Part 66

for th is defec t, it would be in accordance w ith the conditions

requ ired of an authentic hadeeth. Bu t th e compilers of the

Saheeh did not narratc it.

The Description of Ibraheem ~

Imam Ahmad narrated on the authority of Jabi r Ibn ' Abdu ll ah

~ from the Messenge r of Allah :li that he said , "The Prophets

were shown 10 me and I saw that Moosa was a lll an like the

men of the tribe of Shanoo'a h. I saw ' Eesa, th e son of Mary am,

and observed that the person he most close ly resembled was

' Urwa h Ibn Mas' ood. I saw Ibraheem and I obse rved that the

person he mos t close ly rese mbled was your Compani on (i .e.

the Prop het ~ him self). I saw Gabriel ~ a nd I observed that

Ihe person he most closely resembled was Dihyah." (I) Imam

Ahmad was a lone in narrati ng it from thi s source and with this

(I) This is an authentic Iwdeeth narmtcd by Imam Ahmad (J 4179).

Tlte SrolJ' of lhraheem ~ 295

Imam A hmad a lso narratcd on thc autho rity of ' Abdullah Ibn

'A bbas ~ that he sa id: Thc Mcsscnger of Allah ~ sa id , " I saw

'Eesa, the so n of Mary am, Moosa and Ibraheclll. As for 'Ecsa,

he had a reddish complcxion and curly hair and a broad c hcst.

As for Moosa, he was a large ma n." They asked him, "And

(what about) Ibrah ec m?" I-Ie said , " Look at your Compani on

A I-Bukhari narratcd that Muja hid said that whcn the peop le

mcntioncd th e Da))al before Ibn ' Abbas and said that he wou ld

have the word Kerfi,., (i.e. di sbeliever) or the le tters ka/, fa',

ra' (t he roo t of the Arabi c vc rb to di sbe lieve) w ritten Oil hi s

forehead, he said, " I heard Ibn ' Abbas sayi ng, ' I did not hear

this, but the Proph et 315 said , If you wan t to see Ibraheelll, thcn

look at your Compan ion (i.c. the Proph et him se lf) but Moosa

was a curl y-haired, brown ma n (who lI sed to ride) a red ca mel ,

the reins of which were made of date-pa lm fibers. It is as if I

we re now looking down a va lley." (2)

Mention of Ibraheem AlKhaleel's Death And

What is Said Regarding His Age

Ibn ' Asakir narrated numcrous reports on the authority of

more th an one orthe Salaf, rega rdi ng the trad it ions ortile People

of the Sc ripture descri bin g how th e Angel of Dea th came to

lbraheem ~, and A llah knows best abo ut their authenti c ity.

It was said that he died sudden ly and that Dawood ~ and

Sui aima n ~ also d ied sudd enly, but what has been said by

the Peopl e of the Scripture and others contradic ts thi s. Th ey

(I) Thi s is <Ill authelltic hmleerh narmtcd by Irn<l1l1 Ahmad (2692).

(2) Narrated by At-lJukh;lri (3355).

said th at Ibraheem lfJl beca me ill and d ied whe n he was aged

a hundred and seven ty -five years, It was al so said th at he was

aged ninety years at the lime o f hi s dea th and that he was buri ed

in the cavern which was in the Hitt ite reg ion of I-lebron, near

to his wife, Sarah, who was buri ed in the fi eld of ' Afro on AI-

Haith. Hi s sons, Isma 'eel ~ and I s aac ~ , undertook the ta sk

of burying him. There is also a report lhat prov ides evidence

th at he lived for two hundred years, according to Ibn A I-Ka lbi.

Ab u Hati m rbn Hibban reporled in his Salleeh on th e aut hority

of Abu Hurairah ~ that hc said, " lbraheclll circ umcised him self

with a qoddoom (adz) when he was hundred and twen ty yea rs

old - and he li vcd for cighty years after th ut. " ( I )

Th en Ibn Hibban said , "Men ti on of the rcfut at ion of the claim

of th ose who asse rted that lhi s tradit ion is not 11100foo', We

wcre infonnecl by Muhammad Ibn ' Abd ull ah Ibn AI-Juna id

thai he said: We were told Qutnibah Ibn Sa'eed tha t he sa id:

We were told by AI-La ith, who reported on the au th ority of Ibn

'Ajlan, who in turn reported on the authority ofhi5 fa th er, who

reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah . from the Prophe t

:i that hc said, " Ibraheem circumci sed himself when he was

hundred and twenty years old an d he lived for eighty years

aner that ; a nd he circ umcised himse lfwi th a qaddoom (adz)." (2)

I say: That which is in the Salleeh states that he eirclIlllcised

him self whcn he had reachcd the age of eighty years, and in

another nurration , . 'l CIl he wa s eighty yea rs old. And there is

no cont radi cti on in thcm rega rding how long he li ved aflerwa rd

(I) This is an authentic Iweleel" narmtcd by Ibn Hibban in his S(lIIee" ( 14/84.

