The Angels of Zakariya

Zakariya's angels are those who called to him in the mihrab with the glad tidings of Yahya, as in Al 'Imran 39, Maryam 2, Al-Anbiya' 89, and Al-Anbiya' 90. They are among the clearest of what came of meetings of angels with humans in the Qur'an ^{1 2}.

• Al 'Imran 39: "So Zakariya called upon his Lord and said: My Lord, grant me from You good offspring; indeed You are the Hearer of supplication" — and in it Zakariya's calling upon his Lord with supplication ¹.
• Al 'Imran 40: "So the angels called to him while he was standing in prayer in the mihrab" — and in it the angels' calling to him while he was standing in prayer in the mihrab ¹.
• Al 'Imran 41: "He said: My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened" — and in it the reason for his incapacity ¹.
• Maryam 2 to Maryam 15: the story of Zakariya in surah Maryam, and in it his coming to Maryam with mercy ¹.
• Al-Anbiya' 89 and Al-Anbiya' 90: "But when he came to him, his Lord called to him: O Zakariya, We give you glad tidings of a son whose name is Yahya" — and in it the glad tidings of Yahya expressly ¹.

• In al-Bukhari's narration that Zakariya asked his Lord to grant him a son, and that God gave him glad tidings of Yahya ³.
• In Muslim's narration that Jibril descended upon Zakariya in the mihrab and gave him glad tidings of Yahya ⁴.
• In a hadith that Zakariya said "My Lord, my bones have weakened" and God gave him glad tidings of Yahya ³.

• "A son named Yahya" in Al-Anbiya' 90 — that is, Yahya son of Zakariya ¹.
• And in tafsir "the angels" in Al 'Imran 40 are Jibril and those with him ².
• And in a narration they gave him glad tidings of Yahya "and the prophet" after him ².

Ibn Kathir details that the angels called to Zakariya in the mihrab with the glad tidings of Yahya, and mentions that "the angels called to him" in Al 'Imran 40 is the calling of Jibril and those with him ². And al-Qurtubi held that the angels descended upon Zakariya in human form ⁵.

• The most famous view: they are angels, because the Qur'an called them "the angels" in Al 'Imran 40 ².
• Another view: they are humans carrying a message from God, and in it is a problem ⁶.
• And the principle in tafsir is that they are angels because God sends to the prophets only from the angels ².

• The story is in three places: Al 'Imran, Maryam and Al-Anbiya', and in them is the calling of the glad tidings ¹.
• Their companion in the glad tidings is Ibrahim on the angels of Ibrahim page.
• What is narrated about the details of their calling is from the books of seerah, and the principle is that their glad tidings is established in the Qur'an ².