(258) “Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord because Allah had granted him kingship? Abraham said, ‘My Lord is the One Who gives life and causes death.’ He replied, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.’ The disbeliever was thus dumbfounded. And Allah does not guide wrongdoing people.”

Allah Most High draws attention to the man who argued with Abraham about his Lord—to his audacity, ignorance, obstinacy, and disputation over a matter that admits no doubt. Nothing drove him to this except that “Allah had granted him kingship.” He consequently became tyrannical and transgressed, regarding himself as supreme over his subjects. This led him to dispute with Abraham concerning Allah’s lordship, claiming that he could do what Allah does and perform the same acts.

Abraham therefore said, “My Lord is the One Who gives life and causes death.” That is, He alone exercises every form of control. Abraham singled out giving life and causing death because they are among the greatest acts of governance, and because giving life marks the beginning of worldly existence, while causing death marks the beginning of what is to come in the Hereafter.

The disputant replied, “I give life and cause death.” He did not say, “I am the one who gives life and causes death,” because he did not claim independent control. Rather, he alleged that he could act as Allah acts and do what He does. He claimed that by killing one person he had caused him to die, and by sparing another he had given him life.

When Abraham saw him resorting to sophistry in the debate and advancing something that could not even qualify as a specious argument, much less a proof, he pressed the reasoning to its necessary conclusion. Abraham said, “Allah brings the sun from the east”—openly before everyone’s eyes, as every person, including that disbeliever, acknowledges—“so bring it from the west.” This compelled him to apply his own reasoning consistently, if he was truthful in his claim.

When Abraham confronted him with something against which he could raise no specious contention to obscure the proof and no objection to undermine it, “the disbeliever was dumbfounded.” That is, he was bewildered and could offer no reply. His argument was defeated and his specious claim collapsed. Such is the condition of every obstinate champion of falsehood who seeks to resist and overpower the truth: he is himself vanquished and subdued. Allah Most High therefore says, “And Allah does not guide wrongdoing people.” Rather, He leaves them in their disbelief and misguidance, which they themselves have chosen. Had they instead sought the truth and guidance, He would have guided them to it and facilitated for them the means of attaining it.

This verse therefore contains a decisive proof that the Lord alone creates and governs all things. It necessarily follows that He alone must be worshipped, that one must turn to Him alone, and that one must place one’s trust in Him under all circumstances.

Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “This debate contains a very subtle point. The polytheism found throughout the world rests upon the worship of celestial bodies and those in graves; idols were subsequently fashioned to represent them. Together, the two proofs Abraham advanced invalidate the divinity of all of them: Allah alone gives life and causes death. No living being who must die is fit for divinity, either during his life or after his death. Such a being has an all-powerful, irresistible Lord Who controls him by giving him life and causing him to die. How, then, could such a being be a god, so that an idol is fashioned ⦗112⦘ in his likeness and worshipped instead of Allah?

“The same applies to the celestial bodies. The most visible and, to the senses, the largest of them is the sun. Yet it is itself under a Lord, governed and subjugated, possessing no independent power of control whatsoever. Rather, its Lord and Creator—Glorified is He—brings it from its place of rising, and it submits to His command and will. It is thus under a Lord, subjugated and governed—not a god to be worshipped instead of Allah.”

From Miftāh Dār al-Saʿāda (The Key to the Abode of Happiness). Then Allah Most High says: