Part 56

' Abdu llah Ibn ' Abbas .lJ; and Abul · ' Ali ya h said: If Allah had

not said, ( " and safe ty for Ibrahecm! " ) its co ldn ess wou ld

have harmed Ibrahec lll ~ ."

AI-Buk hari na rrated on the authori ty or Sa'eed Ibn AI-

Mu sayyib, who report cd on th c au tho rity of UI11Il1 Sharcek

that the Messenger o f A llah ~ ordered th e killing o f the hOllse

gecko and he sa id , " It bl ew (t hc fi re) on Ibrah eem ~ . " (!)

Imam A hmad narrated 0 11 the authori ty o f Sa'iba h, the freed

slave of A I-Fak ih Ibn AIMughccrah that she said: I vis itcd

(t) Narrated by Al-B ukhari (4563).

(2) Narrated by AI-Buk hari (3359).

nil! Sun:I' o/lbraltl!l!1II '" 253

'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased w ith her) a nd s3w a spear

in her house and I sa id , "0, Mother of th e Faithful! What arc

you do ing w ith th is spear?" She sa id, "Thi s is for these house

geckos; we ki ll them w ith it , because the Messe nge r of Allah ~

tol d ti S th at: 'W hen Ibra h ccm :-2ii.~ was thrown int o the fire. th ere

was no c rea ture on th c earlh that did not (sec k to) ex ti nguish

the fire except the house gecko; it blew (the fire) 0 11 hi m.' So

the Messenger of A lla h ~ orde red us to kill th em." ( I)

lHeJltiolJ of the Debate Betwee" Ibraheem A I-Klmleel ~~

amI rho.\·e Who Walllel/ to Dispute With the A'ligh~) ', th e AI/-

PowerJil1 ill Garmellls ofGreallless am/ Robes oJArmgallce

amI So fie Claimed Lortf.'l/uiJ, Whell He JlIt,S Olle ofthe Weak

Alla h, Most Hi gh, says, ( Il ave you not looked at him who

di sputed w ith Ibra heem abollt his Lord (A ll ah), because A llah

had g iven him the ki ngdom? Whcn Ibrahccll1 said (to him).

"My Lord (A llah ) is Ilc Who gives life and ca uses dcath," He

snid, "I givc Ii fc and ca use dcath ." Ibrahcclll said , "Verily! Alla h

ca uses the sun to risc fr0111 thc East; th en causes it you to risc

from thc West." So the di sbc li evc r was utterly de fca tcd. And

Allah gui dcs not the people, who arc ::alilllOol1 (wrongdoe rs,

CIC.) (SaO/"a" AI-Baqara" 2:258) Allah, Most High, mcntions

the deba te betwcen Hi s Kllllleel and the a rrogant tyra nt ki ng,

who claimed Lordship for himse lf; bu t AI-Kllllleel inva lida ted

hi s proof and made cl ea r how grcat was hi s ignorancc " nd th e

small ness of hi s int ell ec t and the evidence silcnced him and

illu mi nated for him thc right path.

The scholars of ta/seer and others, such as the sc hola rs of

( I) Thi s is an authentic IllItieerlt mITT-lied by tmam Ahmad •.

254 Tile Sim:\, o/Ibmhec/JI ~

lineage and those o f trad iti ons sa id that th is king wa s the ki ng

of Babylon, whose na me was Numrood, son of Kan'an, son of

Koosh, son of Sam, son ofNoo h, accord ing to Muja hid. Others

said that he was N umrood, son of Fala h, son of 'A bir, son of

Sali h, so n of A rfakhshad , son of Sam, son o f Noah ~ . This

was also reported by Muj ahid and others. I-Ie was one of the

ki ngs of the world, becau se the world was ru led by four ki ngs,

accordi ng to what ha s been narrat ed. They consisted of two

Believers and two di sbelievers; the two Bel ieve rs wcre DlllIl-

Qarnain and Sulaim an and the two disbelievers were Numrood

and Buk htunassar. Th ey mentioned that th is king, N umrood,

remained 011 the thronc for fo ur hundred years. I-Ie had become

crue l, opp ress ive, tyran nical and nrrogan t and he had preferred

the li fe of th is world. When Ibrahee m ~ called upo n hi m to

worship Alla h, Alone, without partners, hi s ignoran ce a nd error

and hi s persona l desires caused him to de ny the Crea tor and to

dispute with Ibrahec l11 ~ about it and claimed Lordshi p for

himse lf. Whcn AI-Khaleel sa id to him, "My Lord (All ah) is

He Who gives life a nd ca uses dea th :' li e said , " I give life and

cause death." ) (Saarah AI-Baqarah 2:258) Qmadah, As-Suddi

and Muha mmad Ibn Ishag said that he mcant that whcn two men

a re brought to him and he had decided to have them ki ll cd, then

he ordered tha t one oft hem bc killcd and pardoned the othcrone,

it would be as if he had given life to one and ca used dea th to the

othe r. But thi s was no t a challenge to AI-Klwleel's statement.

