Was Ibrāhīm Searching for the Truth?

Now, there are some mufassirīn who tend to think that in these ayat Ibrāhīm was searching for the truth. So they give the explanation that Ibrāhīm did not know the truth, and he was searching for the truth, and in the end his search for the truth led him to worship Allah. So in the beginning Ibrāhīm started worshipping Venus, and then he worshipped the moon, and then he worshipped the sun. Finally Ibrāhīm knew the truth, and he worshipped Allah (swt).

But the mufassir Ibn Kathīr strongly disagrees with this. He says this cannot be true. He said: we cannot expect from a Nabī of Allah (swt) to be misguided, to worship the sun and the moon and planets. He said: if Allah (swt) has created the human being on the fiṭrah of Islam — if that's the original creation — how could a Nabī of Allah be misguided so badly that he would worship these stars and planets, and not know the truth? And he mentioned some other evidences to refute this claim that this is the story of Ibrāhīm searching for the truth.

He says: no. This was a daʿwah presentation that Ibrāhīm was giving to the people. And he said: this comes after the daʿwah of Ibrāhīm to his own homeland. This comes after — because after Ibrāhīm left, then he went to Ḥarrān; and in Ḥarrān the people used to worship the planets, not in the homeland of Ibrāhīm. In the homeland of Ibrāhīm, they used to worship the idols. So after he moved out of Iraq, and he got to Ḥarrān, he saw the people worshipping these planets; then he started giving them this presentation.

Also, Ibn Kathīr says that the ayah that comes before these ayat that I recited to you clearly shows that Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) was already given the guidance by Allah (swt). And this ayah is — Allah (swt) says:

Wa kadhālika nurī Ibrāhīma malakūta al-samāwāti wa-l-arḍi wa li-yakūna min al-mūqinīn. Allah (swt) says: thus did We show Ibrāhīm the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, that he may be of those who have faith with certainty. This ayah is before the ayat that are talking about worshipping the sun and the moon and the star. In this ayah, Allah (swt) is saying that We have shown Ibrāhīm the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, so that he can be of those who have faith with certainty. With certainty.

Meaning that Allah (swt) has disclosed to Sayyidunā Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) some ʿilm, some knowledge of the heavens and the earth, that other people don't have. And this special knowledge that Allah (swt) has disclosed to Ibrāhīm would elevate him to the level of mūqin: certain faith. How can we then say that Ibrāhīm was searching for the truth?