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PROPHET
IBRAHIM
(Excerpted from "the Prophets of Islam", translated into
English by Dr. Syed Haider Hussain Shamsi)
The Birth of Ibrahim
Ibrahim was born in the fifth generation from Hud,
and during the reign of a tyrant known as Namrood
(Nimrod). Namrood, a powerful king, made his subjects
bow to him as a god. One night he dreamt that a star
rose from the horizon and its brilliance eclipsed the
moon and the sun. He woke up wondering about the
interpretation of his dream. He summoned the
astrologers and fortune tellers to come up with the most
acceptable explanation of his dream. They conferred with
one another and told him: 'A person will be bom in your
kingdom who will wreck your power and destroy your
influence.' He asked if that person had actually been
bom or would be born in the near future. They told him
that he was not yet bom. Upon hearing that, Namrood
ordered a ban on all marriages, separating men from
women and ordered the killing of all new borns.
Allah is All Powerful and All Knowing. His intentions
come to be whenever He deems them to be. The mother of
Ibrahim successfully concealed her pregnancy. She went
out of the city limits and gave birth to her child in a
cave. She stayed in that cave with her child until the
senseless slaughter of the new borns had come to an end
and the king's own fear of his destruction had abated.
By this time Ibrahim had grown up to be a tall
and handsome lad. They returned to their ancestral home
in the city of Ur.
His Intelligence,
Cognition, and Rejection of Idolatry:
In those days people believed in the celestial bodies as
their deities.
One night, Ibrahim also selected the brightest of all
the stars for his observation. By the morning its light
faded and it disappeared. He thought that the most
brilliant of the stars could not be the creator as it
faded away in the brightness of another celetial body.
Similarly he noted that the moon changed phases, and was
but a shadow in front of the brightness of the sun. He
concluded that the moon could not be the creator
either. He pondered if the sun were the ultimate god,
as he had also noted people bowing in subjugation to the
sun. But the sun was out only for the duration of the
day, and gave way to the stars and the moon at night.
He reflected upon this phenomenon and concluded that the
one who put these celestial bodies in their respective
places has the supreme power over them and must be the
God Almighty, even though He were not visible or
physically tangible. He was pleased with this
conclusion and enthusiastically began to tell people how
wrong they all had been to ignore the obvious power
behind their daily lives, the Supreme power of Allah.
He invited them to give up their false gods and return
to the truth.
Some laughed at his idea, some ignored him as he was
only a youth "with little knowledge of life," while
others were offended and admonished him for his lack of
respect for their gods.
They invited him to come to the annual festival and see
for himself how they had decorated their gods along with
fabulous offerings brought over from far and wide.
Ibrahim excused himself and did not go to the festival.
As the towns people had all gone to the fair grounds to
indulge in their festivities, Ibrahim went to their
temple, broke all their idols and left his axe hanging
on the shoulder of the biggest of them all in the center
of the temple.
Next day when people went to the temple and saw what had
happened to their gods, they knew that Ibrahim had done
it, since he had made no secret of his dislike of those
idols. The village chief asked Ibrahim if he knew who
had broken their idols. Ibrahim, pointing towards the
big idol said, "Why don't you ask him?" The cheif said,
"How could a stone idol do such a deed?" There upon
Ibrahim said, "If the stone idol was incapable of doing
it, or protect itself and the other idols, how could it
be a god, the provider and the protectors " They
obviously had no answer to the logic of Ibrahim.
However, they were not prepared to follow his path.
They wanted him punished for being disrespectful to
their gods. They sent a deputation to Namrood, their
god-king for a judgement against Ibrahim.
Ibrahim was summoned to the court of Namrood to answer
his charges and face the punishment.
When all the people had gathered in the court, Namrood
arrived. All subjects bowed down to the ground for
their total submission except for Ibrahim who remained
upright and did not bow to the king-god. When asked why
he refused to bow to him, Ibrahim replied that he
submitted only to his God, The Creator, The Sustainer.
This was an open insult to the king who commanded an
absolute power over his subjects and claimed himself to
be a god. By his act, Ibrahim had provoked the king's
wrath. However, surprised at the courage of Ibrahim,
the king decided to question him.
Debate in the Court
of Namrood on the existence of Allah
The king asked Ibrahim to explain to the entire audience
who his god was. Ibrahim said that his God was one who
gave life and who took it away. The king said that he
did that every day!
Ibrahim said that his God brought forth the sun from the
east. He asked the king that if he had the power, could
he cause the sun to rise from the west! Clearly the
king was unable to carry out such a feat.
The king then turned around and asked Ibrahim why he had
broken all the idols in the temple. He gave the same
reply to the king as he had given to the chief of the
village before. The king said to Ibrahim that he knew
that the idols did not talk and yet he kept on referring
to the biggest of them to answer the question that
actually pertained to him. Ibrahim said that since the
king and all his subjects knew that idols did not talk
why then they worshiped them as gods.
As there were no answers to the logic of Ibrahim the
king ordered his courtiers to dig a large pit, light a
wood fire and throw Ibrahim in it alive, to make an
example so that nobody would again disobey or ridicule
their god-king.
The Miraculous escape
of Ibrahim from the fire
The pit was dug and a large fire was lit in it. When it
was roaring with flames and the heat could be felt from
a distance, Ibrahim was thrown in it. Ibrahim prayed to
the true God, Allah, for His mercy in that hour of
trial. By the Grace of Allah neither the fire nor the
heat touched Ibrahim. He walked around as if in a
garden and left the pit totally unharmed. This indeed
was a miracle that convinced some of the onlookers who
bowed to the true God and accepted the true religion of
Allah and gave up idolatory.
