Surah Ibrahim (14) — Ayah 35

(Ayah35) ➊ {وَ اِذْ قَالَ اِبْرٰهِيْمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ …:} After mentioning general favors, now the special favor is being mentioned which Allah bestowed upon the people of Makkah, and that was their father Ibrahim (peace be upon him) settling their ancestor Ismail (peace be upon him) here. In this context, it is also being told with what desires your father Ibrahim (peace be upon him) settled you here, and how he prayed for making this city peaceful and for protecting himself and his sons from idol worship, but today you have forgotten these favors and have made idol worship your religion.

➋ { اٰمِنًا:} This is in the meaning of {’’ذَا اَمْنٍ‘‘} (one possessing safety), just as {’’لَابِنٌ‘‘} (one possessing milk) and {’’تَامِرٌ‘‘} (one possessing dates) are. In Surah Al-Baqarah (126), the difference between {’’ هٰذَا بَلَدًا اٰمِنًا ‘‘} and here {’’ هٰذَا الْبَلَدَ اٰمِنًا ‘‘} is that in Surah Al-Baqarah, {’’هٰذَا‘‘} is the first object and {’’ بَلَدًا اٰمِنًا ‘‘} is the second object, whereas here { ’’ هٰذَا الْبَلَدَ ‘‘} is the first object and { ’’اٰمِنًا‘‘} is the second object. Please observe the difference in translation at both places. The summary is that the first supplication in Surah Al-Baqarah (126) {’’ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هٰذَا بَلَدًا اٰمِنًا ‘‘} is from the time when the city had not yet been built, so the prayer was that make this place a city of safety, and the second supplication is from the time when the city had been built, Ismail (peace be upon him) had grown up, that O Lord! make this city safe. Safety is a very great blessing and fear is a very great trial. Razi says, a scholar was asked, if you were forced to choose between illness and fear, what would you choose? He replied, I would choose illness, because in it a person can eat, drink, and sleep, but in fear he is deprived of even that. Imagine a goat whose leg is broken, it will keep eating and drinking, and will even sleep, but a healthy goat in front of a wolf will neither be able to eat, nor drink, nor rest, even to the point of death. That is why Allah, in Surah Quraysh, after mentioning the blessing of feeding against hunger and granting safety from fear, has especially commanded Quraysh to worship Him alone.

➌ {وَ اجْنُبْنِيْ وَ بَنِيَّ اَنْ نَّعْبُدَ الْاَصْنَامَ: ’’جَنَبَ يَجْنُبُ‘‘} This comes from "nasr" and in the forms of if‘al and taf‘il, it has the same meaning. "Sanam" refers to an idol made of stone, wood, or any metal, a picture or statue made for worship in the real or imaginary form of a human, angel, or deity, whereas "wathan" refers to anything dedicated to the worship of other than Allah, whether it is a grave, tree, river, idol, animal, human, etc. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had seen with his own eyes the idol worship of his people and his father and their insistence upon it, so he was very fearful of himself or his children falling into it, thus he made this supplication. In {’’بَنِيَّ ‘‘}, all offspring are included, just as Bani Adam or Bani Israel. As far as the sons are concerned, the supplication was accepted, but for all the offspring, it was not accepted exactly as such, as He said: «{ وَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَّ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهٖ مُبِيْنٌ }» [ الصافات : ۱۱۳ ] "And among their (Ibrahim and Ishaq's) offspring is he who does good, and he who clearly wrongs his own soul." This is evidence that Allah is the Owner of His will; He fulfills as much of the supplicant's prayer as He wills according to His wisdom, in accordance with the supplicant's wish, and grants the rest in another form as He wills. Supplication is never wasted in any case, but His will prevails, not anyone else's, not even the Prophets. We too should always be concerned that neither we nor our children fall into shirk in any way; we should pray for our children and also teach them tawheed.

35. 1. By "this city" is meant Makkah. Before other supplications, this supplication was made that it be made a city of peace, because if there is peace, then people can truly benefit from other blessings as well; otherwise, without peace and tranquility, despite all comforts and facilities, the shadows of fear and terror keep a person anxious and disturbed. Just as is the case in common societies today, except for Saudi Arabia. There, due to the blessing of this supplication and the implementation of Islamic laws, even today an exemplary peace is established. May Allah protect it from evils and tribulations. Here, in the context of divine blessings, it is mentioned to indicate that just as the Quraysh are heedless of Allah's other blessings, they are also heedless of this special blessing that He has made them residents of a city like Makkah, a city of peace.

35. And (remember) when Abraham said: "My Lord! Make this city (Makkah) secure, and keep me and my children away from worshipping idols [38].

[38]
The Supplication of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to Make Makkah a Secure City:

A few verses earlier, the mention was made of the polytheist leaders of Quraysh and how they led their people to the brink of destruction. Since these Quraysh considered and called themselves followers of the way of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), the mention of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is brought up to show them how averse he was to shirk. Also, to question how they can claim to follow him. He had supplicated for this city of Makkah to be made secure, saying: "O my Lord, keep me and my offspring safe from the filth of shirk and the worship of idols. For most people have gone astray because of idol worship. My follower is only the one who accepts my way of tawheed, and as for the idol-worshipper, I have nothing to do with him. Whoever disobeys me and, leaving the path of tawheed, gets entangled in the filth of idols, he is certainly deserving of punishment, but O Lord! You are Forgiving and Merciful, if You wish, You may also forgive them." His supplication for the polytheists was only due to his soft and merciful heart, but when it became clear to him that the forgiveness of a polytheist is not possible, he even stopped supplicating for his father. The Quraysh of Makkah, for all their claims of being the descendants of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and followers of his religion, had fallen into several fundamental errors, such as:

1. Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had prayed, "O Allah, make this city of Makkah secure," and this supplication was accepted. The Quraysh of Makkah were reaping many economic, social, and political benefits due to the city's security, but their own conduct was such that in this very secure city, they committed extreme oppression and persecution against Allah's Messenger and the Muslims, making life unbearable for them, to the extent that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims were forced to leave Makkah.

2. The second supplication of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was, "O Allah, keep me and my sons (i.e., descendants) safe from idol worship." But the idol worship of the Quraysh of Makkah had reached such an extent that there were three hundred and sixty idols placed in the very House of Allah, among which were images of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Sayyiduna Isma'il (peace be upon him), and even divining arrows were placed in their hands.

3. Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had settled his wife and children in this barren land so that he and his progeny would keep the Sacred House populated and perform worship, tawaf, Hajj, and 'Umrah therein. But the Quraysh, merely because the Muslims were not polytheists, imposed the restriction that they could neither pray in the Ka'bah, nor perform tawaf, nor fulfill Hajj and 'Umrah.

4. Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had prayed, "O our Lord! Forgive me, my parents, and all the believers on the Day of Resurrection." But the Quraysh of Makkah did not even believe in the Day of Resurrection.

5. Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had clearly stated that whoever obeys me is certainly of me, and whoever disobeys me has nothing to do with me. Yet, in all the above matters, the Quraysh of Makkah opposed Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him). Despite all this, they still called themselves the descendants and followers of Sayyiduna Ibrahim (peace be upon him).