Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 69

(Ayah 69) ➊ {وَ لَقَدْ جَآءَتْ رُسُلُنَاۤ اِبْرٰهِيْمَ بِالْبُشْرٰى : ’’ رُسُلُنَاۤ ‘‘} By "Our messengers" is meant the angels who came to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) in human form, bringing the glad tidings of a son and grandson, Ishaq and Yaqub. Some have stated their number as three: Jibreel, Mikaeel, and Israfeel; some have said nine (9), and some thirteen (13), but we have not found any mention of their number in the Qur'an and Sunnah. In Surah Al-Hijr (49, 50), Allah Almighty has commanded to inform about His being Most Forgiving, Most Merciful, and that His punishment is a painful punishment. After this, the incidents of Ibrahim and Lut (peace be upon them) are mentioned, from which it becomes clear that the same group of angels brought glad tidings for one and punishment for another nation. Thus, through their coming, both attributes of Allah Almighty were manifested. Here, the coming of these angels is described as bringing glad tidings for Ibrahim (peace be upon him), because if the news of a son and grandson is glad tidings for Ibrahim (peace be upon him), then the news of the destruction of the accursed people of Lut (peace be upon him) is also glad tidings for both Ibrahim and Lut (peace be upon them), although for the people of Lut it is bad news.

➋ { قَالُوْا سَلٰمًا قَالَ سَلٰمٌ : } The first {’’ سَلٰمًا ‘‘} is in the accusative case; this is a verbal sentence: {’’ نُسَلِّمُ سَلاَمًا ‘‘} "We say peace." The second {’’سَلٰمٌ‘‘ } is in the nominative case, meaning {’’سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ‘‘} "Peace be upon you." It is evident that the angels acted upon Allah Almighty's command in which it is ordered to say salam before entering someone's house. See Surah An-Nur (27). In fact, Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): [ اَلسَّلَامُ قَبْلَ السُّؤَالِ فَمَنْ بَدَأَكُمْ بِالسُّؤَالِ قَبْلَ السَّلَامِ فَلَا تُجِيْبُوْهٗ ] [ السلسلۃ الصحیحۃ : 458/1، ح : ۸۱۶ ] "Salam is before the question; whoever asks you before saying salam, do not answer him." And in another narration, he said: [ مَنْ بَدَأَ بِالْكَلَامِ قَبْلَ السَّلَامِ فَلَا تُجِيْبُوْهٗ ] [ صحیح الجامع : ۶۱۲۲ ] "Whoever speaks before salam, do not answer him." Ibrahim (peace be upon him) acted upon Allah Almighty's command by giving a better reply, as is in Surah An-Nisa (86), because a verbal sentence is for a certain time, whereas a nominal sentence has continuity, i.e., may peace always be upon you. {’’ سَلٰمًا ‘‘} is better than {’’سَلٰمٌ ‘‘ } as a reply.

➌ { فَمَا لَبِثَ اَنْ جَآءَ بِعِجْلٍ حَنِيْذٍ:} From this, one thing is clear: angels can take human form. There are many examples of this in hadith. The well-known Hadith Jibreel, in which the angel came in the form of a Bedouin, is found in Bukhari and Muslim. [بخاری: ۴۷۷۷۔ مسلم: ۸] The second thing is that even though Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was an Ulul-Azm prophet, he could not recognize the guests; otherwise, he would not have arranged food, because angels neither eat nor drink. It is clear that knowledge of the unseen is exclusive to Allah Almighty. When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did not possess knowledge of the unseen, then what status do those people have who are neither prophets nor does anyone know their real state except Allah, as to what their position is with Allah Almighty? The third thing is that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was extremely hospitable. This quality was found in every prophet, especially Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Our mother Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) made special mention of this quality among your attributes at the time of the first revelation: [ وَتَقْرِي الضَّيْفَ ] [ بخاری : ۳ ] "You are hospitable to the guest." The Companions trained by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were such that Nafi' (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: [ كَانَ ابْنُ عُمْرَ لَا يَأْكُلُ حَتَّی يُؤْتٰی بِمِسْكِيْنٍ يَأْكُلُ مَعَهٗ ] "Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) would not eat food until a poor person was brought to eat with him." [بخاری، الأطعمۃ، باب المؤمن یأکل في معی واحد : ۵۳۹۳ ] Then what would be the state of generosity of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his noble forefather Ibrahim (peace be upon him). The fourth thing is that there should be no delay in hospitality, nor should there be any questioning about it. In Surah Adh-Dhariyat, it is mentioned that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) quietly went home and brought food. Whatever is available at the time should be presented; if the guest wishes, he may eat, otherwise, it is his choice.

Fifth, that Allah Almighty had favored Ibrahim (peace be upon him) even in worldly terms, otherwise, bringing and presenting a roasted calf in a short time is not within everyone's capacity. Sixth, those hadiths in which cow's meat is called a disease, even if they have apparently good chains, are anomalous (shadh), because in the Qur'an, cow's meat is mentioned as a bounty. Its sacrifice and slaughtering on various occasions are proven from the Qur'an and authentic hadiths. How can Allah Almighty or His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) permit something that is a disease?

Seventh, that Ibrahim (peace be upon him), our Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and all the prophets were human beings and used to eat food. They were neither Allah Almighty nor a part of Him, nor angels, but they were humans, ate food, and walked in the markets. (See Al-Furqan: 20) And they had wives and children as well. (See Ar-Ra'd: 38) Whereas Allah Almighty and the angels are free from all these. Eighth, those Sufis who, during their self-invented practices and retreats, or even permanently, abandon eating living things or things derived from them, are not followers of the religion of Ibrahim, but rather followers of the Hindu religion.

69. 1 This is actually a part of the story of Prophet Lut and his people. Prophet Lut عليه السلام was the cousin of Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام. The settlement of Prophet Lut عليه السلام was to the southeast of the Dead Sea, while Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام resided in Palestine. When it was decided to destroy the people of Lut عليه السلام, angels were sent towards them. These angels, on their way to the people of Lut عليه السلام, stopped by Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام and gave him the glad tidings of a son.

69. 2 That is, سلمنا سلاما علیک — we offer you peace.

69. 3 Just as the first salam was منصوب with an implied verb, similarly, this is مرفوع due to being a مبتدا or خبر. It would be: اَمْرُکُمْ سَلَا م، ُ or عَلَیْکُمْ سَلَام، ُ.

69. 4 Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام was very hospitable; he did not realize that these were angels who had come in human form and were unable to eat or drink, but rather he considered them guests and immediately brought a roasted calf to serve them. Also, from this it is understood that there is no need to ask the guest, but whatever is available should be presented for their service.

69. And surely, Our messengers (angels) came to Abraham with good news [80]. They greeted him with peace; he answered, "Peace," and it was not long before he brought them a roasted calf (as a meal).

[80]
The Angels Bringing the Good News of Ishaq to Ibrahimؑ:
In this surah as well, the order of the stories of the prophets is the same as previously mentioned in Surah Al-A'raf, that is, after Thamud comes the mention of the destruction of the people of Lut. Here, the mention of Ibrahimؑ comes incidentally, as a prelude, because the angels who were appointed for the destruction of the people of Lut first came to Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ to give him the good news of a son. These angels came in human form and greeted him with peace. Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ replied to their greeting and then became busy with their hospitality. After a short while, he brought a roasted calf and placed it before them to eat.