Surah Ibrahim (14) — Ayah 40

(Ayah 40) ➊ {رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِيْ مُقِيْمَ الصَّلٰوةِ:} This is the last part of the humble supplications of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), in which he prayed for himself and his offspring to remain steadfast upon that which, after the certainty and affirmation of monotheism and prophethood, is the most necessary thing in Islam—namely, prayer, which is extremely difficult for all except the humble (see Baqarah: 45, 46), and regarding which Musa (peace be upon him) ({جَزَاهُ اللّٰهُ عَنَّا وَ عَنْ جَمِيْعِ أُمَّتِنَا أَحْسَنَ الْجَزَاءِ}) said that he had experienced much with the Children of Israel, and your Ummah will not even be able to bear five prayers. So, the most prominent thing that distinguishes between faith and disbelief, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was so concerned about it that he specifically prayed for steadfastness in it for himself and his offspring.

➋ {وَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِيْ:} "And from my offspring as well"—apparently, this {’’ مِنْ ‘‘} is for partiality, meaning, make me and also some from my offspring steadfast in prayer. But the question arises, why did he not pray for all his offspring? Most commentators have answered that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) knew from human history and from Allah’s statement {’’ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظّٰلِمِيْنَ ‘‘ } that not all his offspring would be steadfast in prayer, so he prayed that at least some of his offspring would remain steadfast in prayer. This is similar to when he prayed: «{ رَبَّنَا وَ اجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَاۤ اُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ }» [ البقرۃ : ۱۲۸ ] "Our Lord! And make us submissive to You and from our offspring a nation submissive to You." Ibn Ashur, the author of "Al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir," has written: "This {’’ مِنْ ‘‘} is introductory, not for partiality, and { ’’ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِيْ ‘‘} is the attribute of a deleted word, which is conjoined to the pronoun of the speaker. The intended phrase would be: {’’ رَبِّ اجْعَلْنِيْ مُقِيْمَ الصَّلٰوةِ وَاجْعَلْ مُقِيْمِيْنَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِيْ‘‘ } meaning, make me steadfast in prayer and also make those from my offspring who are (my offspring) steadfast in prayer. The construction of {’’ وَ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَاۤ اُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ‘‘} can also be in this way. The proof is that, when supplicating, how can it be that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would pray for protection from idol worship for himself and all his offspring, as he said: «{ وَ اجْنُبْنِيْ وَ بَنِيَّ اَنْ نَّعْبُدَ الْاَصْنَامَ }» [ إبراھیم : ۳۵ ] (And keep me and my sons away from worshipping idols), but when praying for steadfastness in prayer, he would pray for only some and not all? When we ourselves do not like to pray, 'O Allah! Make some of our offspring steadfast in prayer,' then how could Ibrahim (peace be upon him) like this? Ibn Ashur’s point is convincing. (And Allah knows best)

➌ {رَبَّنَا وَ تَقَبَّلْ دُعَآءِ: } After the supplication, again requesting acceptance is an expression of humility and insistence upon acceptance. The kasrah on { ’’ دُعَآءِ ‘‘} is because it was originally [’’ دُعَائِيْ‘‘], and to match the endings of the verses, the ya was omitted and the kasrah was left to indicate it.

40. 1. He prayed for himself as well as for his offspring, just as previously he had prayed for himself and his offspring that they be protected from worshipping stone idols. From this, it is understood that the callers to Allah's religion should not be negligent regarding the guidance of their own family members and their religious education and upbringing; rather, they should give them priority in preaching and invitation, just as Allah Almighty commanded His last Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (وَ اَنْذِرُ عَشِیْرَتَکَ الْاَقْرَبِیْنَ) 26. Ash-Shu'ara:214) "Warn your closest relatives."

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).