Surah Al-Anbiyaa (21) — Ayah 62

(Ayah 63,62) ➊ { قَالُوْۤا ءَاَنْتَ فَعَلْتَ هٰذَا …:} In response to the people's question, "O Abraham! Did you do this to our gods?" Abraham (peace be upon him), in order to make clear the helplessness and powerlessness of their idols, replied with severe sarcasm: "Rather, this was done by their chief, so ask them if they can speak." The purpose was to make them admit with their own mouths that the idols, far from being able to benefit or harm, cannot even speak to tell who has done this to them. {’’فَسْـَٔلُوْهُمْ ‘‘} (So ask them) means, ask their chief, who is unharmed, why he broke the idols, and if someone else broke them, why did he not defend his companions? And ask the broken gods who did this to them, and also why they themselves or their chief could not defend them? Leaving their chief idol unharmed also indicates that no chief tolerates any rival, big or small, so how can the Lord, whose attribute is "Allah Akbar," tolerate any partner with Himself?

➋ It is narrated from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَمْ يَكْذِبْ إِبْرَاهِيْمُ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ إِلاَّ ثَلاَثَ كَذِبَاتٍ : ثِنْتَيْنِ مِنْهُنَّ فِیْ ذَاتِ اللّٰهِ عَزَّوَجَلَّ، قَوْلُهُ : «{ اِنِّيْ سَقِيْمٌ }» [الصافات : ۸۹] And the statement: «{ بَلْ فَعَلَهٗ كَبِيْرُهُمْ هٰذَا }» [الأنبياء : ۶۳] And he said: "One day, while he and Sarah were traveling, they came upon a tyrant among the tyrants. It was said to him, 'Here is a man with a woman who is among the most beautiful of people.' So he sent for him and asked about her, saying, 'Who is she?' He said, 'She is my sister.' Then he came to Sarah and said, 'O Sarah! There is no believer on the face of the earth except me and you, and this man asked me about you, so I told him you are my sister, so do not belie me.'" [ بخاري، أحادیث الأنبیاء، باب قول اللہ تعالٰی : { واتخذ اللہ إبراہیم خلیلا } : ۳۳۵۸۔ مسلم : ۲۳۷۱ ] "Abraham (peace be upon him) never told a lie except three times, two of which were for the sake of Allah. His saying: «{ اِنِّيْ سَقِيْمٌ }» [ الصافات : ۸۹] 'I am sick,' and his saying: «{ بَلْ فَعَلَهٗ كَبِيْرُهُمْ هٰذَا }» [ الأنبیاء : ۶۳ ] 'Rather, this was done by their chief.' And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'And once, he and (his wife) Sarah were traveling, and they came upon a tyrant among the tyrants. It was said to him, "Here is a man with a woman who is among the most beautiful of people." So he sent for him and asked about her, saying, "Who is she?" He said, "She is my sister." Then he came to Sarah and said, "O Sarah! There is no believer on the face of the earth except me and you, and this man asked me about you, so I told him you are my sister, so do not belie me."'"

Some people have rejected this hadith because of the mention of three lies of Abraham (peace be upon him), saying, "How can a truthful prophet tell a lie?" One enlightened elder even wrote about Imam Bukhari and all the scholars of hadith who declared this hadith Sahih: "A group, in their excess of narrationalism, has reached such a point that the truthfulness of a few narrators of Bukhari and Muslim is more dear to them, and they do not care that this accuses a prophet of lying." These elders did not consider what would be the result of not valuing the truthfulness of the scholars who narrated this hadith, namely Bukhari, Muhammad bin Mahbub, Hammad bin Zaid, and Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him). If their truthfulness is not valued, then what status remains for {’’ أَصَحُّ الْكُتُبِ بَعْدَ كِتَابِ اللّٰهِ ‘‘} and other books of hadith, and what will remain with the Ummah? Ironically, these elders have, in their own view, done this favor to the scholars of hadith to block the mischief of the deniers of hadith. After such a favor, do the deniers of hadith need to make any further effort? One elder even said, "It is better to call the narrators of this hadith liars than to call a prophet a liar." Glory be to Allah! Who has called Abraham (peace be upon him) a liar? And what boldness you have, that those narrators whom the entire Ummah unanimously considers truthful, you declare them liars. I am amazed that intelligent people, while daring so much against Sahih hadith and the scholars of hadith, did not understand that this hadith does not call Abraham (peace be upon him) a liar, but rather proves him to be of the highest degree of truthfulness (Siddiq). Because the person who, in his entire life, did not tell a lie except for these three things, which in reality are not lies at all, but only appear to be so, how truthful must he be! In rhetoric, this is called {’’تَأْكِيْدُ الْمَدْحِ بِمَا يَشْبَهُ الذَّمَّ‘‘}, that is, such praise which apparently seems to be criticism, as a poet said:

{وَلَا عَيْبَ فِيْهِمْ غَيْرَ أَنَّ سُيُوْفَهُمْ ¤ بِهِنَّ فُلُوْلٌ مِنْ قِرَاعِ الْكَتَائِبِ}

"That is, they have no fault except that their swords have notches because of striking armies." Obviously, having notches in swords due to fighting enemies is not a fault, so what must be the virtues of those whose only fault is this.

