Stories of the Prophets.
Stories of the Prophets.
Peace be upon them.
May the prayers of Allah
and His blessings
and peace
be upon the best
of all creation,
those of firm resolve,
whose station
is exalted.
The story of
Ibrahim
(peace be upon him).
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds,
and may prayers and peace
be upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon his family
and all his Companions.
To proceed:
In northern Iraq,
and in the city of Babylon
specifically,
that ancient city,
the Prophet of Allah, Ibrahim,
(peace be upon him) grew up.
His people in that city
were idolaters, worshipping idols,
and some of them combined
this with the worship of stars
and planets.
Azar, the father of Ibrahim,
was a carpenter,
so he would craft idols for his people.
Sometimes he would give them
to his son Ibrahim
while he was still a young boy,
to sell them in the market.
Ibrahim would take them out
to the market and call out to the people:
"Who will buy what harms
and does not benefit? Who will buy what harms
and does not benefit?"
Sometimes he would take them
to the water,
dip their heads into it,
and say, "Drink,
O you gods,"
in mockery and derision
of them in this
ignorant society
that was far removed from monotheism.
The Friend of Allah (Khalil Allah),
Ibrahim (peace be upon him), grew up
detesting what
his people were upon.
He would often seclude himself
away from them with his small flock,
tending to them and caring for them.
He was the only one
among his people upon the sound natural disposition (fitrah)
and the pure creed.
So Allah chose him,
selected him for prophethood,
and sent him to his people
to call them to Allah
and warn them against what they were in
of idolatry and polytheism.
Ibrahim (peace be upon him)
began his mission among his people.
And
the first thing he did
was to call his father.
He was gentle with him
with the utmost gentleness,
and addressed him with full respect.
He said to him,
as he said to his father:
"O my father, why do you worship
“When he said unto his father: O my father! Why worshippest thou that which heareth not nor seeth, nor can in aught avail thee?” (19:42)
what neither hears nor sees,
nor avails you anything?"
"O my father,
indeed, there has come to me
“O my father! Lo! there hath come unto me of knowledge that which came not unto thee. So follow me, and I will lead thee on a right path.” (19:43)
of knowledge that which has not come to you, so follow me;
follow me,
and I will guide you to a straight
path."
"O my father,
do not worship Satan;
indeed, Satan
has ever been, to the Most Merciful,
disobedient."
"O my father,
indeed, I fear
that there will touch you
a punishment from the Most Merciful,
indeed, I fear
that there will touch you
a punishment from the Most Merciful,
and you will become to Satan
a companion."
And every time
Ibrahim debated
his father
in private,
or in a public discussion
with his people,
and he refused to listen to him,
and rejected his call,
and rebuked him and threatened him
with expulsion and long abandonment,
Ibrahim (peace be upon him)
would do nothing
but respond to him
with a gentle manner and kind
words,
and promise to seek forgiveness for him
as long as he was not forbidden from doing so.
Ibrahim (peace be upon him) moved on
to call his people,
and began to debate them,
hoping they would use
their intellects
and return from their error
and misguidance.
He said to them as
every prophet said to his people:
"Worship Allah and fear Him;
that is best for you,
if you should know."
And he said to them:
"Indeed, your worship of these idols
that you fashion
with your own hands
is nothing but a clear falsehood,
an evident error.
So leave them,
and worship Allah who created you
and what you do.
With Him is your provision,
and to Him you shall return."
He (peace be upon him)
would demonstrate to them the helplessness of their gods,
saying to them:
"These gods that you worship,
do they benefit you
in anything, or do they harm you?"
They would have
no answer.
They said, "We found
our fathers doing likewise."
So he answered them:
"Have you then considered what
you have been worshipping,
you and your ancient forefathers?
Indeed, they are
enemies to me,
except the Lord of the worlds."
Then he began to debate them
regarding their worship of the stars,
the sun, and the moon.
One day,
when the sky was clear,
he said to his people:
"This is my Lord."
Then he did not wait long
before that star set.
So Ibrahim
(peace be upon him) said:
"I do not love a god
that disappears and leaves me."
Then he turned to the moon
and said, "This is my Lord."
Then he did not wait long
until the darkness vanished
and the moon set.
Then the sun rose,
and he said, "This too
is not a suitable god for me."
Then he turned to the sun
and said:
"This is my Lord;
this is greater than
what came before it of the moon
and the star."
But when sunset came
and the sun disappeared,
he said to his people:
"Indeed, I am free
from what you associate with Allah."
Allah the Exalted said:
"And thus did We show Ibrahim
the dominion of the heavens
and the earth,
that he might be among
the certain [in faith]."
So when the night
When the night grew dark,
he saw a star.
He said, "This is
my Lord."
But when it set,
he said, "I do not love
those that set."
Then, when he saw
the moon rising,
he said, "This is
my Lord."
But when it set,
he said, "If my Lord does not guide me,
I shall surely be
among the people
who are astray."
Then, when
he saw the sun
rising,
he said, "This is my Lord;
this is greater."
But when it set,
he said, "O my people,
I am innocent
of that which
you associate with Allah."
"Indeed, I
have turned my face toward Him who
originated the heavens
and the earth, inclining toward truth,
and I am not
of the polytheists."
The stance of
Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
regarding these celestial bodies
was a stance of debate, not a stance of
observation.
Ibrahim never doubted Allah,
the Exalted and Majestic,
nor did he ever think
that the stars, the sun, or the moon
could be lords.
Rather, he did that
for the sake of establishing the argument
against them.
