Tafsir of Maryam 19:5

"And indeed, I fear my kinsmen..." His kinsmen—his agnatic relatives, brothers, and cousins—were the worst of the Children of Israel. He feared them regarding the religion, lest they alter and change it, and lest they fail to uphold the succession over his community properly. Therefore, he sought a successor from his own loins, a righteous one to be followed in reviving the religion and upholding its traditions.

"{From behind me}" Meaning: after my death. Ibn Kathir read it as min wara-i (with shortening). This adverbial phrase does not relate to "I fear" because that would corrupt the meaning; rather, it relates to an omitted verb. Or, it relates to the meaning of wilayah (guardianship) in "kinsmen": meaning, I fear the actions of the kinsmen—their changing [of the religion] and their poor succession—after I am gone. Or, I fear those who will take charge of the affair after me.

Uthman, Muhammad ibn Ali, and Ali ibn al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them) read: "I fear the kinsmen from behind me." This carries two meanings:

1. That wara-i means "behind me" or "after me." The adverb relates to the kinsmen: meaning they were few and incapable of upholding the affair of the religion, so he asked his Lord to strengthen and support them with a successor He would provide.
2. That it means "in front of me." It relates to "I fear," meaning they have passed away before him, and none remained among them by whom he could be strengthened or supported.

"{From Yourself}" This emphasizes that the successor is a pleasing guardian, by being attributed to Allah Almighty and originating from Him. Otherwise, "Grant me a successor who inherits from me" would have sufficed. Or, he meant a creation from You without a natural cause, because I and my wife are not fit for procreation.

"{Inherits from me and inherits...}" The jussive (yarithni wa-yarith) is the response to the supplication; the nominative (yarithuni wa-yarithu) is an adjective. Similar to: "A helper who will confirm me" (Al-Qasas: 34). From Ibn Abbas and al-Jahdari: yarithuni wa-arithu (inherits from me, and I inherit from the family of Ya'qub) in the accusative as a state (hal). From al-Jahdari: aw-yarith (or he inherits), as a diminutive of wa-arith. From Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and a group: wa-arithun min ali Ya'qub (and an inheritor from the family of Ya'qub): meaning, an inheritor will inherit from me through him. This is called tajrid (abstraction) in the science of rhetoric.

The inheritance intended is the inheritance of the Law and knowledge, for prophets do not bequeath wealth. It is said: he inherits my religious authority—for he was a scholar—and inherits the kingdom from the family of Ya'qub. It is said: warithtuhu and warithtu minhu are two dialects.

It is said that "from" (min) denotes partiality, not transition, because not all of the family of Ya'qub were prophets or scholars. Zakariyya (peace be upon him) was from the lineage of Ya'qub ibn Ishaq. It is also said: he is Ya'qub ibn Matan, the brother of Zakariyya. It is also said: this Ya'qub and Imran, the father of Maryam, were brothers from the lineage of Sulayman ibn Dawud.

{O Zakariyya, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be Yahya. We have not assigned to any before [him] a namesake.}