Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 58

(Ayah 58) ➊ { فَجَعَلَهُمْ جُذٰذًا: ’’ جُذٰذًا ‘‘ ’’جَذَّ يَجُذُّ‘‘} (to cut and break into pieces) is from { ’’فُعَالٌ‘‘} in the passive sense ({مَجْذُوْذٌ}), meaning broken into pieces, shattered. Words of the same pattern and meaning are {’’حُطَامٌ‘‘} and {’’فُتَاتٌ‘‘}. The people of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) used to go out of their homes on the occasion of their special festival and celebrate all day. Thus, they also invited Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to go with them, but he excused himself by claiming illness. (Saffat: 88 to 90) Ibrahim (peace be upon him), finding the opportunity, entered the idol house, first addressed them, which is mentioned in Surah Saffat, and when he received no answer, he began to break them with full force and shattered all except one. Here, most commentators have written that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) broke all the idols and placed the axe on the shoulder of the biggest idol, but this is merely an Israelite narration; there is no mention of it in the Quran or Hadith. Moreover, to break stone idols, a hammer is used instead of an axe. Yes, if the idols were wooden, that would be a different matter. Allah knows best how Ibrahim (peace be upon him) broke those idols and whether he used only one tool or all the tools needed for the task.

➋ {اِلَّا كَبِيْرًا لَّهُمْ:’’ كَبِيْرًا ‘‘} is indefinite, meaning 'except for one big one of theirs'. It is understood that they had several big idols, but Ibrahim (peace be upon him) broke all the small and big idols except for one big one. This is also supported by the next verse (63) {’’ قَالَ بَلْ فَعَلَهٗ كَبِيْرُهُمْ ‘‘} that "this was done by their big one." It is clear that besides this big one, there were other big idols that met their end. (Biqai) Those who consider it the biggest of all their idols are not supported by the words of the Quran.

➌ "Except for their one big idol" shows that Allah Almighty did not call the polytheists or their deities "Kabir" (great), but rather "their Kabir," because they considered it great, just as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), when sending the letter of invitation to Islam, wrote: [ اِلٰی هِرَقْلَ عَظِيْمِ الرُّوْمِ ] See, Heraclius is only called great among the Romans, not absolutely great as a disbeliever. (Sa'di)

➍ { لَعَلَّهُمْ اِلَيْهِ يَرْجِعُوْنَ :} He did nothing to their one big idol, so that when they see all the idols broken and this one safe and sound, they would ask it, "Sir, what caused your anger that you shattered all these gods, and if you did not do this, then how did someone else dare to do it in your presence?" Another meaning could be that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) broke all the idols except for one big one so that when the people saw this incident, their minds would immediately turn to Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and when they questioned him, he would get the best opportunity to refute polytheism.

58. 1. So, on the day when they were celebrating their festival or some celebration, the whole nation went out for it, and Ibrahim (AS), seizing the opportunity, smashed them all except for the biggest idol. Some say that he placed the axe in its hand so that they would ask it.

So he broke them all into pieces, except for the biggest one, so that they might turn to it (for answers).

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Sayyiduna Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) Breaking the Idols:

The people of Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) were star-worshippers. And they had extreme belief in the effects of celestial bodies on human life. They had assigned a specific form to the spirits of these celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, etc. And idols were made in these forms. These people used to worship them. At the beginning of his awareness, Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) first experimented on himself and observed whether these celestial bodies, this moon, and this sun had any effect on his life or not. And experience told him that all such things are merely human superstitions. On this basis, with heartfelt conviction, he began to argue and confront his people. These people celebrated the festival of Nowruz on the day when the sun enters Aries, and according to the current calendar, this day falls on the first of April, which is the spring season and a moderate climate. On the festival of Nowruz, when everyone was about to leave, they first placed offerings of sweets before their idols. Then, as they were about to go to the idol-house, Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was also invited to join this festival. So he cast a glance towards the sky as if he were observing the movement of the stars and said, "I am about to become ill, so do not take me along and spoil your celebration." And let me stay here. Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did not look towards the celestial bodies because he believed in their effects, but rather so that his star-worshipping people would consider his excuse reasonable. When all these people went to the festival, this was a golden opportunity for Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him). He took an axe or a hatchet, opened the door of the idol-house, and struck the idols, breaking them into pieces. However, he left the largest idol and placed the axe on its shoulder so that it would appear that all this was the work of the big idol. The words of the verse are: ﴿لَعَلَّهُمْ اِلَيْهِ يَرْجِعُوْنَ﴾ (so that they might return to it). The pronoun in ﴿اليه﴾ can refer to the big idol, as is apparent from the translation, and Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) placing the axe on the big idol's shoulder was also for this very purpose. Also, in times of great difficulty, these people would turn to the big idol. And the pronoun in ﴿اليه﴾ can also refer to Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon him) himself, as is evident from the next two verses.