فَنَادَتْهُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي فِي الْمِحْرَابِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحْيَى مُصَدِّقًا بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَسَيِّدًا وَحَصُورًا وَنَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
Then, as he stood praying in the sanctuary the angels called out to him: ‘Allah gives you the good news of John, as a confirmer of a Word of Allah, eminent and chaste, a prophet, and one of the righteous.’
Agha Ali Puya Commentary
Commentary on Quran 3:39
[Pooya/Ali Commentary 3:39] In Luke 1: 5 and 13, it is stated that an angel appeared to Zakariyya on the right of the altar of incense (mihrab-the private chamber of a prayer house, partitioned and kept hidden from the eyes of the people) and said to him: "Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard, your wife will bear a son, and you shall name him John (Yahya)." Kalimah means a word. In verse 171 of al Nisa also, Isa has been described as a word of Allah, which refers to his birth from a virgin mother, a unique distinction, because he was born at the command of Allah, when He said: "Be". Allah does what He wills. He can create a being by making amendments in the laws of nature, created by Himself, which always obey His will. A single word may have a meaningful implication. Isa is the kalimah of Allah. The Holy Prophet is referred to as dhikr (reminder) in verse 10 of al Talaq. The Ahmadi commentator quotes An-am: 34; Yunus: 64; Kahf: 27, 109; Luqman: 27 and Tahrim: 12 to interpret kalimah as prophecy, but he intentionally avoids to mention Ali Imran: 44 and Nisa: 171 where kalimah has been used to describe Isa as the "word of Allah". Yahya (John) was the cousin of Isa, six months older than Isa, who was the first person to believe in Isa as a true prophet of Allah, sent to revive the faithful practice of the law of Musa. Yahya was killed before Isa's ascension to the heavens. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: The phrase bi-kalimatin used here as a common noun (nakirah-indefinite) shows that Isa is not the only kalimah (or the only "word", in this sense, from Allah) but there are more and he is one of them.