Page 64 - The Prophet Abraham (pbuh)

The Prophet Abraham (pbuh)

yourselves who are wrongdoers." (Surat al-Anbiya: 64)
However, their regret did not last long. Despite having un-
derstood the truth, they again decided to oppose the Prophet

Abraham (pbuh) in order to maintain their traditional pagan
belief system, which was in line with their own transitory
worldly interests:
But then they relapsed back into their disbelief: "You
know full well these idols cannot talk." He said: "Do you
then worship, instead of Allah, that which cannot help or
harm you in any way? Shame on you and what you wor-
ship besides Allah! Will you not use your intellect?" They
said: "Burn him and support your deities, if you are re-
solved to do something." (Surat al-Anbiya: 65-68)

The Prophet Abraham's (pbuh) approach Allah reveals in
these verses displays a finely calculated plan and wisdom by
Allah's inspiration. Sending the people away by telling them
that he was ill, he then smashed all but the largest idol in the
hope that they would respond as he expected. This trap shows
that he acted under Allah's inspiration and had superior intel-
ligence and foresight. Under divine inspiration, he devised a
brilliant trap and, by Allah's will, achieved a most pleasing suc-
cess. After smashing the idols, he tested his tribe's belief system

by saying that the largest idol had destroyed the others.
One aim of this plan was to make his tribe realize just how
irrational their belief system actually was. If they failed to com-
prehend the irrational and illogical nature of their deeds, he
knew that they would just make new idols and persist in their
paganism. The important thing, therefore, was to make them
understand that such superstitious worship was contrary to

faith in Allah and His revelation.

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