Zechariah (PBUH), then, asked the Almighty to have a sign since his wife had reached menopause so that he recognizes the miracle. Zechariah knew that the miracle happened but sought an indicative sign.

(… قَالَ آيَتُكَ أَلَّا تُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ إِلَّا رَمْزًا …) (…“Your sign is that you will not [be able to] speak to the people for three days except by gesture …): The sign was not to be able to talk to people while remembering Allah (swt). You talk to the Lord of people when you don’t talk to them.

The question here is: did the Almighty ordered Zechariah (PBUH) not to talk to people or prevented him from doing so? The answer is: The Almighty prevented him, so, Zecharia was unable to talk to people even if he wanted that.

( وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ كَثِيرًا وَسَبِّحْ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ … ) (…And remember your Lord much and exalt [Him with praise] in the evening and the morning.”): Let’s consider how particular is the Holy Quran. The Almighty prevented Zechariah (PBUH) from talking to people but allowed him to remember and exalt Him. When the Holy Quran mentions the Miracle of the “Israʾ and Miʿraj” -which is greater than the birth of John- when Prophet Muhammad (saws) reached “Sidrat Al-Muntaha” (Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary) after he left the earthly world into the source of the sacred light and went in a night journey from the Kaaba (the Holy Mosque in Mecca) to the Aqsa (the Holy Mosque in Jerusalem) then up across the seven heavens, the Almighty started the verse:

 {سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى}

(Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa,) (Al-Israa: 1)

by stating that there is no peer for the Almighty.