When Zakariyya saw that Allah provided sustenance for Maryam by giving her the fruits of winter in summer and the fruits of summer in winter, he was eager to have a child of his own. By then, Zakariyya had become an old man, his bones feeble and his head full of grey hair. His wife was an old woman who was barren.

In Surah Maryam, we hear about the story of when he called out to Allah in need and asked for a righteous son, and Allah accepted his prayers.

Kãf-Ha-Ya-’Aĩn- Ṣãd.19:1

˹This is˺ a reminder of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah,19:2

when he cried out to his Lord privately,19:3

saying, “My Lord! Surely my bones have become brittle, and grey hair has spread across my head, but I have never been disappointed in my prayer to You, my Lord!19:4

And I am concerned about ˹the faith of˺ my relatives after me, since my wife is barren. So grant me, by Your grace, an heir,19:5

who will inherit ˹prophethood˺ from me and the family of Jacob, and make him, O  Lord, pleasing ˹to You˺!”19:6

˹The angels announced,˺ “O Zachariah! Indeed, We give you the good news of ˹the birth of˺ a son, whose name will be John—a name We have not given to anyone before.”19:7

He wondered, “My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren, and I have become extremely old?”19:8

An angel replied, “So will it be! Your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me, just as I created you before, when you were nothing!’”19:9

Then and there Zachariah prayed to his Lord, saying, “My Lord! Grant me—by your grace—righteous offspring. You are certainly the Hearer of ˹all˺ prayers.”3:38

So the angels called out to him while he stood praying in the sanctuary, “Allah gives you good news of ˹the birth of˺ John who will confirm the Word of Allah and will be a great leader, chaste, and a prophet among the righteous.”3:39

Zachariah exclaimed, “My Lord! How can I have a son when I am very old and my wife is barren?” He replied, “So will it be. Allah does what He wills.”3:40

So We answered his prayer, granted him John, and made his wife fertile. Indeed, they used to race in doing good, and call upon Us with hope and fear, totally humbling themselves before Us.21:90

In awe and shock, he asked Allah for another sign. The sign was that, despite him being healthy and fit, his tongue will be prevented from speaking for 3 nights. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Wahb, As-Suddi, Qatadah and others said, "His tongue was arrested without any sickness or illness." Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said, "He used to recite and glorify Allah, but he was not able to speak to his people except by gestures. "

Zachariah exclaimed, “My Lord! How can I have a son when I am very old and my wife is barren?” He replied, “So will it be. Allah does what He wills.”3:40

Zachariah said, “My Lord! Grant me a sign.” He said, “Your sign is that you will not ˹be able to˺ speak to people for three days except through gestures. Remember your Lord often and glorify ˹Him˺ morning and evening.”3:41

There are two opinions of how Zakariya died; one from Wahb bin Munabbih was that the story of the man who hid in a tree we outlined in the story of Isaiah was in fact Zakariya. The other is that he died a natural death.

His son, John also had a prophetic mission.