Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shu'ara' - Verse 85

The Prayer of Ibrahim for Himself and for His Father

Here Ibrahim, upon him be peace, asks his Lord to give him Hukm. Ibn `Abbas said, "This is knowledge."

وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِالصَّـلِحِينَ

(and join me with the righteous.) means, `make me one of the righteous in this world and the Hereafter.' This is like the words the Prophet said three times when he was dying:

«اللَّهُمَّ فِي الرَّفِيقِ الْأَعْلَى»

(O Allah, with the Exalted Companion (of Paradise)).

وَاجْعَل لِّى لِسَانَ صِدْقٍ فِى الاٌّخِرِينَ

(And grant me an honorable mention in later generations.) meaning, `cause me to be remembered in a good manner after my death, so that I will be spoken of and taken as a good example.' This is like the Ayah,

وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِى الاٌّخِرِينَ سَلَـمٌ عَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِى الْمُحْسِنِينَ

(And We left for him (a goodly remembrance) among the later generations: "Salam (peace) be upon Ibrahim. Thus indeed do we reward the good doers.) (37:108-110)

وَاجْعَلْنِى مِن وَرَثَةِ جَنَّةِ النَّعِيمِ

(And make me one of the inheritors of the Paradise of Delight.) meaning, `bless me in this world with honorable mention after I am gone, and in the Hereafter by making me one of the inheritors of the Paradise of Delight.'

وَاغْفِرْ لاًّبِى

(And forgive my father,) This is like the Ayah,

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِى وَلِوَالِدَىَّ

(My Lord! Forgive me, and my parents) (71:28). But this is something which Ibrahim, peace be upon him, later stopped doing, as Allah says:

وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَهِيمَ لاًّبِيهِ إِلاَّ عَن مَّوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَهَآ إِيَّاهُ

(And Ibrahim's supplication for his father's forgiveness was only because of a promise he had made to him) (9:114) until:

إِنَّ إِبْرَهِيمَ لأَوَّاهٌ حَلِيمٌ

(Verily, Ibrahim was Awwah and was forbearing) (9:114). Allah stopped Ibrahim from asking for forgiveness for his father, as He says:

قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِى إِبْرَهِيمَ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ

(Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him), until His saying:

وَمَآ أَمْلِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍ

(but I have no power to do anything for you before Allah. ) (60:4),

وَلاَ تُخْزِنِى يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ

(And disgrace me not on the Day when they will be resurrected.) means, `protect me from shame on the Day of Resurrection and the Day when all creatures, the first and the last, will be raised.' Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet said:

«إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَأَى أَبَاهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَيْهِ الْغَبَرَةُ وَالْقَتَرَة»

(Ibrahim will see his father on the Day of Resurrection, covered with dust and darkness.) According to another narration, also from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet said:

«يَلْقَى إِبْرَاهِيمُ أَبَاهُ فَيَقُولُ: يَا رَبِّ إِنَّكَ وَعَدْتَنِي أَنَّكَ لَا تُخْزِينِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ، فَيَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى الْكَافِرين»

(Ibrahim will meet his father and will say: "O Lord, You promised me that You would not disgrace me on the Day when all creatures are resurrected." And Allah will say to him: "I have forbidden Paradise to the disbelievers.") He also recorded this in the Hadiths about the Prophets, upon them be peace, where the wording is:

«يَلْقَى إِبْرَاهِيمُ أَبَاهُ آزَرَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَعَلَى وَجْهِ آزَرَ قَتَرَةٌ وَغَبَرَةٌ، فَيَقُولُ لَهُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكَ لَا تَعْصِينِي، فَيَقُولُ أَبُوهُ: فَالْيَوْمَ لَا أَعْصِيكَ، فَيَقُولُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ: يَا رَبِّ إِنَّكَ وَعَدْتَنِي أَنْ لَا تُخْزِيَنِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ، فَأَيُّ خِزْيٍ أَخْزَى مِنْ أَبِي الْأَبْعَدِ فَيَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ، ثُمَّ يُقَالُ: يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ انْظُرْ تَحْتَ رِجْلِكَ، فَيَنْظُرَ،فَإِذَا هُوَ بِذِيخٍ مُتَلَطِّخٍ، فَيُؤْخَذُ بِقَوَائِمِهِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّار»

(Ibrahim will meet his father Azar on the Day of Resurrection, and there will be dust and darkness on Azar's face. Ibrahim will say to him, "Did I not tell you not to disobey me" His father will say to him: "Today I will not disobey you." Ibrahim will say: "O Lord, You promised me that You would not disgrace me on the Day when they are resurrected, but what disgrace can be greater than seeing my father in this state" Allah will say to him: "I have forbidden Paradise to the disbelievers." Then it will be said: "O Ibrahim! Look beneath your feet." So he will look and there he will see (that his father was changed into) a male hyena covered in dung, which will be caught by the legs and thrown in the Fire.) This was also recorded by Abu `Abdur-Rahman An-Nasa'i in the Tafsir of his Sunan Al-Kubra.

يَوْمَ لاَ يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلاَ بَنُونَ

(The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,) means, a man's wealth will not protect him from the punishment of Allah, even if he were to pay a ransom equivalent to an earthful of gold.

