Ibrāhīm, the Pattern for Them All

Towards the close of this discussion — though it does not end abruptly — the sūrah takes up both the Banū Isrāʾīl and the Naṣārā together and speaks of their archetype, Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), their common ancestor, from whom we also descend. The discussion therefore turns to him:

The dīn of Naṣrāniyyah and the dīn of Yahūdiyyah are therefore incorrect; they have been abrogated. What remains is Ḥanīfiyyah, the pure faith of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) — he who left his wife Hājar in Makkah Mukarramah, where they were later joined by the tribe of Jurhum; from her came Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him); and from Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) came the ʿArab al-mustaʿribah, and from that line of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) came the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Something is said of the trials Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) endured, and of the great reward he was given when he came through them: he was made al-Khalīl, and brought near to Allah (swt). Some of those trials are recalled every year at Eid — the leaving of Hājar and Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) in the middle of the desert, where in those days there was nothing at all. Set aside the great hotels and the clock tower of today: there was nothing there. Scarcely a tree, and no water.

But when Allah commands a thing, Allah provides; He provides, and He provides again. He provided Zamzam — and provided it so that, after however many thousands of years, that well still yields water, despite the gallons and the tonnes drawn from it and pumped out of it every day. Where it comes from, and what manner of water table sustains it, Allah knows; it belongs to the ghayb.

In this too there is a lesson for the Naṣārā and the Yahūd: that they must follow the true example of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), who is the example for all. To this day he is honoured by everyone. Certain other prophets are disparaged — Sulaymān (peace be upon him), spoken of as King Solomon, and Dāwūd (peace be upon him), by some of them — but Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) is respected by virtually all.

The further lesson drawn here is that Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) is shown calling towards the dīn al-Ḥanīfiyyah, which means cutting away from every other deity and fixing upon the one God, the one Lord, the one object of worship. Allah (swt) then says:

And:

These are among the last verses of the passage.