Trial of Ibrahim (a) Verse: Difference between revisions

There are different views about the meaning of "words":

* It is narrated from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] that Ibrahim's (s) trial was through his dream in which he saw that he was sacrificing his son, [[Isma'il]] (Ishmael). It seems that this narration refers to one of the most important trials of Ibrahim (a), not excluding his trial, in the above verse, to sacrificing his son.

# The 10 orders related to the purity of body: [[Madmada]], [[Istinshaq]] [inhalation], brushing teethe, circumcision, trimming mustache, etc.

# There are 30 Islamic qualities or instructions which are mentioned in the Qur'an, in (9:112), (33:35) and (23:1-9).

* Abu Ali al-Juba'i said that, Ibrahim's (a) trial was through intellectual and religious obligations.

* Mujahid has said, that the intended meaning of "words" was the phrase "He said, 'I am making you the Imam of mankind.'" and its following verses. Accordingly, imamate is a part of Abraham's (a) trial, not a position he (a) was given afterwards.

After mentioning the above opinions, [[al-'Allama al-Tabrisi]] says that the [[verse]] reflects them all.

Since in the noble [[Qur'an]], "words" do not refer to some parts of the statement, [[Allama Tabataba'i]] did not consider Mujahid's opinion worthy of any attention.

[[Ibn Kathir]] considered Mujahid's idea in conflict with the context of the verse, but said that other opinions would be right.

Qurtubi quoted from Abu Ishaq Zajjaj that different opinions are compatible for the interpretation of "words", because Ibrahim(a) was tested with all those.

To support this opinion, some evidences are mentioned from the [[Qur'an]], for example, to reject Jews and Christians' claim that they related Ibrahim (a) to their religion at the time of [[the Prophet (s)]], the Qur'an mentions that those who are the most worthy to be related with Ibrahim (a), are the Prophet (s), his followers and those who followed Ibrahim (a) before Islam. In another [[verse]], [[God]] revealed it to the Prophet (s) that he must follow Abraham's (a) religion and in another verse, introduced Islam, the same religion as the religion of Ibrahim (a).

 

* [[Musa]] (a) (Moses), [['Isa]] (a) (Jesus) and [[the Prophet (s)]] of Islam, each had an independent religion and since every religion abrogates the religion previous to it, so it could not be said that these prophets (a) have been following Ibrahim's (a) religion. Accordingly, the intended meaning of the mentioned verses is the heart of Ibrahim's (a) religion which is monotheism and submission against divine orders and prohibitions, as it is mentioned in the Qur'an that, "Indeed, with Allah the religion is Islam." (3:19)

* Ibrahim (a) asked God to grant [[imamate]] to his descendants and God gave it to the pure ones among his descendants, as in the Qur'an mentioned about Ibrahim (a), Ishaq (a) (Isaac) and Ya'qub (a) (Jacob) that, "We made them imams, guiding by Our command." (21:73)

The condition of reaching this position is that the person reaches a level of spiritual perfection that he (a) does not even commit a "[[tark al-awla]]" [priority failure]. Even though the prophets (s) before Ibrahim(a) were infallible, but according to the Qur'an, they sometimes committed something, abandoning which was preferred. These prophets (s) did not reach such a position as of Ibrahim(a) and their speech and actions cannot be regarded as the perfect example for mankind for all ages, but after passing difficult trials, Ibrahim(a) reached a position which is considered a perfect exemplar for all the mankind.

As mentioned before, imamate has been given to pure ones in the progeny of Ibrahim (a) such as Ishaq (a) [Isaac] and Ya'qub (a) [Jacob], and undoubtedly the spiritual perfection and position of "[[ulu al-'azm]]" prophets such as Nuh (a) [Noah], Musa (a) [Moses] and 'Isa (a) [Jesus] have been greater than those ones in the children of Ibrahim (a) and that ulu al-'azm prophets have been given the position of imamate; therefore, Abraham (a) alone cannot be regarded as the perfect exemplar of the mankind.

Shaykh Tusi has mentioned this opinion in al-Tibyan. In a treatise, he wrote about this issue, he says,

"The word 'imam' is used in two cases, one who is the leader of others in actions and speeches and another who rises as apolitical leader to manage the society.

In the first usage, a prophet and an imam are the same, because every prophet is an exemplar for others in actions and speeches; but, in the second usage it is not the same. Since there are prophets who are sent only to deliver divine orders to people, but they were not missioned to take the political leadership of the society."

Then, Shaykh Tusi has given reasons to distinguish the meaning of prophethood from imamate in its meaning of political leadership:

# from the verse about Talut's ruling, it can be understood that the prophet was not having imamate and ruling together at that time; since, if it was so, people would not ask him to appoint a ruler for them. Also, if he was in position of ruling, people would not say that, "we are more competent to rule than Talut", but they would say that, "you are more competent to rule than Talut.

