Prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] 2

Prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] 2

The father of Prophets and the second of the four Messengers with Will



Allah says [These Messengers have We exalted, some of them above others] al-Baqara 2:253. Every messenger starts where the one preceded him has ended. The end of the rank of sayyidna Noah is the beginning of the rank of sayyidna Ibrahim. The proof is that the last request of sayyidna Noah was [‘My Lord, verily, my son is of my family, and surely, Thy promise is true] Houd 11:45, but Allah hasn't fulfilled it. However, the first request of sayyidna Ibrahim, when Allah said to him [I will make thee Imam (a Leader of men)] al-Baqara 2:124, was [And from among my offspring], and Allah has accepted it and said [My covenant does not embrace the transgressors].

Prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] is the son of Tarekh ibn Nakhur, and his uncle is Aazar who was an idol sculptor. Prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] was consistently searching for the truth about the Creator of the universe. He used to look up to the sky for long time. When he saw a shining star at night, he said "this is my God". When it set, he said "I don't like those that set" and stopped believing in it. When he saw the moon, he said "this is my God", but when it disappeared, he knew it was a creature too.

When he saw the sun, he said "this is my god. it is bigger", but when it was set, he said "all these things can't be a god" and then he said [If my Lord guide me not, I shall surely be of the people who go astray] al-An'am 6:77. When Allah guided him, he screamed 'No god but Allah, who is One and has no partner' and said ['O my people, surely I am clear of that which you associate with Allah ¤ I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth, being ever inclined to Allah, and I am not of the polytheists'] al-An'am 6:78-79. He [PBUH] was talking to people about whom they were worshipping. Their reply was an-Namruz, who claimed to be a god; [And recite unto them the story of Abraham ¤ When he said to his father and his people, ‘What do you worship?] ash-Sho'araa 26:69-70. An-Namruz knew this and he got scared.

We need to mention here who an-Namruz is, and why he was called that name. The father of an-Namruz was called "Kan'an ibn Kush ibn Ham", who was a powerful violent king, an was fond of hunting. He married a woman who got pregnant with an-Namruz. When he saw him after delivery, he said to her 'he is a bad-luck boy. Kill him or throw him in the desert to die!'. Everyone was afraid of his power and tyranny, so she threw him in the desert among grazing cows. All cows ran away from him. Whatever came close to him ran away from him. Then, his mother threw him in the river and thought he was drowned, but the river carried him to the land safely, and Allah sent him a female tiger to feed him. When the people of the village saw him, they raised him and called him 'an-Namruz' due to the fact that he was breastfed by a female tiger [in Arabic the word Namruz is driven from the word Namr, which means tiger]. When he grew up, he became a bandit. His evil increased and the number of his followers increased as many as armies.

His father, Kan'an, knew about him and prepared an army to fight him. An-Namruz also prepared an army to fight his father whom he did not know. When the two armies met, an-Namruz's army defeated his father's army, then Kan'an asked to fight an-Namruz alone and an-Namruz killed him, took his kingdom and made himself a god for all people.

As for prophet Ibrahim [PBUH], his uncle Aazar used to visit him frequently and try to get closer to him to prevent him from what he was saying. So he used to give prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] idols to sell. Prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] used to drag the idols by the legs with ropes behind him and say "Who likes to buy what brings harm and no benefit?". His uncle said to him [If thou cease not, I shall surely stone thee. Now leave me alone for a long while] Maryam 19:46. There was a star back then that appeared in the sky once every long while, and it was claimed that whoever looked at it got plague. People went to prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] and asked him to come with them to celebrate the festival of their gods in the next day. They used to have a house, made of white and green marble, which contained 73 idols, sitting on golden chairs. Their boss was putting on a crown full of jewelery and all other idols were lined to his left and right. On the next day, the day of the festival, they went to Ibrahim [PBUH] and asked him to join them. He told them that he felt sick, and they thought that he looked at the star and got the plague, so they left him alone and went to their festival. When they left, prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] took an axe and destroyed all idols except their boss. He then hanged the axe to its neck. When people saw what happened to their gods, they wondered who did this to them? [They said, ‘We heard a young man speak ill of them; he is called Ibrahim' ¤ They said ‘Then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness'] al-Anbiya 21:60-61. They summoned prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] and when he came [Then they said to Ibrahim, ‘Is it thou who hast done this to our gods, O Abraham?’] al-Anbiya 21:62. Prophet Ibrahim replied [He said 'Nay, this was done by this, their chief, so ask them, if they can speak’] al-Anbiya 21:63. They got pale; [Then they turned towards one another and said, ‘You yourselves are surely in the wrong.’ (21: 64) Prophet Ibrahim said [Then they turned towards one another and said, ‘You yourselves are surely in the wrong’] al-Anbiya 21:64. So prophet Ibrahim [PBUH] said to them [Fie upon you, and upon the things that ye worship besides Allah!] al-Anbiya 21:67. Then, their seniors were afraid and they was called among people [Burn him and help your gods, if at all you mean to do anything] al-Anbiya 21:68. And they all agreed to burn Ibrahim [PBUH].



To be continued...



Edited by Ahmed Abbas

Translated by Nahed Aboel-Hasan


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from site : http://almagalla.info/2011e/may3.htm

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