Post by Caliph on Dec 27, 2014 19:20:14 GMT
A Messenger,Prophet, Siddique, Khalil and a fearless iconoclast, Ibrahim appeared more than 4000 years ago in Ur, a town in Babil (or, as twisted by the modern historians as Babylonia), present-day Iraq. He was subjected to severe tests, but through and through remained true to his word. He was declared therefore a model for peoples of all times as a man of upright character, unconditionally submitted to the Lord of the worlds. His religion was named the Upright Religion of Ibrahim. (Deen al-hanif )
Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor Christian. He appeared thousands of years before the Jews and Christians. He was a Muslim; but NOT in the sense of a follower of Prophet Muhammad, rather in the sense of one who had surrendered himself completely to the will of God, the word for which is Muslim in Arabic.
He was complete in faith whose every crevice of the heart was removed of any doubt, skepticism, or the slightest of reservation. The following incident reported by the Qur’an tells us about how clean his heart was from any seeds of doubt and the quality of faith he held.
“And (recall) when Ibrahim said: ‘My Lord. Show me how You will quicken the dead.' He said: ‘Have you not believed?' He replied: ‘Indeed (I have). But in order that my heart may be at rest.' He said: ‘Then take four birds and tame them to yourself. Then (cut them to pieces and) place their parts on every hill, then beckon them, they shall come to you in speed. And know that Allah is All Mighty, All wise.'” (2: 260)
Prophet Muhammad explained the verse above by saying that if Ibrahim was in doubt, then he (the Prophet) deserved greater to be in doubt; by which he meant to say that Ibrahim was never in any doubt, since, as the Prophet's own life demonstrates, he was never in any doubt about God and His powers. (Far from the Prophet, even `Ali b. Abi Talib had the certainty to say, "Even if the veils are removed, it will not cause any increase in my faith"). It was only a demonstration of how exactly, physically, it will happen that Ibrahim had sought quickening of the dead. He was explained that just as the pieces of a bird flew to each other, the atoms will fly to each other to resurrect a man. The request for the 'how' of resurrection by Ibrahim, was to allow him rise to the level of 'Ayn Al-Yaqin from that of 'Ilm Al-Yaqin.
Although Muslims do not own him in the sense the Judeo-Christian claim him, nor in the sense the pagans of the Prophet's time claimed him (as one who had given them their pre-Islamic religion, which they had heavily and joyfully laced with polytheism), they certainly deserve to hold aloft Ibrahim's name, for upholding and preaching his strict monotheistic principles and iconoclastic practices.
Although a son of an idol-maker, Ibrahim showed early signs of moral uprightness and intellectual maturity. He was made a Prophet in his early youth. Yusuf Ali wrote:
“(This was happening in) a place – known as Ur of the Chaldees – on the lower reaches of the Euphrates, not a hundred miles from the Persian Gulf. This was the cradle, or one of the cradles of human civilization. Astronomy was studied here in very ancient times, and the worship of the sun, moon and stars was the prevailing form of religion .. Nimrod’s capital was in yria, near Nineveh (near modern Mosul), we may suppose that either the king’s rule extended over the whole of Mesopotamia, or that Abraham (journeyed) north through Babylonia to yria."
Immediately thereafter he denounced false Gods and spoke in the strongest of terms against their presence in any form, real or metaphorical, tangible or intangible. There was no freeing men from the slavery of each other and of the stone-gods but through submission to one God.
Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor Christian. He appeared thousands of years before the Jews and Christians. He was a Muslim; but NOT in the sense of a follower of Prophet Muhammad, rather in the sense of one who had surrendered himself completely to the will of God, the word for which is Muslim in Arabic.
He was complete in faith whose every crevice of the heart was removed of any doubt, skepticism, or the slightest of reservation. The following incident reported by the Qur’an tells us about how clean his heart was from any seeds of doubt and the quality of faith he held.
“And (recall) when Ibrahim said: ‘My Lord. Show me how You will quicken the dead.' He said: ‘Have you not believed?' He replied: ‘Indeed (I have). But in order that my heart may be at rest.' He said: ‘Then take four birds and tame them to yourself. Then (cut them to pieces and) place their parts on every hill, then beckon them, they shall come to you in speed. And know that Allah is All Mighty, All wise.'” (2: 260)
Prophet Muhammad explained the verse above by saying that if Ibrahim was in doubt, then he (the Prophet) deserved greater to be in doubt; by which he meant to say that Ibrahim was never in any doubt, since, as the Prophet's own life demonstrates, he was never in any doubt about God and His powers. (Far from the Prophet, even `Ali b. Abi Talib had the certainty to say, "Even if the veils are removed, it will not cause any increase in my faith"). It was only a demonstration of how exactly, physically, it will happen that Ibrahim had sought quickening of the dead. He was explained that just as the pieces of a bird flew to each other, the atoms will fly to each other to resurrect a man. The request for the 'how' of resurrection by Ibrahim, was to allow him rise to the level of 'Ayn Al-Yaqin from that of 'Ilm Al-Yaqin.
Although Muslims do not own him in the sense the Judeo-Christian claim him, nor in the sense the pagans of the Prophet's time claimed him (as one who had given them their pre-Islamic religion, which they had heavily and joyfully laced with polytheism), they certainly deserve to hold aloft Ibrahim's name, for upholding and preaching his strict monotheistic principles and iconoclastic practices.
Although a son of an idol-maker, Ibrahim showed early signs of moral uprightness and intellectual maturity. He was made a Prophet in his early youth. Yusuf Ali wrote:
“(This was happening in) a place – known as Ur of the Chaldees – on the lower reaches of the Euphrates, not a hundred miles from the Persian Gulf. This was the cradle, or one of the cradles of human civilization. Astronomy was studied here in very ancient times, and the worship of the sun, moon and stars was the prevailing form of religion .. Nimrod’s capital was in yria, near Nineveh (near modern Mosul), we may suppose that either the king’s rule extended over the whole of Mesopotamia, or that Abraham (journeyed) north through Babylonia to yria."
Immediately thereafter he denounced false Gods and spoke in the strongest of terms against their presence in any form, real or metaphorical, tangible or intangible. There was no freeing men from the slavery of each other and of the stone-gods but through submission to one God.