(41–50) “And mention Abraham in the Book. Indeed, he was a man of perfect truth and a prophet. * When he said to his father, ‘O my father, why do you worship that which neither hears nor sees, and cannot benefit you in any way? * O my father, knowledge has come to me that has not come to you, so follow me and I will guide you to a straight path. * O my father, do not worship Satan. Satan has indeed always been disobedient to the Most Merciful. * O my father, I fear that a punishment from the Most Merciful may touch you, and then you will become an ally of Satan.’ * He replied, ‘Do you reject my gods, O Abraham? If you do not desist, I will surely stone you. Now leave me for a long while.’ * Abraham said, ‘Peace be upon you. I shall ask my Lord to forgive you; He has always been gracious to me. * I shall withdraw from you and from whatever you invoke besides Allah, and I shall call upon my Lord. I trust that I shall not be disappointed in calling upon my Lord.’ * When he had withdrawn from them and from what they worshipped besides Allah, We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob, and We made each of them a prophet. * We bestowed upon them of Our mercy and granted them lofty and truthful renown.”
The noblest, best, and loftiest of all books is this clear Book, this wise Reminder. When accounts are related in it, they are the truest and most worthy of all accounts. When commands and prohibitions are mentioned in it, they are the noblest, fairest, and most equitable of commands and prohibitions. When it speaks of recompense, promises, and warnings, its reports are the truest and most certain, and the clearest in demonstrating wisdom, justice, and grace. When the prophets and messengers are mentioned in it, what it relates about them is more complete and excellent than what is related elsewhere.
This is why it frequently returns to the stories of the prophets whom Allah favored above others, elevated in rank, and exalted in standing because of their worship and love of Him, their turning to Him in repentance, their fulfillment of His rights and the rights of His servants, their calling people to Allah, their patience in doing so, and their noble stations and lofty ranks. In this surah, Allah therefore mentions a number of prophets and commands His Messenger to recount their stories, for mentioning them expresses praise of Allah and of them and makes clear His favor and kindness toward them. It also encourages belief in them, love for them, and emulation of them. Thus He said: “And mention Abraham in the Book. Indeed, he was a man of perfect truth and a prophet.” Allah combined for him the rank of perfect truthfulness with prophethood.
A man of perfect truth is one distinguished by abundant truthfulness: truthful in his words, deeds, and circumstances, and believing everything that he is commanded to believe. This necessarily entails great knowledge that reaches and affects the heart, produces certainty, and gives rise to complete righteous conduct.
Abraham—peace be upon him—is the best of all the prophets after Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him. He is the third patriarch of the noble nations, the one in whose descendants Allah placed prophethood and revelation. He called people to Allah and patiently endured the severe suffering that befell him. He called both those near to him and those far away, and exerted every possible effort in calling his father. Allah relates the exchange between them, saying: “When he said to his father,” denouncing his worship of idols, “O my father, why do you worship that which neither hears nor sees, and cannot benefit you in any way?” That is: Why do you worship idols that are deficient in themselves and in their actions? They neither hear nor see, and possess no power to bring benefit or harm to their worshipper. Indeed, they possess no power to benefit even themselves and cannot repel anything harmful. This is a clear proof that worshipping something deficient in itself and its actions is reprehensible both rationally and religiously. By this admonition and indication, he showed that the One who ought rightly to be worshipped is the Possessor of perfection, from whom alone the servants receive every blessing and who alone repels affliction from them: Allah Most High.
“O my father, knowledge has come to me that has not come to you.” That is: O my father, do not belittle me and say, “You are merely my son, while I possess what you do not.” Rather, Allah has granted me knowledge that He has not granted you. The point of this is conveyed in his words: “So follow me and I will guide you to a straight path”—that is, an upright and balanced path: worshipping Allah alone without partner and obeying Him in every circumstance.
The gentleness and kindness of this address are evident. He did not say, “O my father, I am knowledgeable and you are ignorant,” or, “You possess no knowledge at all.” Instead, he used wording that implied that both of them possessed some knowledge, but that knowledge had reached him which had neither reached nor come to his father. His father should therefore follow the proof and submit to it.
“O my father, do not worship Satan,” for whoever worships anything besides Allah has worshipped Satan, as Allah Most High said: “Did I not command you, O children of Adam, not to worship Satan? Indeed, he is your manifest enemy.”