Now consider these three incidents. The people ask Abraham (peace be upon him), "O Abraham! Did you do this to our gods?" He says, "Rather, their chief did this." The meaning of "rather" is that I did not do it, although Abraham knew well that he had done it. This is apparently a clear lie, but in reality, it was a strategy through which he wanted to make them admit with their own mouths that idols cannot speak, let alone have power to benefit or harm. The polytheists also understood Abraham's (peace be upon him) purpose, and they had no choice but to admit that the idols cannot speak. Thus, they admitted it. Now, the person whose "lie" makes the enemies admit the greatest truth of the universe—that no one has any power except Allah—how can there be any doubt about his being Siddiq? Similarly, he said: «{ اِنِّيْ سَقِيْمٌ }» [ الصافات : ۸۹ ] "I am sick." They thought he was so sick that he could not go with them, but how could someone so sick destroy so many stone idols? In Abraham's (peace be upon him) mind, there was a pain caused by his hatred of disbelief and polytheism, or some illness, which in Arabic is called "ta'reez," that is, the speaker means something by his words and the listeners understand something else. Because, from the listeners' perspective, it is contrary to the facts, the word "lie" is used for it, but in reality, it is not a lie, rather it is a way to avoid lying, as Imran bin Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) said: [ إِنَّ فِي الْمَعَارِيْضِ لَمَنْدُوْحَةٌ عَنِ الْكَذِبِ ] [ الأدب المفرد : ۸۵۷ ] "Indeed, in ma'areed (allusive speech) there is a way to avoid lying." Similarly, calling Sarah (peace be upon her) his sister was apparently contrary to the facts, but when calling her his sister, Abraham (peace be upon him) himself explained his intention, which is absolutely correct. In both these incidents, Abraham (peace be upon him) used ta'reez. Consider: the hadith which mentions that Abraham (peace be upon him) did not tell a lie in his entire life except for these three, does it prove him truthful or a liar? Suppose we accept that this hadith really states that Abraham (peace be upon him) lied three times, even then there is no sin upon him, nor does it necessitate that he was a liar, because he was in a state of war, and lying in war is permissible. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ اَلْحَرْبُ خُدْعَةٌ ] [ بخاري، الجھاد والسیر، باب الحرب خدعۃ : ۳۰۲۹ ] "War is deception." Tell me, what blemish does this put on Abraham's (peace be upon him) truthfulness?

The above-mentioned elders have strongly asserted that it is not enough for the chain of narration to be authentic; the text must also be authentic. This is indeed correct, and the scholars of hadith themselves have made it a condition for the authenticity of a hadith. But the reality is that if Imam Bukhari and other scholars of hadith had seen any disrespect to Abraham (peace be upon him) in this hadith, they would never have declared it Sahih. Unfortunately, the scholars of hadith are the target of the criticism of these elders, while they have a very soft spot in their hearts and pens for those who, by their own opinion and analogy, invent a new Shariah. [ فَإِلَی اللّٰہِ الْمُشْتَکٰی]

Objection has also been raised against this hadith by quoting from the Bible that Abraham (peace be upon him) was 75 years old and Sarah was 65 years old, saying, "At this age, what beauty remains in a woman that the king of Egypt would be infatuated with her?" Alas! These people are so angry with the scholars of hadith that the hadith of the most authentic book after the Book of Allah seems wrong to them, and the book in which Allah Himself has testified to distortion, and whose internal evidence points to its many lies, they consider worthy enough to reject the authentic hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in its favor. [ إِنَّا لِلّٰہِ وَ إِنَّا إِلَیْہِ رَاجِعُوْنَ ]

➌ Here remains one objection: In the hadith of intercession mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, when people will go to Abraham (peace be upon him) to request intercession, he will mention his three "lies" and excuse himself from intercession. If these are not lies, then why will Abraham (peace be upon him) excuse himself from intercession? The scholars have answered that Allah granted Abraham such a high status that, in his view, it required that he should have spoken plainly even on those occasions: that yes, I broke the idols, and instead of excusing himself from attending the polytheists' festival by claiming illness, he should have plainly refused, "I am not going." Similarly, before the tyrant of Egypt, he should have plainly said, "Sarah is my wife," and then endured whatever trial came, just as he endured many other trials and Allah honored him with the rank of leadership. Considering his own action as falling short in comparison to Allah's countless blessings upon him, he will excuse himself from intercession. [ أحکام القرآن لابن العربی ] See, in the same hadith of intercession, Jesus (peace be upon him) will excuse himself from intercession by saying, "People worshipped me, so I am afraid to go for intercession," even though he had no fault in this.