# Aaron was a partner of Moses (a) in his prophethood, but he did not have the position of imamate as managing social affairs, because when Moses wanted to go to Miqat, he (a) appointed Aaron his deputy, so if Aaron had the position of imamate, he did not need to be appointed as the deputy.

# God gave the position of imamate to Abraham (a) after prophethood and after he (a) successfully passed divine trials; therefore, the prophethood of Abraham (a) was not at the same time with his imamate. Amin al-Islam Tabarsi approved this viewpoint.

The noble Qur'an considers judgment in arguments as one of the purposes of prophethood and states, "…then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of good news and as warners, and He sent down with them the Book with the truth, that it may judge between the people concerning that about which they differed, …" (2:213)

The issues that Shaykh Tusi mentions for distinguishing between prophethood and imamate do not prove his claim.

About the prophet of Bani Israel at the time of Talut, that people asked the prophet (s) to appoint a ruler for their war with the enemies is an obvious reason for the fact that they regarded commanding the army among the duties of the prophet (s) and also the prophet (s) did not reject their request and did not say that it is not among the duties of prophethood. But, that people thought themselves more competent for ruling than Talut was because they judged about that based on wealth and popularity. That was why the prophet (s) described Talut's physical and intellectual competences and rejected people's judgments.

Aaron, even though had the merits of imamate, but with the presence of Moses (a) who was an Ulu al-'azm prophet and had the political leadership of the society, there was no grounds for Aaron to exert political imamate; and thus everything had to be carried out following Moses' order.

Also, if Abraham's (a) imamate meant to be political leadership, it did not need such grave trials. In political leadership, more than spiritual merits, competence and wisdom in social leadership are required and prophets (s), as the best of people of their times, had such qualities, especially that they were infallible in knowledge and action.

Fifth opinion: from Allamah Tabataba'i's viewpoint, imamate in this verse is spiritual guidance; which is not of the nature of guiding the way, but it is of the nature of reaching the desired and bringing one to the desired.

Such a guidance requires the having a special spiritual perfection and position which is achieved after great struggles. To prove this opinion, Allamah refers to some verses of the Qur'an:

* Verses which state that perfect knowledge and true certainty requires that people go beyond the appearance of the world to see the heart of things, as the Qur'an mentions about Abraham (a) that, "Thus did We show Abraham the dominions of the heavens and the earth, that he might be of those who possess certitude." (6:75)

According to verses 72 and 73 of Sura Anbiya' which shows the imamate of Ishaq (a) and Jacob (a) and their lack of any special privileges over other prophets regarding imamate and definiteness of the imamate of Ulu al-'Azm prophets, the commonness of imamate for divine prophets cannot be rejected. However, imamate as spiritually guiding and reaching the desired has different levels relative to every prophet's capacity, but all of them have the position of imamate.

=== Fakhr Razi's Reasoning ===

From the phrase "'I am making you the Imam of mankind.'", Fakhr Razi infers Abraham's (a) infallibility so that imam is one who is followed, if he commits a sin, following him in that sin becomes obligatory, but it is wrong; since, an action a sin if it is forbidden and since following an imam is obligatory, therefore, following that action becomes obligatory; while an action cannot be obligatory and forbidden at the same time.

Twelver Shi'a theologians and exegetes refer to the phrase "'My pledge does not extend to the unjust.'" and say that, one who commits a sin, has done injustice, because he has broken the rules of God and according to the Qur'an, "…and whoever transgresses the bounds of Allah —it is they who are the wrongdoers." (2:229) and also God says "'My pledge does not extend to the unjust.'" where the pledge refers to imamate since the phrase "'I am making you the Imam of mankind.'" has come before that. Also Abraham (a) asked God to give imamate to his children and God answered, "'My pledge does not extend to the unjust.'"; therefore, if the pledge here does not mean as imamate, then the answer would be irrelevant to the request.

It is said that Zalim [the unjust] is one who firstly, commits a great sin; and secondly, does not repent of his sin. But, a sinner who does not repent is not called a Zalim [the unjust].

 

The answer is that the negation in the phrase "'My pledge does not extend to the unjust.'" Is absolute and means that anyone who can be called an unjust person at any moment of his life, would not receive imamate and conditioning this phrase needs a reason which is non-existent.

Second Answer: Here, regarding the existence of a definite evidence, those who commit a sin and then repent would not receive the pledge of imamate.

Abraham's (a) children can be categorized into four groups of four:

Undoubtedly, Abraham (a) did not ask God to give imamate to the second and third groups among his children. Only the first and fourth groups could be the ones he (a) asked God to give imamate to. On the other hand, the phrase "'My pledge does not extend to the unjust.'" implies that the first group could not receive imamate; therefore, only the fourth group could receive imamate; i.e. those who never committed any action which could be an example of injustice.