391. No legal heirs for properties belongings left behind by prophets.

Verse (19:5) of the Quran talks of Prophet Zakariyah’s prayer to God, for grant of a legal heir.

We are given to understand, a person who enjoys the properties and belongings is termed as the legal heir of the deceased. 

But the word legal heir used in this verse should not be taken to mean in the same context as stated above.

Because Prophet Muhammad has said the offspring of prophets are not to claim properties left behind by them. (Bukhari 2862, 2863, 3435, 3730, 3913) 

Since no one can become a legal heir for the properties left behind by prophets, the reason Prophet Zakariyah prayed for a legal heir is to carry on the spiritual tasks after him. He prayed asking for a legal heir to hand over the responsibility of spiritual tasks.

And it is being said in the message as ‘that legal heir would be the legal heir of my family as well as that of the family of Yacoob, suggesting the legal heir aspect is not regarding left behind properties, because Prophet Zachariya’s son cannot become an inheritor of the property of Prophet Yacoob.