وَلاَ بَنُونَ

(nor sons) means, `or if you were to pay a ransom of all the people on earth.' On that Day nothing will be of any avail except faith in Allah and sincere devotion to Him, and renunciation of Shirk and its people. Allah says:

إِلاَّ مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

(Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart. ) meaning, free from any impurity or Shirk. Ibn Sirin said, "The clean heart knows that Allah is true, that the Hour will undoubtedly come and that Allah will resurrect those who are in the graves." Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib said, "The clean heart is the sound heart." This is the heart of the believer, for the heart of the disbeliever and the hypocrite is sick. Allah says:

فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌ

(In their hearts is a disease) (2:10). Abu `Uthman An-Nisaburi said, "It is the heart that is free from innovation and is content with the Sunnah."

Commentary

وَاجْعَل لِّي لِسَانَ صِدْقٍ فِي الْآخِرِ‌ينَ

And destine for me a truthful description among the next generations. (26:84)

The word لِسَانَ (lisan, which literally means tongue) is used in this verse in the sense of description and 'for me' means 'for my benefit. Thus meaning of the prayer is ` 0 Allah, grant me such delectable ways and nice signs that others may follow until the Dooms Day, and they remember me with good words and nice attributes'. (Ibn Kathir and Ruh al-Mani) Allah Ta’ ala has accepted the supplication of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) ، including Jews, Christians and even the disbelievers of Makkah, have feelings of love and affection for the creed of Ibrahim and attribute themselves to it. Although their ways are in conflict with those of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) based on infidelity and polytheism, but they claim to be following his ways. As for the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، they rightly claim to be on the ways of Ibrahand feel proud of it.

Love for being praised is contemptible but allowed with certain conditions

Love and aspiration for being praised and respected by others is contemptible under Islamic law. The Holy Qur'an has made the bounties of the Hereafter dependent on desisting from the love for being praised by saying تِلْكَ الدَّارُ‌ الْآخِرَ‌ةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِ‌يدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا (As for that Ultimate Abode (the Hereafter) We assign it to those who intend neither being high on earth nor mischief - 28:83) In the present verse (84) the supplication of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) for his praise and eulogy by the coming generations apparently looks like a wish for being praised. But if the- wordings of the verse are examined carefully, it would become quite evident that it was not the love for being praised, but the real purpose of the supplication was to invoke the Divine help for performing such righteous deeds which could help him in the Hereafter. Moreover, others should also get attracted towards the righteous deeds by following his example, and so should the posterity. By declaring the love for being praised as unlawful and contemptible the Holy Qur'an and hadith actually meant the love for mundane position of importance and profit which is not the case in the. prayer of Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) .

Imam Tirmidhi and Nasa'i رحمۃ اللہ علیہما have related on the authority of Sayyidna Ka` b ibn Malik ؓ that Holy Prophet ﷺ once said that ` If two hungry wolfs are let loose in a herd of goats, they would not do so much damage to the herd as two traits damage the faith of a man. One is the love for wealth and the other is the aspiration for being praised and respected'. (Tabrani from Abu Said al-Khudri, and Bazzar from Abu Hurairah).

Dailami has reproduced a narration on the authority of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ with a weak chain of narrators that the love for praise and worldly status makes a man blind and deaf. All these alhadith refer to the love that has mundane considerations, or for which one has to indulge in sin or negligence in the matter of faith. When this is not the case, aspiration for praise and high position is not contemptible. It is reported in a hadith that Holy Prophet ﷺ himself had made the following supplication: is اللّھُمَّ الجعلنی فی عینی صغیرا و فی اعین النّاس کبیرا that is "Ya Allah, make me insignificant and disdain in my own sight, but make me great in the eyes of people". Here also the purpose of making great in the eyes of people is that people emulate him in his righteous deeds. That is why Imam Malik (رح) has said that the one who is in fact virtuous and pious is required only to avoid making deliberate efforts to present himself as pious in the eyes of people, otherwise, if he loves to be praised by people, it is not contemptible.

Ibn ` Arabi has said that it is evident from this verse that the desire for a righteous deed which results in people's praise is allowed. Imam Ghazzali (رح) has ruled that the love for being praised and the position of respect is permissible under three conditions. One, when the object is not to proclaim oneself as superior to others and to degrade them to an insignificant position, but for the benefit in the Hereafter, so that others may be influenced to follow his example and try to emulate him. Second, when the object is not to earn false praise against a trait one does not possess, and desire that people should eulogize him for that. Third, when one does not have to indulge in a sin or negligence in the matter of faith in order to achieve it.

These verses deal with right understanding, i.e. seeing things as they really are. For a subject of God, this is the greatest blessing next to prophethood. That is why it is mentioned in a tradition which says, ‘If God wants to do something good to a man, He bestows on him the understanding of religion.’ Whatever Abraham asked for in his prayer was granted to him, but the prayer for the pardon of his father (Azar) was rejected. One can imagine from this that prayer (du‘a) is mostly a matter between God and His subject. One man’s prayer cannot obtain pardon for another man. Before Almighty God, real value attaches to a pure heart (qalb salim). This means the right kind of pure heart, i.e. a heart which is free from the tendency to ascribe partners to God, feelings of hypocrisy, jealousy and ill-will. In other words, the believer should go before God with a heart as pure as it was at the time of his birth. He should not present himself before God with any other heart.