Abraham (a): Difference between revisions

'''Ibrāhīm''' (Arabic: {{ia|إبراهيم}}), or '''Abrāhām''', known as Ibrāhīm al-Khalīl, is the second of [[Ulu l-'Azm prophets]]. Abraham was selected as a prophet in [[Transoxiana]], and invited [[Nimrod]], the ruler of his time, and people of the region to [[monotheism]]. A few accepted his call, and since he was disappointed of their [[faith]], he immigrated to [[Palestine]].

Abraham (a) is mentioned sixty nine times in the Qur'an.<ref>Fīrūzmehr, ''Muqāyisa qiṣṣa Ibrāhīm (a) dar Qurʾān wa Tawrāt'', p. 88</ref> A [[sura]] in the Qur'an is called “[[Sura Ibrahim|Ibrahim]]” because it is concerned with the life of Abraham (a).<ref>Khurramshāhī, ''Dānishnāma Qurʾān wa Qurʾān Pazhūhī'', vol. 2, p. 1240</ref> The Qur'an refers to Abraham's [[prophethood]], his invitation to [[monotheism]] his [[imamate]], [[Sacrifice of Isma'il|the slaughtering of his son]], the [[miracle]] of the revival of four dead birds, and the miracle of the fire being cool.

In a number of Quranic verses, Abraham's prophethood and his invitation to monotheism are mentioned.<ref>Qurʾān 19:41-48, Qurʾān 21:51-57, Qurʾān 26:69-82, Qurʾān 37:83-100, Qurʾān 43:26,27, Qurʾān 60:4, Qurʾān 29:16-25</ref> Moreover, verse thirty five of [[Qur'an 46]] talks about [[Ulu l-'Azm prophets]], which according to hadiths, include Abraham (a) as the second such prophet after [[Noah (a)]].<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 18, p. 218.</ref> According to verse 124 of [[Qur'an 2]], God appointed Abraham (a) as an [[Imam]] after a number of tests. According to [['Allama Tabataba'i]], the position of imamate here refers to inner guidance, which requires an existential perfection and a peculiar spiritual status that can be obtained after a lot of struggles.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 1, p. 272.</ref>

*'''The cooling of fire:''' according to verses fifty seven to seventy of [[Qur'an 21]], when Abraham saw that his people do not stop worshiping idols, he broke the idols and attributed the act to the great idol, saying that “if the idol talks, then ask him who did this.” Idol worshipers were speechless, but they did not abandon their beliefs, throwing him into fire because of breaking the idols. The fire was, however, cooled at the command of God.<ref>Qurʾān 21:57-70</ref>

Verse seventy one of Qur'an 21 says about Abraham (a): “We delivered him and Lot toward the land, which We have blessed for all nations.”<ref>Qurʾān 21:71</ref> Some Quranic exegeses take the land referred to in this verse to be [[Syria]]<ref>Mahalli wa Siyuti, ''Tafsir al-jalalayn'', p.402; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, ''Rawḍ al-Jinān'', vol. 15, p. 200.</ref> or [[Palestine]] and [[Jerusalem]].<ref>Kāshāni, ''Tafsir manhaj al-ṣādiqīn'', vol. 6, p. 8.</ref> In a hadith from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]], Jerusalem is said to be the place Abraham (a) immigrated to.<ref>Quṭb al-Rāwandī, ''Qiṣaṣ al-'anbīyā''', vol. 1, p. 298.</ref>

In one divine test, Abraham (a) was ordered to slaughter his son. According to the Quranic account, Abraham (a) saw in his dream that he was slaughtering his son. He told his son about the dream and the son asked him to comply with God's command. However, when Abraham (a) laid his son in the altar in order to slaughter him, there was a call: “O Abraham! You have indeed fulfilled your vision! Thus indeed do We reward the virtuous! This was indeed a manifest test.’ Then We ransomed him with a great sacrifice.”<ref>Qur'an 37:101-108</ref>

According to the account in the Old Testament, the lineage of Abraham goes back to Aramean tribes who had migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to the banks of [[Euphrates]] in Northern [[Syria]].<ref>Susa, ''al-'Arab wa al-yahūd fī al-tārīkh'', p. 252.</ref> According to section 11 of the Book of Genesis, Terah the father of Abrahm intended to immigrate together with Abraham, Sarah, and Lot from Ur of Chaldea to Canaan, but when he arrived in Harran, he stayed there and then died.<ref>Genesis 11:31,32</ref> From this, some people have concluded that Abraham was born in Ur of Chaldea. However, the birthplace of Abraham and his motherland are introduced in the opening of the section 12.<ref>Genesis 12:1-4</ref>

The Old Testament takes [[Isaac]] as the slaughtered son of Abraham.<ref>Genesis 22:1-14</ref> In some cases, the slaughtered is merely referred to as Abraham’s child. Moreover, the Torah suggests that God made a covenant with Abraham in Canaan to the effect that the lands from Nile to [[Euphrates]] will be given to his children from the progeny of Isaac.<ref>Genesis 15:18</ref>

* THE BIBLE. New Revised Standard Version.