Surah Al-Mumtahana (60) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ The meaning of {قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ اُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِيْۤ اِبْرٰهِيْمَ وَ الَّذِيْنَ مَعَهٗ: ’’ اُسْوَةٌ ‘‘} and {’’قُدْوَةٌ‘‘} is one who is to be followed, an example (whether good or bad), therefore, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his companions have been called an excellent example. That is, regarding friendship with the enemies of Allah, the disbelievers and polytheists, there was already a good example for you in Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his companions, which should have been before you. By {’’ وَ الَّذِيْنَ مَعَهٗ ‘‘} is meant the believing companions with him.
➋ { اِذْ قَالُوْا لِقَوْمِهِمْ اِنَّا بُرَءٰٓؤُا مِنْكُمْ …:’’ بُرَءٰٓؤُا ‘‘ ’’ بَرِيْءٌ ‘‘} is the plural, just as {’’كَرِيْمٌ‘‘} has the plural {’’كُرَمَاءُ‘‘}. That is, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his companions are an example for you in that they declared their disassociation and detachment from their polytheist people, their polytheism, and their deities. In {’’ وَ مِمَّا تَعْبُدُوْنَ ‘‘}, {’’مَا ‘‘} can be either a verbal noun or a relative pronoun.
➌ {كَفَرْنَا بِكُمْ:} means we do not accept you, nor your religion, nor your gods, nor their worship.
➍ { وَ بَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَ بَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ وَ الْبَغْضَآءُ اَبَدًا … :} means that after believing in our Allah and your persistence in disbelief, open enmity and heartfelt hatred have become manifest between us and you forever, until you believe in Allah alone.
➎ { اِلَّا قَوْلَ اِبْرٰهِيْمَ لِاَبِيْهِ لَاَسْتَغْفِرَنَّ لَكَ:} means the entire life of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is the best example for you, except for the statement which Ibrahim (peace be upon him) made to his father that I will surely pray for your forgiveness. In this matter, he is not an example for you, nor is it permissible to follow him in this. For the prohibition of seeking forgiveness for polytheists and the details of Ibrahim (peace be upon him)'s seeking forgiveness, see the commentary of Surah Tawbah, verses (114, 113).
➏ { وَ مَاۤ اَمْلِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللّٰهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ:} means I will surely seek forgiveness for you, but I do not have the power to obtain anything for you from Allah Almighty; if He wills, He will forgive you, and if He wills, He will punish you. It is understood from this that even the prophets do not have the authority to have whomever they wish forgiven, whether it is the father of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), the son of Nuh (peace be upon him), or the uncle of our Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Talib.
➐ { رَبَّنَا عَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْنَا:} is the statement of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his companions, which is connected with the previous statement before {’’ اِلَّا قَوْلَ اِبْرٰهِيْمَ لِاَبِيْهِ …‘‘}, and is among those things in which following Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his companions is commanded. It is as if Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and his companions said this to their people: « اِنَّا بُرَءٰٓؤُا مِنْكُمْ ...... حَتّٰى تُؤْمِنُوْا بِاللّٰهِ وَحْدَهٗۤ » and said this to their Lord: « رَبَّنَا عَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْنَا ...... اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَزِيْزُ الْحَكِيْمُ ». In saying both these things, they are an example for us, and we are commanded to follow them.
➑ {وَ اِلَيْكَ اَنَبْنَا وَ اِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيْرُ: ’’ اَنَبْنَا ‘‘ ’’أَنَابَ يُنِيْبُ إِنَابَةً ‘‘} is the first person plural past tense verb from (Form IV, 'af'ala). {’’ الْمَصِيْرُ ‘‘ ’’ صَارَ يَصِيْرُ ‘‘} is a verbal noun from the meem form. The coming first of {’’ عَلَيْكَ ‘‘} and {’’ اِلَيْكَ ‘‘} gives the meaning of restriction, that O our Lord! We have relied only upon You, not upon anyone else, and to You alone we have turned, not to anyone else, (You alone created all), and (in the end) to You alone is the return.