“Satan has indeed always been disobedient to the Most Merciful.” Whoever follows in Satan’s footsteps has taken him as an ally and become disobedient to Allah, just as Satan is. Associating disobedience here with the name “the Most Merciful” indicates that sins bar a servant from Allah’s mercy and close its doors to him, just as obedience is among the greatest means of attaining His mercy. He therefore said: “O my father, I fear that a punishment from the Most Merciful may touch you”—because of your persistence in disbelief and continued transgression—“and then you will become an ally of Satan” in this world and the Hereafter, descending into his contemptible abodes ⦗495⦘ and roaming through his ruinous pastures.
Abraham, the intimate friend of Allah—peace be upon him—thus proceeded gradually in calling his father, beginning with the easiest approach and moving onward. He informed him of his knowledge and explained that this required his father to follow him and that, if he obeyed him, he would be guided to a straight path. He then forbade him from worshipping Satan and informed him of the harm it entailed. Finally, he warned him of Allah’s punishment and vengeance if he persisted in his present condition, and told him that he would become an ally of Satan.
This appeal had no effect upon that wretched man. He responded with the answer of an ignorant man, saying: “Do you reject my gods, O Abraham?” He boasted of his gods, [which are] (1) mere stone idols, and reproached Abraham for rejecting them. This arose from extreme ignorance and grievous disbelief: he took pride in worshipping idols and called others to worship them.
“If you do not desist”—that is, from reviling my gods and calling me to worship Allah—“I will surely stone you,” meaning that he would kill him with stones, “and leave me for a long while,” meaning: Do not speak to me for a long time.
Abraham, the intimate friend of Allah, answered as the servants of the Most Merciful answer when addressed by the ignorant. He did not revile him; rather, he remained patient and did not respond to his father with anything he would dislike. He said: “Peace be upon you.” That is: You will be safe from my addressing you with insults, abuse, or anything you dislike. “I shall ask my Lord to forgive you; He has always been gracious to me.” That is: I shall continue to pray to Allah for your guidance and forgiveness by asking Him to guide you to Islam, through which forgiveness is attained. “He has always been gracious to me” means that He has been merciful and compassionate toward me and has cared for me.
He therefore continued to ask Allah to forgive his father, hoping that Allah would guide him. When it became clear to him that his father was an enemy of Allah and that nothing would avail him, Abraham ceased asking forgiveness for him and disavowed him.
Allah has commanded us to follow the creed of Abraham. Following his creed includes taking his path in calling people to Allah through knowledge, wisdom, gentleness, and ease; proceeding from one level to the next (2); remaining patient and never growing weary of the task; patiently enduring the verbal and physical harm inflicted by people upon the caller; and responding to it with pardon and forgiveness—indeed, with kindness in both word and deed.
When he despaired of his people and his father, Abraham said: “I shall withdraw from you and from whatever you invoke besides Allah”—that is, from you and your idols—“and I shall call upon my Lord.” This encompasses both the supplication embodied in worship and the supplication of request. “I trust that I shall not be disappointed in calling upon my Lord.” That is: I hope Allah will grant me happiness by answering my prayer and accepting my deeds.
This is the duty of anyone who has despaired of those whom he has called after they followed their desires, the admonitions proved ineffective, and they persisted in their transgression, wandering blindly: he should occupy himself with reforming his own soul, hope that his Lord will accept him, and withdraw from evil and its people.
Leaving one’s homeland, familiar surroundings, family, and people is among the hardest things for the soul, for many well-known reasons. One of them is that a person becomes separated from those through whom he gains strength and greater numbers. Yet whoever gives up something for Allah, Allah compensates him with something better. When Abraham withdrew from his people, Allah said concerning him: “When he had withdrawn from them and from what they worshipped besides Allah, We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob, and We made each of them”—Isaac and Jacob—“a prophet.” He was thus granted these righteous men (3), messengers sent to mankind whom Allah distinguished with His revelation, chose for His message, and selected above all peoples.
“We bestowed upon them”—that is, Abraham and his two sons—“of Our mercy.” This includes everything Allah bestowed upon them through His mercy: beneficial knowledge, righteous deeds, and numerous, widely dispersed descendants among whom prophets and righteous people abounded.
“And granted them lofty and truthful renown.” This, too, forms part of the mercy He bestowed upon them, for Allah has promised every doer of good that He will spread truthful praise of him in proportion to the good he does. These men are among the foremost leaders of those who do good. Allah therefore spread praise of them that is good and true, not false; lofty and manifest, not obscure. Mention of them filled both horizons, while praise and love of them filled hearts and overflowed from tongues. They became examples for those who seek to emulate the righteous and leaders for those who are rightly guided. Their memory continues to be renewed throughout every age. That is Allah’s grace, which He bestows upon whomever He wills, and Allah is the Possessor of immense grace.