Selected Exegesis

This verse tells of the acceptance of the prayer of Mary’s mother (a.s.). Since Mary was destined to become, without a husband, the mother of a prophet like Jesus, both her acceptance for service in the sacred house and her growth and upbringing were special and significant. To achieve proper nurturing, she was blessed with both an effective source (a worthy mentor), pure and wholesome food, a divine teacher, as well as good instruction and a secure, spiritual environment for striving in worship and struggling against the low self (nafs) and Satan.

God appointed Zechariah (a.s.) as the guardian and provider for Mary’s livelihood and life affairs. Whenever Zechariah (a.s.) would enter the sanctuary to fulfill his guardianship and educate Mary (a.s.), he would find, in a manner that raised questions, prepared provisions; these were special and extraordinary provisions that were not the common food or fruit of that time and were not available to others. In accordance with the harmony between unseen sustenance and the visible world, these provisions were appropriate for Mary’s age at the time. Thus he asked her: “Where does this sustenance come from?” This provision was a special miracle and extraordinary honor, such that it inspired Zechariah to contemplate something generous and extraordinary himself - namely, requesting a pure child from God.

Commitment to the sanctuary of worship in essence, attributes, and action - which is complete God-consciousness (taqwā) - brings with it sustenance “without reckoning.” God gives material and spiritual, ordinary and extraordinary, natural and supernatural sustenance to whomever He wishes without means or ordinary calculations. He alone is the Provider (Rāziq), whether through normal calculated means or extraordinarily without reckoning. Of course, when it comes in an extraordinary form, one more quickly realizes the unseen.