Rat hel', it was a remark unrclated to the topic of di scuss io n

a nd it did not challe nge or invali date (lbrahccm 's argument);

it was simply a provocative stateme nt and a dev iation from the

truth, because AI-Klw/ee/ proved the ex istence of the Creator

by the occ urrence of these visible th ings, suc h as the granti ng

of life to creatures and the bri nging of death to thcm. For it is

not poss ible tha t they brought themse lves into ex isten ce; the re

•• Th e Sto,.\, of /braheem "t= 255

I! must have been a Crea tor to brin g them into existence and 10

subjugate the m to man and to steer th e heavenl y bodies in the ir

orb its a nd to direct the winds, the cloud s and th e rain and create

these vis ible animals and then bri ng abo ut th eir death. This is

why Ibra heem """ sa id. ( "My Lord (A ll ah) is He Wh o g ives

li fe and ca uses dL!<llh ." ) (SoOl'ali AI-Baqarah 2: 258) So if by

his saying ,., bring life and I cause deat h," thi s ignora nt king

mcanllhal he was the doe r o f these visible eve nt s, th en he was

guilty of stubbornness and obs tinacy. If he meant whm was

mentioned by Qa tadah, As-Suddi a nd Ibn Ishaq, then he did

not say anythin g related 10 the wo rds of AI-Kilo/eel, since he

had not chall enged his speec h and had not he cou nt ercd the

Si nce the defeat ort he ki ng in thi s debate mi ght be unclear to

man y of those peo pl e who att ended it and others, he me nti oned

an other proo f, whi ch made clear the existcnce of the Creator

and the fa lseness of what Num rood claimed and the open defeat

of him: ( "Ve ril y! All ah causes th e sun to rise fro m the East;

then cause it yo u to ri se from the West." ) (500/'all AI-Baqarah

2:258) Tlwt is, this sun is subjugat ed eve ry day and ca used

to ri se, in accordance with th e subjugation of the O ne Who

created it and controls and directs it and is Irres isti ble. And th at

is Allah, besi des Whom none has the ri ght to be worshipped,

the Crca wr of eve ry thing. So if you are, as you claim, the onc

who gives li fe and ca uses dea th, then ca li se this sun 10 ri se

from the West, because, He \.v11O gives life and causes death

is the One Who docs as He wills and He can llot be res isted or

ove rco me. Rather, He ove rwhelms cve rything and every thin g

submi ts to Him. So if you are as you claim, the n do this. But if

you ca nnot do it, then yo u are not as you claim. You and every

ot her person knows that you arc not ab le to do anyth ing of thi s.

Indeed, you are in ca pable and powe rl ess to crca te a mosquito

256 7111! SIOI ), of 111m/weill ~

or to he lp yo urse lf aga in st it? So he made cl ear to him his error,

hi s ignorance, the untruthfu lness of hi s c laim and the falseness

of his behav io ur and his bragg ing to the ignorant am ong hi s

people. And the re re mai ned no arg ument for him to use agai nst

Alw Khalee/ ~ . Rathe r, he was defeated and sil enced and thi s

is why Allah says, l( So th e di sbeli ever was utterly de feated.

And Allah g uides not th e peo ple, who arc =alimoo11. ) (Soorah

The Story ofAf-Khafeef's Migration to the Land

ofAsh-Sham, His Entry Into the Lands ofEgypt

and His Settling in the Holy Land

Allah, Most High, says, ( So Loo l (Lot) beli eved in him

(Ibrahccm's Message of Islami c Mo nothei sm). lie (Ibrahce m)

said, "I will emi gra te for the sake of my Lord . Verily, I Ie is

th e A lmigh ty, th e Most Wise." And We bestowed on him

(Ibraheem ), Ishaq (i saac) and Ya' qoob (Jacob), and ordained

amo ng hi s o ffspring Prophethood and the Book (i.e. th e Tall'rah

[Torah]) (to Moosa [Moses]), th e III)eel (Gospel ) (to ' Eesa

[J esus]), the Qur ' an (to Muh ammad :Ii), a ll from the offspring

of Ibrah eem) , and We g ranted him hi s reward in thi s world ,

and veril y, in the Il erca ftcr he is indeed amo ng the righteo us. )

He, Most Hig h, says, ( And We rescued him a nd Loot (Lot)

to the land whi ch We have bl essed for the 'A/ameen. And We

bestowed upo n hi m Ishaq (Isaac), and (a g rand son) Ya' qoob

(Jacob). Each on e We madc ri g hteou s. And We made them