Part 57

leaders, g uiding (mankind ) by Our COlllmand. and We in spired

711e S(OI), of I /)mheem ~ 257

•• in them the doing of good deeds. perfo rm ing salah (iqaIllQIII.\'·

sa /aft) (praye rs), a nd the giving of =okah a nd crus (A lone) they

we re wo rshippe rs. ) (Soorah AI-A nbiya' 2 1:7 1-73) Wh en he

aba ndoned his people for Al lah's sake and mi grated from them,

his wife was barren and coul d not bear ch ildren and he had no

sons. With him was hi s neph ew, Lot ~ , so n of Haran, SOil o f

Azar. Bu t A llah, Most Hi gh, granted him nncr that righ teous

sons and gran ted Prophet hood and Reve lat ion to his progeny.

Every Prophet sent after him Wl.IS f r o l11 his offspring nnd eve ry

Scripture sent down from the heaven to a Prophet after hi m

was sent down to one of his descend ant s. This was an honor

an d a mark of esteem for him from Allah, when he abandon ed

his land, hi s ramily and his kin and migra ted to a land where

he coul d worship his Lord, th e Almighty. the All-Powerfu l

and where he could call the ma nkind to believe in Him . The

land tha t he intended to mi gra te to was the Jand of Ash-Sham

and it was this land th at Allah referred to in His Words: ( 10

the land whic h We have blessed for the ·A lameell. ) (SoO/·aII

A I-A IIbiya " 2 1:7 1) T his was sa id by Ubayy Ibn Ka ' b, Abul -

'Ali yah, Qatadah and ot hers.

Al-Bukha ri narrated on the auth ority of Ab u Hurairah ..;..

that he said: Ibrahee m ~ did not lie except for three lies; two

of the m fo r the sake of Allah when he said, ( "Veril y, I am

sick (w ilh pl ague)." ) (Soorall As-S'!!Jal 37:89) a nd he said , (

"Nay, Ihi s one, Ihe biggest o f Ihe l11 (ido ls) d id it. " ) (Soarall

AI-AI/biya' 2 1:63) Th e (Ihi rd was) Iha l w hil e Ibra hee m ;oa

and Sarah (his wife) we re going (o n a joumcy) Ihey passed by

(th e te rritory of) a tyrant. Someo ne said 10 the tyra nt, "Thi s

man (i.e. Ibrahee m ~) is accom panied by a ve ry charming

lady." So, he sent for Ibraheem ~ and as ked him about

Sarah saying. "Who is th is lady?" Ibraheel11 ~ said, "She is

my sister." Ibrahee m ... went to Sarah and sa id, "0, Sarah!

There arc no believers on th e surface of the earth except you

and I. Thi s man asked me abou t you and I ha ve told him that

you are my sis ler, so do 110t contrad ict my stutemc nt. " The

tyrant then call ed Sara h and when she went 10 him , he tri ed to

tak e hold of her with hi s hand , but (hi s hand became stifr and)

he was con fo und ed . He asked Sarah . " Prn y to All a h ror me,

and I shall not ha rm you." So Sarah nsked Allah to c ure him

and he got c ured. He tried to take ho ld o f her for th e second

lime, but (hi s hand became stiffa s or stifTe r than bc fore and)

he was more confounded. I-Ie again requcs ted Sa rah, " Pra y

to Alla h fo r me, a no I wi ll not harm yo u." Sarah ns ked Allah

again and he became al right. I-I e th en ca ll ed one o f his guard s

(who had brought her) and sai d, "You ha ve not brought me a

human being but ha ve brought me a dev il." Th e tyrant th en

gave I-Iajar as a girl -se rvant to Sa rah. Sarah came ba ck (to

Ibrah ecm ~) whi le he wa s prayin g. Ibra hee ll1 ~~ , ges turin g

with his hand , asked, " Wha t has ha ppe ned?" She re pl ied,

"A llah has spoi led th e ev il plot of th e infidel (or immoral

pe rson) and given me Haj ar for se rvice." (Abu Hurairah '*'

th en addressed hi s li stene rs say in g, "That (Haj a r) was your

moth er, 0 , Balli Ala 'is-SwJ/(/ . (i .e. th e A ra bs, the dcsce ndan ts

of Isma'cel ~ , Haj ar 's son)." I II [t was onl y narrated by AI-

Bukhari from thi s so urce and it is in a 1I/00vqooJ form.

Im am Ahmad narrated on the a uthority of Abu Hu rairah ~

that he sa id : The Messe nger of Allah ~ said , "Ibraheem did not

tell any li es except three and all oflh cm werc in Allah 's Cau se.