(2) Its chain ofnarmtors is authentic. according to the conditions for accep-

tance stipulated by Muslim. It was narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Saheeh

The 5/01'.1' o/'hroh('('/ll ~ 297

- and A llah knows belter.

Mention of the Sons of Ibralteem, A I-Khaleel,

(May the Choicest Prayers and Blessings of

The first SOil born to him was Isma ' eel ~ , w ho was born

o f Hajar, the Egyptia n Cop I. Then Ishag ~ was born to him

from Sarah , who was the daughter of hi s paterna l uncle. Then

afte r her, he married th e Q'.lIltoora th e daughter of Yaq tuna

AI-Kan 'a ni ya h. She bore him six children: Zamfa ll , Yashan ,

Madyan. ishbak , and Shu ah. Th e sixth was no t llillll Cd . Arter

her, he marri ed Hajoon. the daughte r of Ameen, who bore him

fi ve children: Kai san. Sooraj, Uma im, Loota n and Nan s. This

is how Abu l-Qas im As-Suhaili rc pon ed it in hi s book 'Al-

That Occurred Duri ng the Lifetime of Ihraheem W , Al-

Klwlee l is the Story of tile People ofLot ~ .lnd the Ge neral

Punishment T h'lt Befell T hem

Loot Y ha d parted company with his ullc le, A/- Kha /ee/ ~ .

by his comma nd and hi s pe rmi ss io n and settled in the cit y of

Sadoom (Sodo m), in the land ofG hawr Z ug har. It was the main

cit y in the area and it con ta incd land , work sho ps and vi llage s

which were attached to it. It s pcopl e inc luded some of the most

sinful and di sbeli ev ing people, harboring ev il thoug hts and

wicked ideas. They practi ced hi ghway robbery and had ill ici t

sex in the ir mee ting places. Th ere was no sin len that they di d

not indulge in . Th ey comm itted sin s which no man before th em

had comm itt ed, includi ng: men having sex ual re latio ns w it h

oth er men; aba nd oning the wo men whom A ll ah had created

for Hi s righteo us s laves . Loo t ~ called upo n them to worship

Allah , Mosl Hi gh , A lone, wi tho ut ascribing pa rtn ers 10 Him

and forba de the m from indul gin g in th ese unlawful deeds

and vil e, shame less acts. But they persisted in the ir eITor and

Among lite Greal EI'ellfs 299

transgression and continucd in the ir debauchery and di sbeli ef

and so Allah ordained a punishment for them which cou ld not

be resc inded, the li ke of which they had never im agin ed or

expec ted. He made th em an ex ample to all of mankind and a

warn ing to all men of intelligence. This is why All ah, Most

Hi gh, mentioned the ir slOry ill a Ilumberofp laccs in Hi s Book,

such as '-li s Word s in Sool'all AI-A 'raj ( And (remember) Loot,

when he said to hi s people, " Do you comm it the worst sin such

as none preceding you has cOlllllli llcd in the 'Alameen? Veri ly,

yo u practi ce your lusts on men inslead of women. Nay, but

yo u are a people tran sgress ing beyond bounds (by cOlllm itting

great sins)." And the answer o f his peop le was onl y Ihal they

said, " Drive them out o f your lawn, these are indeed men

who want 10 be pure (from sins)!" Th en We saved him and

his 1:1I1li ly, except hi s wife; she was of those who remained

behind (in the pun ishment ). And We ra ined down on them a

rain (of stones). Then sec what was the end o f thc l1Iujrimoon

(crim ina ls, polyth eists, sinners, etc.) ) (Soorah AI-A 'raf7:80-

He, Most Hi gh, says ill SOO/'Cill I-I ood, ( And ve rily, thcre

ca me Our Messenge rs 10 Ibra hcem with g lad ti din gs. They

said, Salam (gree tin gs or peace) !" '-Ie an swered, "Salam

(greeti ngs or peace) !" And he hastened to enterta in them with

a roa stcd calf. But when he saw their hands went not towa rd

it (the mea l), he felt somc mi strust of them, and conce ived a

fear o f them. Th ey said, " Fcar not, we ha ve been sent aga inst

the people of Loot:' And his wi fe was stand ing (th ere) and she

laughed (either, because thc Messc ngers did not eat their food

or for being g lad for thc des truction of the people o f Loot. But

We gave her glad tidin gs of lshaq and aner him, of Ya' qoob.