The Prophet Ibrahim(PBUH)
By Sheikh Muhammad Mustafa Gemeaah

Prophet Ibrahim was endowed with knowledge of Allah (Glory and Might be to Him) from a very young age. He rejected the practice of idol worship and preached his father to worship Allah the one and only God. He argued with his father to abandon his idolatry and worship Allah alone, but the latter got angry and showed arrogance. When Ibrahim (peace be on him) further argued with his father that those idols did not have the ability to harm or benefit, the father told his son to leave his house before he would be stoned. Ibrahim (pbuh) said to his father: Peace be on you! I will ask forgiveness of my Lord for you. Verily He is most Gracious to me. And I shall withdraw from you. (Surah: 19:46-48)

Prophet Ibrahim addressed the issue of worshipping kings and rulers such as Namrud, king of ur in Chaldea (Babylon) who alleged being a god. This tyrannous king claimed the ability of giving life and causing death to human beings. Prophet Ibrahim refuted this allegation by a decisive sentence when he asked the king to cause the sun to rise from the west. The king Namrud, realized his disability to accomplish such a task, and therefore his allegation of being god was refuted.

He continued his struggle against idolatry and followed every possible way to prove the Oneness of Allah (Tawheed) by offering evidence and logical arguments. After he had no hope of their response, he crept in stealth to their idols and smashed them all except for the biggest one. When they knew that Ibrahim had been the doer, they prepared a huge fire wherein he was thrown. He emerged safe from the fire by Allahs grace.

Ibrahim left his people for Palestine accompanied by his wife, Sarah, and his nephew, Lot. When they passed by the territory of a tyrant, someone told that tyrant that a stranger had come accompanied by a very charming lady. The king ordered that the lady be brought to him. When the lady (Sarah) was brought to him, he tried to take hold of her but, by a miracle of Allah, his hand got stiff. He then gave Sarah a maidservant called Hajar. As Ibrahim and Sarah reached old age with no children, Sarah offered her slave (Hajar) to her husband as a wife in order to have a child from her as it was Ibrahims wish.

From Hajar, Ibrahim was given a son named Ismail though he was eighty-six years old. Allah (the Glorious and Mighty) commanded Ibrahim to take his wife Hajar and his beloved son, Ismail to a barren place (Makkah) and to leave them there alone where no food, no water and no human being to be seen. The wife heartily accepted this command, as it was Allahs will. It was only occasionally that Ibrahim did visit his bitterly suffering wife and son. On one of his visits Allah commanded him to offer his son as a sacrifice, which was the most difficult test for his faith.

The son obeyed his fathers accomplishment of Allahs will. When Ibrahim was about to slaughter Ismail, Allah ransomed him for a ram. Allah revealed to Ibrahim that this was a trial for him in which he succeeded.

Ibrahim and his son, Ismail (peace be upon them) built the House of Allah, the Kaba in Makkah. (Surah: 14:35 41). Prophet Ibrahim established the rites of Hajj as enjoined by Allah (Surah 22: 26-30). He taught people Tawheed (Surah: 60:4), Allahs Attributes (Surah 26:77-84), belief in the Day of Resurrection (Surah 2:260). etc.

As a concluding statement, it is worth saying that this story of Ibrahim (pbuh), like prophet Nuhs story, teaches us, among many other things, that it is the relationship between a Muslim and his Lord and brother Muslims which should be considered, not the blood relationships.