seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 25:51. We gave Abraham his integrity formerly, and We knew him well.
52. When he said to his father and his people, “What are these statues to which you are devoted?”
53. They said, “We found our parents worshiping them.”
54. He said, “You and your parents are in evident error.”
55. They said, “Are you telling us the truth, or are you just playing?”
56. He said, “Your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the One who created them, and I bear witness to that.
57. “By God, I will have a plan for your statues after you have gone away.”
58. So he reduced them into pieces, except for their biggest, that they may return to it.
59. They said, “Who did this to our gods? He is certainly one of the wrongdoers.”
60. They said, “We heard a youth mentioning them. He is called Abraham.”
61. They said, “Bring him before the eyes of the people, so that they may witness.”
62. They said, “Are you the one who did this to our gods, O Abraham?”
63. He said, “But it was this biggest of them that did it. Ask them, if they can speak.”
64. Then they turned to one another, and said, “You yourselves are the wrongdoers.”
65. But they reverted to their old ideas: “You certainly know that these do not speak.”
66. He said, “Do you worship, instead of God, what can neither benefit you in anything, nor harm you?
67. Fie on you, and on what you worship instead of God. Do you not understand?”
68. They said, “Burn him and support your gods, if you are going to act.”
69. We said, “O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham.”
70. They planned to harm him, but We made them the worst losers.
71. And We delivered him, and Lot, to the land that We blessed for all people.
72. And We granted him Isaac and Jacob as a gift; and each We made righteous.
73. And We made them leaders, guiding by Our command; and We inspired them to do good works, and to observe the prayer, and to give out charity. They were devoted servants to Us.
74. And Lot—We gave him judgment and knowledge, and We delivered him from the town that practiced the abominations. They were wicked and perverted people.
75. And We admitted him into Our mercy; for He was one of the righteous.
And here's the commentary.
The story of Abraham’s breaking the idols is related in Jewish Rabbinical literature, and Tauna Debe .
Note that there is a pause after the words bal fa‘ala-h∂, and the statement kabßru-hum hådhå is an independent statement. Fa‘ala-h∂ thus means some doer has done it. The word bal is not necessarily a particle of digression, implying the negation of what precedes it, often denoting no more than and or surely. Thus LL says: “Sometimes it is used to denote the passing from one subject to another without cancelling what precedes it and is synonymous with wåw, as in the saying in the Qur’ån, 85:20, 21”. The other passage, kabßru-hum hådhå, being an independent statement, means the chief of them is this, because it was left unbroken by Abraham. Then follows the statement, so ask them, if they can speak. Ask the idols, they were told. They were taken as gods who could benefit their worshippers, or harm others, yet they were not able to help themselves. They were shattered to pieces, yet they could do no harm to their shatterer. Nor could they even tell their votaries who was responsible for this. It should be further noted that Abraham never tried to conceal what he had done. In fact, before breaking the idols he had warned the people that he would plan against their idols; see v. 57. This he declared publicly when carrying on a controversy with them. The object of sparing the chief idol was, as made clear in v. 58, that haply they might return to it. The chief was yet safe, they should have argued within themselves, why not pray to him to find out who broke the others. This is hinted at in v. 64, where they are made to confess their own wrongdoing in worshipping things which could do them no good or evil. See also the verses that follow.
They were made to hang down their heads on account of shame, for their deities proved so helpless as to be unable to name even the person who did them injury.
The fire was turned into coolness and peace for Abraham. There are many stories related in the commentaries as to the size of this fire and the time Abraham remained therein. Reliable commentators, however, do not accept them as they are baseless. “There are many versions of this story, but according to Ba√r al-Mu√ß∆ many stories have been fabricated in relating what happened to Abraham, while the truth is only what Allåh has stated”. The Holy Qur’ån does not state anywhere that Abraham was actually cast into a fire. His opponents had no doubt decided to burn him, as stated here, or to slay him or burn him. But here in v. 70 as well as in 37:98, we are told in clear words that they intended a plan against him but We made them the greater losers, or We brought them low. This shows that their plan was ineffective. Allåh delivered him from the fire, before being thrown into or after being thrown into it, it does not say.
Verse 78 states that the delivery was brought about by means of a journey to another land. It was thus a flight to another place like the Prophet’s Flight to Madßnah, and in the history of Abraham there is a deeper reference to the history of the Prophet himself.
According to the Biblical account of Abraham, the patriarch undertook successful expeditions against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and his confederate kings. Rabbinical literature also gives the names of certain kings whom Abraham defeated.
I still don't know who "We" is.
Anyway.... I know this is a long verse and commentary.... but it's easy reading.
To anyone who has spent time in the Bible Studies and Sunday School.... this is a recognizable story. The Quran tells it a little different but it's the same story.
Abraham, and his clan, were nomads.... Abraham had no problem packing up his family and moving because God told him to do it.
Abraham turned worship on it's head.... He worshipped a God without carving anything out of anything else.
Abraham didn't just worship the statue his parents worshipped..... Abraham broke the little statues [traditions] to pieces.... and turned the big statue [tradition] on it's head.
By calling out the church for making Mary a goddess.... the Muslims turned tradition on its head too.
Abraham's God.... Our God.... blew through the traditions of the old "religions" and didn't require a statue to worship.
Abraham's God never asked humans to heat Him up so they could toast a newborn to Him.
Abraham's God never asked for human sacrifice.
Abraham's God never asked humans to fabricated a statue to worship.
Abraham turned religion on its' head.
