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.