Part 55

speak 1101?" Then he tllmed lipan them, strikin g (them) with

(his) right hand ) (Saarall !ls-SaJfar 37 :9 1-93).

He stru ck them wil h his ri ght hand beca use it was stronger,

more powerfu l, swifter and morc irresisti ble - and he broke

them with a qaddoom. (I) ( So he broke them to pieces ) . That

is, he smashed them all into rubbl e. ( So he broke thcm to

pieccs. (all) except th e biggest of them. that they might turn

to it ) . It was said thai he placcd the adz in the hands of the

large one, as an ind ication that it was envious th at any of these

smaller ido ls should be worshipped with it. When they returned

from their fes ti va l and found what had befallen the objects of

their worship, ( They said, "Who hns done this to our alihah

(gods)? li e must indeed be one of the wrongdoers." ) .

In Ihis th ere was clea r evidence for th em, if they had but

sense to realize, that if these idols which they lIsed to worshi p

( I ) QlIdoom or QlIddoom: An (lei: or(u/:e, which is a tool, used fo r smoothing

rough-cut wood In hand-woodworki ng.

were truly gods, they wou ld have defended th emse lves again st

anyone who wanted to harm th em. But due to their ignora nce,

their lack of understanding , their great mi sgui dance and th eir

fooli shn ess, they said, ( They sa id, " Who has done this 10 our

ali/wll (gods)? He must indeed be one of the wrongdoers."

Thcy said, "We hea rd a young ma n talkin g about them who

is ca ll ed Ibra heem." ) (500/'011 AI-Allbiyo' 21 :59,60) Tha! is,

say ing bad things about them , be litt ling them and making light

of them, so it mllst be hc who has attacked them and broken

th cm. According to ' Abdulla h Ibn Mas'ood .J;e, it means they

we re rcminded ofltis words: ( "And by Allah. I shal l plot a plan

(to destroy) yo ur idols ancr you have gone away and turned

your backs." ) (Saorall AI-A IIbiyo . 2 1:57) ( They said, "Then

bring him bcrore the eycs of the peop le, that they may testify."

) (5001'011 AI-Al1hiya' 2 1:6 1) That is to the Grand Asse mbl y,

for everyone to sec, so that th ey may bear witness to hi s words,

hear his speech and see for thcmsc lves the revenge that they

would exact on him. This was AI-Klla/eel's mai n objective -

to gather th e peop le and to establish the proof aga inst all of

the ido laters of the fal seness o f th eir practices, as Moosa ~

sa id to Fir'awn, ( "Yo ur appoi nted mee tin g is the day of the

festival, and let thc peop le assemb le when the sun has risen

(forenoon)." ) (500/'011 To No 20:59). T hen, when they had

asscmbled and brought him before them, as th ey had sa id, (

They sa id, "Arc you the one who has done thi s to our gods,

0, Ibra hcem?" (lbra hecm) sa id, "Nay, thi s one, the biggest of

them (idols) did it. Ask them , if they can speak!" ) (500/'011

A/-Auhiyo' 2 1:62,63) In sayi ng this, he was hop in g that they

wou ld acknow ledge that these idols could not speak and that

thi s idol wou ld not say anythin g because it was inanimate and

li ke any other inan im ate object, incapable of speec h.

( So they tum ed to thcmse lves and said, "Verily, you are thc

250 The Siory oJlbraheem 'fI!.

:!.alimOOl1 (wrongdoc rs).") (Soorali Af-Al1bzya ' 21 :64) That is

thcy blamed th cmselves for abandon ing them , withou t Icaving

anyone to protec t them or gua rd the m. ( Then they bent their

heads ) (Soorah Af-Al1hiya' 21 :65) As-Suddi said that it means:

Then th ey ret urned 10 thefill1ah (i.e. their di sbelicf). Based on

thi s, the mca ni ng o f th ei r words ( "Ve ril y, yo u arc the zafil110011

(wrongdoers),' ) wou ld be: You arc the wro ngdoers in your

worship of th em (the idols). Qatada h sa id, "Th e peo pl e became

con fused and bowed their heads, then they said, ( ' Indeed you

(Ibraheem) know well Ihal Ihese (idols) speak nOl") (Soorah

AI-Allbiya' 2 1:65) ThaI is, you know full we ll , Ibrahecm, Ihal

th ese idols do not speak, so how can youordcr us to as k them? At

Ihat point, AI-Klwleel ~ said to th em, (" Do you then worship

bes ides Allah things that can neither profit you, nor hann you?

Fie upon you and upon that whi ch you worship besides Allah!