This was part of the instruction Allah, the Exalted, gave him,
as Allah, the Exalted, said
after that debate:
"And that is Our argument
which We gave to Ibrahim
against his people."
After these debates
and dialogues that proved to be of no
avail with his people,
Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
wanted to demonstrate to them the folly
of their minds,
and that these idols could not ward off
any harm from themselves,
let alone ward it off
from others.
So, he waited for a festival day of theirs
when they would go out to celebrate
outside the city.
He told them he would go out with them
to participate in their festival,
but then excused himself on account of illness.
When they had left,
he hurried to their idols,
and found food
prepared before them.
He said to them,
"Will you not eat?
Answer, what is the matter with you that you do not speak?"
Then he began
striking the idols with an axe,
breaking them into
small
pieces,
leaving the largest one and hanging the axe upon it.
Then he departed.
When the people of Ibrahim returned,
they found their gods
smashed.
They said, "Who has done this
to our gods?"
Then they remembered what had been threatened by
Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
regarding his plotting against their idols.
They said, "We heard
a young man mentioning them with ill intent,
who is called Ibrahim."
The elders
and the notables of the people said,
"Bring him before the eyes of the people,
so that they may bear witness."
When he came,
Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
they asked him in front of everyone,
"Did you do this
to our gods, O Ibrahim?"
This was
a very suitable moment
for Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
to manifest his call
before everyone.
He said to them,
“He said: But this, their chief hath done it. So question them, if they can speak.” (21:63)
"He became jealous of those idols
that they were worshipped alongside him,
so he smashed them."
"So ask those broken idols,
so they may tell you
who did this to them,
or ask their leader,
perhaps he will tell you."
Here, a moment of
reflection came over them,
turning inward,
and they stood in contemplation.
They accused themselves of wrongdoing
for worshipping these idols
that could not
defend
themselves.
But this pause did not last long,
as they quickly relapsed
and said,
“And they were utterly confounded, and they said: Well thou knowest that these speak not.” (21:65)
"They do not speak."
Here, Ibrahim,
peace be upon him, spoke out before everyone
and said to them,
rebuking them,
"Do you worship these idols instead of Allah,
while they do not speak,
nor do they benefit themselves,
nor others,
nor do they cause harm?
Fie upon you!
Do you not have minds
with which to reason?"
It was confirmed to those fools
that the perpetrator was Ibrahim,
peace be upon him.
So they began to consult on the method
by which they would take revenge
for their gods,
deciding to kill him in the most terrible way.
They said,
"Burn Ibrahim,
and take revenge for your gods,
and avenge them."
Those transgressors began
to arrange for the burning of
the Prophet of Allah, Ibrahim, peace be upon him.
They ignited a fire,
a great one,
taking a month to fuel it
and tend to it.
It is even mentioned that a woman
would vow that if she were cured
of her illness,
or if her newborn were healed,
she would gather firewood
to contribute to the kindling of
that fire.
And the gecko in that place
was blowing into that fire
to participate in fueling it.
They kindled a great fire,
to the extent that they
could not even approach
it due to its intense heat.
Even birds,
if they passed by it,
would fall down dead.
On the appointed day,
they stripped Ibrahim,
peace be upon him,
of his clothes,
then placed him in a catapult,
and threw him into the fire
from a distance.
The Friend of Allah, Ibrahim,
peace be upon him, said,
"Sufficient for me is Allah, and He is the best Disposer of affairs."
So Allah, the Exalted, revealed
to that fire,
"Be coolness
for My servant and My friend,
Ibrahim, so do not
burn his body,
and be safety
for him, so he does not perish
from the cold, and be
safety, so do not break
any of his bones."
And thus, Allah, the Exalted, saved
Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
from their plotting.
And he stood up and walked out from the midst of the fire
before their very eyes.
And thus does He save
the God-fearing.
Allah the Exalted said:
"And We had certainly given
Ibrahim his guidance
before,
and We were of him
well-knowing."
When he said to his father
and his people, "What are these
statues to which
you
are devoted?"
They said, "We found
our forefathers
worshipping them."
He said, "You have certainly been,
you
and your forefathers,
in manifest
error."
They said, "Have you come to us
with the truth, or are you
one of those who play?"
He said, "Rather,
your Lord is the Lord of the heavens
and the earth, who
originated them,
who originated them,
originated them,
and I am of that
among the witnesses."
"And by Allah, I will surely plot
against your idols
after
you have turned and gone away."
So he made them
into fragments, except
a large one among them, that perhaps
they might return to it.
They said, "Who has done
this to our gods?
Indeed, he is among
the wrongdoers."
They said, "We heard a youth
mentioning them, who is called
Ibrahim."
They said,
"Then bring him before
the eyes of the people,
that they may testify."
They said, "Is it you
who has done this
to our gods, O
Ibrahim?"
He said, "Rather, this large one of them did it,
this one;
so ask them,
so ask them,
if they are able to speak."
So they returned to
themselves and said,
"Indeed, you
are the wrongdoers."
“And they were utterly confounded, and they said: Well thou knowest that these speak not.” (21:65)
"You have already known
that these
do not speak."
He said, "Do you then worship
instead of Allah
that which does not benefit you
at all, nor
harm you?"
"Fie upon you and upon what
you worship instead of
Allah!
Do you not then use your intellect?"
They said, "Burn him
and support
your gods, if
you are to act."
We said, "O fire,
be coolness
and safety for
Ibrahim."
And they intended for him
a plot,
but We made them
the greatest losers.
The hadith continues,
if Allah wills.
And Allah knows best.
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And may Allah send blessings and peace
upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon his family
and all his companions.
You have been with
the Stories of the Prophets.