4. 1. To clarify the issue of non-alliance with the disbelievers, the example of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is being given as a model to be followed.
4. 2. That is, due to shirk, there is no connection between us and you; how can the worshippers of Allah have any relation with the worshippers of others besides Allah.
4. 3. That is, separation and disavowal will remain until you abandon disbelief and shirk and adopt tawheed.
4. 4. The meaning is that the entire life of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is a model worthy of imitation, except for his act of praying for forgiveness for his father, which is an action in which one should not follow him, because he did this at a time when he did not have knowledge about his father. Thus, when it became clear to him that his father was an enemy of Allah, he also declared disavowal from his father, as is in (وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ اِبْرٰهِيْمَ لِاَبِيْهِ اِلَّا عَنْ مَّوْعِدَةٍ وَّعَدَھَآ اِيَّاهُ ۚ فَلَمَّا تَـبَيَّنَ لَهٗٓ اَنَّهٗ عَدُوٌّ لِّلّٰهِ تَبَرَّاَ مِنْهُ ۭ اِنَّ اِبْرٰهِيْمَ لَاَوَّاهٌ حَلِيْمٌ 114۔) 9. At-Tawbah:114).
4. 5. Tawakkul means that after adopting all possible apparent means and resources, the matter is entrusted to Allah; therefore, this concept of tawakkul would also be incorrect: a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and left his camel outside and came inside. The Prophet ﷺ asked, and he said, "I have entrusted the camel to Allah." The Prophet ﷺ said, "This is not tawakkul. A'qil wa tawakkal—Tie it first, then trust in Allah." (Tirmidhi). Inabah means turning towards Allah.

4. There is indeed a good example [8] for you in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: "We are surely dissociated from you and from whatever you worship besides Allah. We reject you, and there has arisen between us and you enmity and hatred forever, until you believe in Allah alone." Except for Abraham's [9] saying to his father: "I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I do not have power to do anything for you against Allah [10]." "Our Lord! In You we put our trust, and to You we turn [11], and to You is the final return."

[8]
The Clear Response of Sayyiduna Ibrahim and His Companions to Their People is a Model for You:

Before you, there is a good example for you, and it is worthy of being followed. Just as you have believed in the Messenger of Allah, in the same way, there were some people who believed in Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ. As they believed and joined Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ, they became disassociated from their people and their families, and they clearly said to their people and their relatives that there is no longer any relationship between us and you, neither of kinship nor of friendship. Rather, instead of that, we are your enemies. And this enmity of ours with you will remain until you give up shirk and believe in Allah alone. If you worship, then worship Him alone. If you supplicate, then supplicate to Him alone. For the fulfillment of your needs and the removal of your difficulties, call upon Him alone and do not expect anything from your idols. Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ and his followers openly declared this, and you people secretly write letters to the polytheists and form friendships with them?

[9]
Supplication for Forgiveness for the Father, Then Retraction:

All the actions of Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ are worthy of being followed by you, except for the one in which he supplicated to Allah for forgiveness for his polytheist father. What happened was that when his father expelled Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ from his house, at that time Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ promised his father that he would supplicate for his forgiveness. [16: 147]
To fulfill this promise, he supplicated twice for his father’s forgiveness. The first supplication is mentioned in Surah Ibrahim, verse 41, and the second supplication is mentioned in Surah Ash-Shu'ara, verse 86. Then, when it became completely clear to him that his father was absolutely not ready to give up shirk, and that there is no way for a polytheist to be forgiven by Allah, he retracted from his statement and promise, and stopped supplicating for his forgiveness. Incidentally, two things are learned from this verse.

The Final Action of the Prophets is Worthy of Being Followed:

One is that if there is any action of the Prophets that varied during their lifetime, the form that is to be followed is the one that was in the latter part of their life, and from the earlier form they themselves retracted, or it was corrected through revelation, or its prohibition was established in the Shari’ah. Supplicating for forgiveness for a polytheist is also not permissible: And the second is that the believers should not have even so much of a relationship with the polytheists that they supplicate for their forgiveness, even if they are their close relatives.

[10] That is, I can only supplicate for your forgiveness. Whether Allah forgives you or not, that is in Allah’s power. I have no power in this matter.

[11] This is the supplication and action upon which Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ and his companions acted. And you should follow this.