and dutiful to his parents, and he was not a disobedient tyrant. And peace be upon him the day he was born and the day he dies and the day he is raised alive" (19:12-15). The angels' tidings to Zakariya described him as "confirming a word from Allah and [who will be] honorable, abstaining [from women], and a prophet from among the righteous" (3:39). Scholars explain "a word from Allah" as Isa, who was created by Allah's word "Be".

The five commands

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah commanded Yahya son of Zakariya with five things, to act on them and tell the Children of Israel to act on them: to worship Allah alone and associate nothing with Him, to pray, to fast, to give charity, and to remember Allah much. He gave a parable for each.1

Yahya and Isa

On the Night Journey the Prophet ﷺ met Yahya and Isa together in the second heaven, and described them as cousins on their mothers' side.2 They are named together in Surah Al-Anam among the righteous (6:85).

Key verses

يَٰيَحْيَىٰ خُذِ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ بِقُوَّةٍۢ ۖ وَءَاتَيْنَٰهُ ٱلْحُكْمَ صَبِيًّۭا ﴿١٢﴾ وَحَنَانًۭا مِّن لَّدُنَّا وَزَكَوٰةًۭ ۖ وَكَانَ تَقِيًّۭا ﴿١٣﴾ وَبَرًّۢا بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ وَلَمْ يَكُن جَبَّارًا عَصِيًّۭا ﴿١٤﴾ وَسَلَٰمٌ عَلَيْهِ يَوْمَ وُلِدَ وَيَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ يُبْعَثُ حَيًّۭا ﴿١٥﴾

Yaa Yahyaa khuzil Kitaaba biquwwatinw wa aatainaahul hukma saiyyaa Wa hanaanam mil ladunnaa wa zakaatanw wa kaana taqiyyaa Wa barram biwaalidayhi wa lam yakum jabbaaran 'asiyyaa Wa salaamun 'alaihi yawma wulida wa yawma yamootu wa yawma yub'asu haiyaa

(12) [Allah] said, "O John, take the Scripture with determination." And We gave him judgement [while yet] a boy (13) And affection from Us and purity, and he was fearing of Allah (14) And dutiful to his parents, and he was not a disobedient tyrant. (15) And peace be upon him the day he was born and the day he dies and the day he is raised alive.

Quran 19:12-15 · Sahih International · Read in Surah Maryam

فَنَادَتْهُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَآئِمٌۭ يُصَلِّى فِى ٱلْمِحْرَابِ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحْيَىٰ مُصَدِّقًۢا بِكَلِمَةٍۢ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَسَيِّدًۭا وَحَصُورًۭا وَنَبِيًّۭا مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ ﴿٣٩﴾

Fanaadat hul malaaa'ikatu wa huwa qaaa'imuny yusallee fil Mihraabi annal laaha yubashshiruka bi Yahyaa musaddiqam bi Kalimatim minal laahi wa saiyidanw wa hasooranw wa Nabiyyam minas saaliheen

So the angels called him while he was standing in prayer in the chamber, "Indeed, Allah gives you good tidings of John, confirming a word from Allah and [who will be] honorable, abstaining [from women], and a prophet from among the righteous."

Quran 3:39 · Sahih International · Read in Surah Al-Imran

Lessons from the story

  • Wisdom does not wait for age. Yahya was given judgement as a child.
  • Duty to parents is listed among a prophet's greatest qualities.
  • The five commands are a summary of the religion: tawheed, prayer, fasting, charity and dhikr.

Where it is in the Quran

The main passages about Yahya, with links to read and listen to each surah:

What is authentic, and what is not

Reports about Yahya's death, in which a king had him killed because of a woman, are found in tafsir and history books from earlier scriptures. They are not confirmed by the Quran or a sahih hadith, so we have not told them as fact.

We follow Ibn Kathir's Qasas al-Anbiya only where it rests on the Quran and sound hadith. Isra'iliyyat are reports taken from earlier scriptures and storytellers. Scholars allow mentioning them only when they do not contradict the Quran and Sunnah, and they are never treated as certain.

Questions

Is Yahya the same as John the Baptist?

Yes, Yahya is generally identified with John, son of Zechariah.

What does "hasur" mean in 3:39?

Translated "abstaining from women", scholars explain it as one who controlled his desires and kept himself chaste.

What were the five commands given to Yahya?

To worship Allah alone, pray, fast, give charity and remember Allah much (Tirmidhi 2863).

How many times is Yahya mentioned in the Quran?

5 times: 3:39, 6:85, 19:7, 19:12 and 21:90.

Sources

  1. Jami at-Tirmidhi 2863, graded hasan sahih.
  2. Sahih Muslim 162.
  3. Ibn Kathir, Qasas al-Anbiya, chapter on Zakariya and Yahya.
  4. Quran: Arabic from the Tanzil Uthmani text, English by Sahih International. In quotations within the text, the prophets' names are given in their Arabic form (Musa for Moses, Ibrahim for Abraham).

The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.