Prophet Yahya

[Visionary]

Salaam,

Could someone kindly enlighten me with regards to Prophet Yahya please? From what I understand this is through Christian discourse this is also John the Baptist. What is the Quranic perspective regarding 'John the Baptist', and the ritual of Baptism? I'm not sure if this is mentioned in the Quran itself, however, if this was a practice known to Islam via the Quran, and Yeshua ben Yosef was baptised, why is baptism not found in Islamic ritual practice?

Regards,

[chadiga]

Salamu aleikum
The Quran mentions only the name Yahya as a prophet and messenger of God, that he  have baptized, is not mentioned in the Koran. Even in Christianity there is much controversy over the baptism itself, there are many scholars who claim, that even the command from Jesus to baptize was a later insertion. What about the baptism of John, whether and why he has really been baptized, I do not know. But the baptism has certainly no support in the Quran and also not much in the Bible.
peace

[Saba]

Aslamaolaikum.

I would also agree with sister Chadiga's view. I am not sure how convincing the evidence is of Baptism in Christian sources. However, as far as I know the Quran does not mention it at all. So I am not sure whether this would be an article of belief for believers.

Saba

[Peaceful]

It is widely known in Christianity, that John baptised Jesus(pbut). The gospels testify to this and each one seemingly adds more to the story than what  actually happened. The Qur'an makes no mention of Yahya "baptizing", but it uses very unique and powerful terms to describe him, some of which aren't casual Arabic words. Examples would include Samiy(Name-sake or elevated), Sayyid(Master), Wali(Protector), Hasur(Concealer[of secrets]), and other exclusive terms you can look up in lexicons. It's also interesting to note that the Mandaeans of Iraq revere "Yahia Yuhanna" as a final prophet and are obsessed with baptizing(multiple times). The Mandaeans refer to themselves as "Sabiun Mandiun", so they could be the Sabians mentioned in the Qur'an. This does not prove John's baptism, but definitely increases his "status" in the minds of mainstream Muslims, with regard to other Prophets(namely Jesus). If he did indeed baptise Jesus, this would indirectly give him a higher rank than Jesus, which would explain why the gospels dramatically change his story. Keep in mind that the Qur'an views all prophets as equal though. 

[Saba]

It is widely known in Christianity, that John baptised Jesus(pbut). The gospels testify to this and each one seemingly adds more to the story than what  actually happened. The Qur'an makes no mention of Yahya "baptizing", but it uses very unique and powerful terms to describe him, some of which aren't casual Arabic words. Examples would include Samiy(Name-sake or elevated), Sayyid(Master), Wali(Protector), Hasur(Concealer[of secrets]), and other exclusive terms you can look up in lexicons. It's also interesting to note that the Mandaeans of Iraq revere "Yahia Yuhanna" as a final prophet and are obsessed with baptizing(multiple times). The Mandaeans refer to themselves as "Sabiun Mandiun", so they could be the Sabians mentioned in the Qur'an. This does not prove John's baptism, but definitely increases his "status" in the minds of mainstream Muslims, with regard to other Prophets(namely Jesus). If he did indeed baptise Jesus, this would indirectly give him a higher rank than Jesus, which would explain why the gospels dramatically change his story. Keep in mind that the Qur'an views all prophets as equal though. 

 Thanks for this!