– Ahmed Osama Jafri (Dip. Comp. Engg, AMU)
Among the three greatest and most influential civilizations of the present time, i.e., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the respected and noble personality is Ibrahim (A.S.). If these three groups are put together, it becomes a great majority of the world who consider Ibrahim (A.S.) as their leader. Countless trials of Ibrahim (A.S.) have been mentioned in the Holy Quran. On being successful in all these, Allah promised to make him the ‘Imam’ of all mankind. This promise seems to be fulfilled today.
He (A.S.) belonged to the generation of “Sham”, the son of Nuh (A.S.). It is almost agreed that His father’s name was “Azar” who was a polytheist and worked as an idol carver. His wife Sarah (A.S) was blessed by Allah with a child in her old age and His name was Ishaq (A.S.). Before the birth of Ishaq (A.S.). Ismail (A.S.), the son of Ibrahim (A.S.), was born in the womb of Hajrah (A.S.). Sarah (A.S.) and Ishaq (A.S.) settled by Ibrahim (A.S.) in the region of Syria (present-day Palestine) and from here their descendants accomplished the feat of spreading divine guidance in this region. Hajrah (A.S.) and Ismail (A.S.) were brought and settled by Ibrahim (A.S.) in the deserts of Makkah where there was no sufficient food and drink. When Ibrahim (A.S.) left them and departed. It was Ismail (A.S.) who rubbed his feet due to his thirst, so water (Zamzam) began to flow under his feet by the command of Allah, as a reward for his patience. Before the water came out, no words of ingratitude or complaint to Allah came to the lips of His mother who was running in search of water.
During the period when Ibrahim (A.S.) was born, the whole world was involved in polytheism. If we look closely at this period, it is felt that for the rulers, polytheism was a means by which they kept the people under complete control. There was a group of priests and astrologers in the court who provided the rulers with the so-called divine basis for persecuting the common people. And the common people were also forced to obey the rulers due to their ignorance and fear, no matter how vile and dirty that thing seemed to be.
Namrud was the king of Babylon. The sense in which he claimed divinity should also be understood well. It is obvious that if Namrud had claimed divinity in the sense that he was magically performing feats and charisma, it would have been pointless for Ibrahim (A.S.) to argue against him. Secondly, as a result of the discussion between them, he could not rise the sun from the west, then the talisman of his divinity should have been shattered. In this way, it is understood that the polytheism and lordship that the Holy Quran talks about here is not magical and talismanic, but it was the same thing that was mentioned by Rabi bin Amir (RA) in the court of Rustam. He said that we want to free people from the slavery of humans and bring them into the slavery of their Lord Allah.
Generally, to give Dawah, one’s own mistakes and shortcomings are presented by correcting them under the guise of interpretations. This work is wrong in two ways. First of all, reform should start from home. The second meaning presented here is that Ibrahim (A.S.) was concerned that his father might not suffer from divine punishment.
As Ibrahim (A.S.) gave Dawah to his father we come to know that, sometimes even a very close relative stumbles upon the call towards Allah and decides to make divine punishment his destiny. In such a case, it is per Islam to leave him alone. Because there is a prevailing belief that seeing one’s face is turned away, a person gets worried and hesitates. In such a situation, being firm on your faith is the only guarantee that blessings from Allah will appear.
We should develop qualities in ourselves so that we can convey the message of Allah to the people. These attributes include several things like ability, fearlessness, and boldness. And more than that, true and conscious faith in Allah. It is necessary to use the intellect to present it so that such conditions are established in front of them that whoever does not suppress the ability to think and understand will turn back to his Lord.
Indeed, in the Holy Qur’an Ibrahim (A.S.) is not mentioned to tell a story. What we understand by reading all these verses together is that Allah wants us to develop complete faith and trust in Him, not to have an inferiority complex, nor to be afraid of any kind, and to speak with logical arguments.
Allama Iqbal has rightly said:
ye daur apne barāhīm kī talāsh meñ hai
sanam-kada hai jahāñ lā-ilāha-illallāh
