Al-Huda Foundation
THE PROPHETS OF ISLAM
PROPHET
IBRAHIM
The
Birth of Ibrahim
Ibrahim
was bom 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 bom 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 boms.
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 boms 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 Idolatory:
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.
T'hey
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.