Have you Ihenl10 sense?") (Soorall AI-Allhi)'a' 21 :66,67) This

is like Hi s Word s: ( Then they (the worshippers of idol s) came

loward him ,yaziffi'oll) (SOO .."" As-SaIJat 37:94) Mujah id said

that it means: hastening. I-Ie said , ( "Worship you that which

you (yourselves) carve?" ) (SoO/'ail As-SaIJat 37:95) ThaI is,

how ca n you worship idol s whi ch you yourselves have carved

from wood and stone and shaped and fashi oned as you wished?

( "WltileAl lah has created you and what you mak e!") (Soorall

As-Sajjcll 37:96) Regardless or whe ther the Arab ic word 11/(/

used in th e Ve rses is the indefinite pronoun signi fy ing a verbal

nOlin, or w hcther it mcan s " that whi ch" th e mea ning of the

words is: You arc created and th ese ido ls a rc created, so how

can one creatio n worshi p another creation like it? Your worship

of them is no more appropriate tha n their worship or you; the

fa nner is futil e a nd invalid and so is the lalter, since worship is

neith er use ful nor obligatory excep t when it is worship of the

Creator, Alone, wi thout asc ribing partne rs to I-lim. (They said,

Till. ' Storr of Ibraheem ~ 251

"Build for him a building (it is said thai the building was like

a fumace) a nd throw hi m into the blazing fire . So they ploued

a plot against him , but we made them the lowest!") (Soorah

AS-SaOell 37:97,98) They desisled fro lll arguin g and debating

whcn they were defeated and no a rgument and no sophism

remai ned avai lable to the m . AI that point, they resorted to force

in order to support their foo li shncss and tyra nny. But thc Lord.

the Almighty, th e A II -Powerful plolted aga inst the m a nd ra ised

Hi s Word, Hi s Re lig ion and His Proof, As Hc, Most High, says,

( They said, "Bum him and help your ali"a" (gods), if you

will be doing." We (A ll ah) said. "0, fire' Be you coolness and

safe ty for Ibrahecm! " And they wanted to harm him, but We

made th cm the worst lose rs) (SoOl'ali A/-Anbiya' 2 1:68-70)

Thi s was beca use they began to ga the r ki nd ling from every

place they could , to such an extent that, if a woman was sick,

she would make a vow that if she recovered she wou ld bri ng

wood to burn Ibrahecl11 ~ . Thcn th ey made a hole in the

ground and set it aflamc, and it burn cd w ith huge sparks and

im mense fla mes . Th ere had never bcen a fire like it. They put

Ibrahce m i:&i' into a mangone l, at the suggest ion of a nomadi c

Kurdish man from Persia, w hose name was Hazan and who

was Ihe firsl person to build a man gonel. All ah caused Ihe earth

to swa ltow him up, a nd he will rema in sinking into it untillhe

Day of Resurrectioll . Then they shackled him a nd li ed hi m in

the bowl of the man gone I and he was say ing, "La ilallO ilia

Allfa Slib/ulIlaka Laka/-Hamdll IVa Laka/-A;fll/ku La SllOreeka

Lak (None has the right to be worshipped but You . G lory be 10

You. A ll praise and thank s are due to You; to You belongs the

dominion; and You have no partners) . " Then, when Ibrahccm

~ was placed in bow l of the mango nel , li ed and shac kl ed

and then cast into the firc from ii, he said, "Hasbul1al/alw

IVa Ni'ma/-Wakee/ (S ufficient for mc is All ah, and He is the

252 7he SUJ/)' of Ibra hee /ll ~

best Dis pose r of Affa irs)." Thi s is s imilar to what AlBukhari

recorded from 'A bdu llah Ibn 'A bba s ~ th at Ibrahecll1 ~.

said , "Sufficicnt fo r me is A ll ah and J-Ie is th e best Di sposer of

A ffairs," whe n he was thrown int o the fire. Muhammad 3:5 sa id

it whcn it was sa id 10 him , ( Those (Le. Beli evers) unto whom

th e people (hypoc ritcs) sa id, "Ve ril y, the people (paga ns) have

gathered aga inst yo u (a great army), th cre forc, fea r them ." But

it (onl y) increased the m in faith , and they said , ·'A llah (Alon e)

is Sumcient for us. and I-Ie is th e Best Disposer of a ffairs (for

us)." So thcy return ed w ith Grace and Bounty from A llah. No

harm tou ched th em; and they followed the good Pleasure o f

Allah . And Allah is the Ow ner of Great Boun ty ) (Saara" ;IIi

'/m ran 3: 173, 174) (I)

It is narrat ed on the authority of ' Abdull a h Ibn ' Abbas ~

a nd Sa'eed Ibn Juba ir that they said: The keeper (angel) of the

ra in said, "W hen wi ll I be comma ndcd to scnd rain?" But the

command of All ah was swiftcr. ( We (Allah) said , " 0 , fire! Be

you coo lness and safety for Ibrahec m!" ) (Soorah 1I1-lIl1hl)la '

2 1:69) 'A li Ib n Ab i Talib said that it means: Do not harm hi m.