Ibrahim left his ancestoral city of Ur and migrated
north to Haran where he stayed for a short period of
time. Then he moved west to Kin'an (Canan in Torah),
along with his wife Sarah and nephew Lut (Lot in Torah).
After a while, Lut was appointed messenger by
Allah to the people of Sidom and Gomorrah who lived
north of Kin'an.
The Progeny of
Ibrahim
Before finally settling in Kin'an, Ibrahim visited Egypt
where the king gave him a maiden (according to some, his
daughter) in marriage. Her name was Hajirah(Hager in
Torah). Allah gave Ismail as the first bom child to
Ibrahim through his second wife Hajirah at a old age of
eighty six years. Sarah was infertile and became
jealous of Hajirah. Under instructions from Allah,
Ibrahim took his son Ismail and his wife Hajirah from
Kin'an and brought them down south in the land of Arabia
where they were left to live for rest of their lives.
Ismail grew up to be a handsome and tall young man who
had many children and is popularly known as the
patriarch of the Arabs.
Back in Kin'an, after a few years, Sarah who had grown
old, and given up hope of ever bearing a child of her
own, also conceived and bore a son to Ibrahim named
Ishaq. It is worth noting here that Ibrahim had then
turned ninety nine years of age. Ishaq was a great
prophet of Allah in the land of Kin'an. He remained
settled in Kin'an and had several prominent prophets
amongst his progeny.
After the death of his wife Sarah, Ibrahim took another
wife named Qutura from whom had many sons and
daughters. These children of Ibrahim settled and
populated the lands of Madain, Midyan and Saba.
The Trial of Ibrahim
by Allah
One night Ibrahim saw in his dream that he had
sacrificed his son Ismail to please Allah. He wondered
over this dream and pondered over its meaning. He saw
the same dream on three consecutive nights. He called
his son Ismail and told him about his dreams. The son
asked his father to do exactly what he had seen in his
dreams, if that was the wish of the Creator Almighty,
and that he would find him patient. Ibrahim tied his
son just as he would tie a sacrificial lamb, and placed
the knife on the throat of his son to carry out the
sacrifice. The Sustainer of life and of all mankind
sent the archangel Jibril (Gabrial) with salutations
from Allah and told the father and the son that their
belief in Allah and their resolve to give their most
valued possession in life in His way had pleased Him
greatly. Allah had sent a lamb to be sacrificed in
place of Ismail. Ibrahim thanked the Lord for the
acceptance of his service and returned home with
humility and gratitude towards Allah. This act of
Ibrahim has been perpetuated by Allah for ever, and is
celebrated by Muslims all over the world every year when
they sacrifice a lamb. This event is known as Eid-al-Adha.
The Construction of
Kalba and Hajj
Ibrahim and his son Ismail built the Ka'ba and inserted
the Black Stone in one of the comers of the building in
accordance with the Will of Allah. The ritual of Hajj
was initiated at that time and has continued to this
day.
Solution to the
question of Death and Resurrection
Once Ibrahim asked Allah how would He bring them to life
again when the living had died and perished. Allah
asked Ibrahim if he had doubts over that question. He
said he had no doubt about the absolute powers of his
Lord but he wanted to satisfy his curiosity over the
mechanism of resurrection.
Allah instructed Ibrahim: 'gather four birds, let them
become familiar with you, then sacrifice them, mix their
meat and scatter it on four hills across from one
another. Then call the birds by their names, and they
will come to you.' Ibrahim did as instructed, and verily
the same happened as predicted by the Supreme One,
Allah. Thus Ibrahim solved the riddle of resurrection
of the dead on the Day of Judgement. Allah will call
His creation as He Wills, and they will all rise from
their graves.
The Ritual of
Circumcision
When Ibrahim turned ninety nine years of age, Allah
ordained that he himself, his male progeny, and all
believers be circumcised. The divine order was obeyed.
It might be noted here that Ishaq was bom to Ibrahim at
that old age and after the ritual of circumcision. This
ritual is practiced by the Muslims and the Jews, the
followers of Ibrahim, and all those who recognize the
hygienic advantages of circumcision. The Death of Ibrahim
This great prophet and a friend of Allah, also known as
the patriarch of all subsequent prophets, died at the
age of one hundred and seventy five years. Major Lessons from the Life of Ibrahi
1. Do not remain ignorant about religion,nor be
stubborn about the old ways of our forefathers.
Seek the truth. Accept it when discovered.
2. Do not associate
any thing or any one with The Creator. Nothing can share
with Him the glory of His Oneness.
3. Submit to Allah
in total submission to enjoy His bounty and
benevolence.
4. When it is
difficult to practice your faith in safety and in peace,
move to another place, for His territory is vast and His
bounty limitless.
5.
Whenever occasions arise requiring sacrifice to preserve
or protect Faith, do not hesitate, for all we have, came
from Him. We are independent owners of nothing in this
world. References: al Qur'an: Sura Baqra, ale Imran, Nisa', An'am, Taubah, Lud, Yusuf, Ibrahim, Hajar, Nahl, Mariyam, Anmbiyaa, Hajj, Shu'raa, Ankaboot, Sa fat, Jinn, Zakhraf, Hadeed, Mumtahna, Zariyat, Najam, Taha. |
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