(They include) his say ing, when he wa s invited to worship

the idols o f hi s people, ( " Verily. I a m sick (w ith pl ague)."

) (Saarah As-Sarral 37:89 ), hi s say ing, ( "Nay, thi s one. the

biggest or th elll (Idols) did it." ) (Saarah A I-A I/biya . 2 1:63) and

hi s say ing regardin g Sarah , "S he is my sister." He said: Proph et

( I) Narrated by Al· Bukhari (3358).

The Story of Ibraheem ~ 259

Ibrahccl11 ~~ em igratcd with Sara h and cnt ered a ci ty where

there was a ki ng or a ty rant. (The kin g) was told tha t Ibrahecm

~' had elli ered accompani ed by a woman who was on e of tile

Illost chann ing wom en. So the king sent for I bl'ahecl11 .~ . and

asked, "0, Ibrahee m! Who is thi s lady accompa nying you?"

Ibrahccm ~1 repli cd, "She is my sister." Th en Ibraheem ~.

re turned to her and sa id, " Do not contradi ct my statemcnt, for

I havc informed th em that you arc my sister. By Allah, th ere

arc no true Believers on th e ea rth excep t you and I." Then

IbraheeIll sent her 10 the king. When the kin g gOt to her, she

got lip and pe rformed ablution, prayed and sa id, " 0 , Allah ! If I

ha ve beli eved in You and Your Messenger, a nd ha ve saved my

private parts fro m everybody except my husba nd, the n pl ease

do not let thi s pa gan overpower me. " On th at, the king fell in a

mood of agita ti on and start ed mov ing hi s legs. Abu Az-Z inad

and Abu Sal amah reponed on the au thority o f Ab u Hura irah 4.

that she said , "0 , Allah! Ifh e should di e, the people will Si.ly that

I have kill ed him." The king regai ned hi s power, and proceeded

toward her but she gal up aga in and perfonned abluti on,

prayed and said , "0 , Allah! If I have beli cved in You and Your

Apostl e and have kept my pri va te parts safe from all exce pt

my husba nd, then pl ease do not let thi s pa ga n overpower me."

Th e king again fell in a mood of agitation and started mov ing

his legs. O n seeing th at state o f th e ki ng, Sarah said , " 0 , Allah!

If he should di e, the people will say that I have killed him ."

The king got either two or three att ac ks, and a fte r recove ring

from th e last a ttac k he sa id, "B y Allah! You ha ve sent a dev il

to me. Tak e her to Ibra heem and give Hajar to her." So she

came back to Ibraheel11 and sai d, "A llah hu mi lia ted the pagan

and gave liS a slave-girl for se rvice." (1) Ahm ad was alone in

narra tin g it from thi s source and it co nforms to the condi tions

(I) This is rm authentic hadee/h narmtcd by Imam Ahmad (8988).

fo r accep tance de manded by an authent ic Iwc/eelli. AI-B ukha ri

also narra ted it in an abbrev iat ed fo rm on the authority of Abu

Some sc ho lars have c laimed that three women were granted

Prophethood : Sa rah, the mother of Moosa and Marya m, the

mother of' Eesa, - peace be upon the m all. But the majori ty of

schola rs are of the opi nion Ihat Ihey were Siddeeqal (2 ) - may

Allah be pleased with them.

T hen A/-KIlO/eel ~ returned from the land of Egypt to the

land of good omens, i. c. the Holy Land, where he had forme rly

been. With him were livestock, sla ves and a great amoun t of

wea lth. Hajar, the Egyptian Copt accompanied them. Then Loot

i:&9, following the com mand of AI-K/lOJeel '~, went to li ve in

the land of A I-Ghaw r, wh ich is more we ll -known as Ghawr

Zaghar, tak ing wit h him a portion of the afo remen ti oncd wealth.

He lOok up residence in the c it y of Sadoom (Sod am) wh ich

was the ma in city in those la nds at tha t time. It s inhabi tants

wcre wicked and shameless disbel ieve rs. Allah inspired Al-

Klla/eel ~ and told him to look at the landscape, north, sout h,

east and west and He gave him the glad tidings that all of th is

land woul d be for him and hi s descendan ts un til tile end of time

and that He would cause his progeny to be Ilu merous, until

they eq ua lled the nu mber of grai ns of sand on the Earth. Th ese

tid ings are connected to this Islam ic nation and they were not

comp letely fulfi ll ed except fo r it; thi s is suppo rted by the words