Tafsir of Surah As-Saffat - Verse 86

The Story of Ibrahim and His People

`Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him:

وَإِنَّ مِن شِيعَتِهِ لإِبْرَهِيمَ

(And verily, among those who followed his ways was Ibrahim.) means, he was one of the followers of his religion. Mujahid said, "He was following his path and his way."

إِذْ جَآءَ رَبَّهُ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

(When he came to his Lord with a Salim heart.) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "This means that he bore witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah." rIbn Abi Hatim recorded that `Awf said, "I said to Muhammad bin Sirin, `What is the Salim heart' He said, `One which knows that Allah is true and that the Hour will undoubtedly come to pass, and that Allah will resurrect those who are in the graves."' Al-Hasan said, "One that is free from Shirk." `Urwah said, "One that is not cursed."

إِذْ قَالَ لاًّبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ مَاذَا تَعْبُدُونَ

(When he said to his father and to his people: "What is it that which you worship") He denounced his people for their worship of idols and false gods, Allah said:

أَءِفْكاً ءَالِهَةً دُونَ اللَّهِ تُرِيدُونَ - فَمَا ظَنُّكُم بِرَبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(Is it a falsehood -- gods other than Allah -- that you desire Then what think you about the Lord of the all that exists) Qatadah said, "This means, `what do you think He will do with you when you meet Him, given that you worshipped others alongside Him"

In verse 84, it was said: إِذْ جَاءَ رَ‌بَّهُ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ (when he came to his Lord with a pure heart). Here, 'coming to his Lord' means 'to turn to Allah, to zero in one's attention towards Him and to worship Him.' By placing the restriction of 'with a pure heart' it has been indicated that no act of devotion (ibadah) to Allah is acceptable until the heart of the devotee is cleansed pure from false beliefs and ill intentions. If a certain act of devotion is performed while laced with some false belief, then, no matter how hard the devotee has worked in this process, it will still not be acceptable. Similarly, if the main purpose of the devotee happens not to be the seeking of the sole pleasure of Allah - but, is a simple show off or some material gain, then, that act of devotion is not praiseworthy. The passion with which Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) turned towards Allah was free of all such adulterations.

Abraham (Ibrahim) was of the same religion as Noah. All the Prophets were sent so that man can be made aware about the creation plan of God and be given the aim of purifying himself during his pre-death period. God created man and sent him into the world with a righteous nature. He must pass the test of resisting the inducements of this world and go before God having kept himself free of all the base desires of self and satanic defilement. Such souls will be welcomed into Paradise. To ascribe partners to God (shirk) amounts to belittling God. In this case, man does not discover God as the greatest Being and that is why he is lost in other so-called forms of greatness and stoops to worshipping them.