Introduction
I am writing this a few days before the beginning of Dhul-Hijjah, which is the month of Hajj, the pilgrimage instituted by Allah for all mankind, from east to west, from ancient history until the Day of Judgement, largely in remembrance of the life of Ibrahim (AS).
There were many prophets after Adam (AS) and after Nuh (AS), perhaps hundreds and perhaps thousands. Of all those prophets, Allah chose one of them as the example everyone after him needs to follow: Ibrahim (AS).
Allah says ⟪And who would turn away from the religion of Ibrahim (AS) except the one who makes a fool of himself? And We had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the afterlife, will be among the righteous.⟫ (2:130) ⟪We revealed to you, [O Muhammad], to follow the religion of Ibrahim (AS)⟫ (16:123)
Allah never singled out any other prophet, other than Ibrahim (AS), with the command to follow his religion.
Once, someone said to the Prophet (SAW), “O best of creation,” and the Prophet (SAW) said, “That was my father Ibrahim (AS).” (Sahih Muslim)
Who was this man whom Allah loved so much that He made later religion revolve around him, obligated us to trace his steps, and made his life central to Hajj?
I believe we can summarize these qualities into three:
- Having a Sound Heart: Seeing beyond the obvious–what other people do not see–with a sound heart and clear reasoning
- Being Haneef: Inclining only towards the truth and rejecting everything else
- Being Muslim: Submitting utterly and completely to Allah’s commands
These are the qualities of Ibrahim (AS) that Allah loved and wanted everyone after him to have. He legislated the whole process of Hajj and told us about the story of Ibrahim (AS) so that we may develop these qualities.
Having a Sound Heart
Ibrahim (AS) had a sound heart with clear reasoning. Allah says ⟪He came to his Lord with a sound heart⟫ (37:84) ⟪And We had certainly given Abraham his sound judgement before, and We were of him well-Knowing⟫ (21:51)
He saw things other people did not see. He saw beyond the obvious. When people are raised in normal civilization, baggage from their culture and family clouds their judgement and the sound fitrah Allah gave them. Ibrahim (AS) did not carry this baggage with him, and he only thought about things purely.
Even when he was a young boy, he would question his father and ask, “Why do you worship idols that cannot see or hear or do anything?” Normally, children (and people in general) just accept cultural practices without thinking deeply about them.
Argument of the Sun, Moon, and Star
Every day, we see the sun, moon, and stars. Most people do not stop and think about them. Ibrahim (AS), however, realized the greatest truth of the universe simply by observing the celestial bodies, and then he used this realization in argument against his people.
Allah says ⟪Thus we showed Ibrahim the realm of the heavens and the earth so that he would be firm in faith.⟫ (6:75)
Allah did not show Ibrahim (AS) anything new in the heavens and the earth. He showed him the same things He showed us, but unlike most people, Ibrahim (AS) was able to come to a profound conclusion from these simple and obvious signs.
Then, to argue with his people who used to worship the celestial bodies, he said when he saw a bright star, “This is my Lord.” When day came and the star set, he said, “I don’t like things that disappear.”
Then, when he saw the moon, he said to his people, “This is my Lord.” Then, when it set, he said, “This also disappeared and cannot be the truth.”
Then, when he saw the sun, he said to his people, “This must be my Lord. This is the biggest one!” Then, when it set, he said to them, “I am free of all these things you worship other than Allah. I only worship the one who created all these things in the heavens and the earth.”
In the movement of the sun and moon, Ibrahim (AS) showed the truth of monotheism and that nothing in the universe can be our God. Rather, our God is the one who created the universe. That was the sound heart of Ibrahim (AS). He did not accept the mundane as mundane or what seems obvious as obvious. He looked for the deeper truth hidden everywhere in the universe.
“How do you raise the dead?”
Another story that illustrates Ibrahim (AS)’s sound mind is when he asked Allah, “How do you raise the dead?” Ibrahim (AS) did not ask out of doubt. The Prophet (SAW) said, “We are more deserving of doubt than Ibrahim (AS) when he said ⟪How do you raise the dead⟫.” (Sahih Bukhari)
The reason Ibrahim (AS) asked this was not to doubt. He only asked this so that he could understand the mechanism of how he could bring people from darkness to light, from death to life, that is from misguidance to the religion of islam.
So, Allah said to him ⟪”Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then put on each hill a portion of them; then call them – they will come [flying] to you in haste.”⟫ (2:260)
Just like birds come to their master when called, every atom in the universe will respond to its master when called and will reform and resurrect every human being. Allah says ⟪It will not be but one blast, and at once they are all brought present before Us.⟫ (36:49)
Being Haneef
Allah says ⟪Ibrahim (AS) was neither Jew nor Christian. Rather, he was haneef and muslim.⟫ (3:67)
The meaning of haneef is someone who inclines towards truth and inclines away from all falsehood.
Ibrahim (AS) did not care who was on the side of falsehood, whether his culture, or his ancestors, or his own father. He only cared about the truth.
Whenever he asked his people why they worshiped idols that could not speak or hear, ⟪They said, “We found our forefathers worshippers of them.”⟫ ⟪He said, “You are certainly, you and your forefathers, in clear misguidance.”⟫ (21:53-54) He said: What does it matter if your fathers worshiped them? If it is wrong, then that just means both you and your fathers are wrong!
Ibrahim (AS) cared about no incentives other than the truth. His father, Azar, was the maker of idols. The livelihood of his family depended on idol-worship. Still, he spoke with his father and his people against idols.
In fact, even if Ibrahim (AS) had to leave his people and society for the sake of the truth, he was the first to do so. Allah says ⟪There has already been for you an excellent example in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people, “Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah. We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone”⟫ (60:4)
Those were times when leaving your people was akin to destruction and suicide, but Ibrahim (AS) did so because his only concern was the truth and nothing but the truth.
Being Muslim
Ibrahim (AS) was inclined only towards truth and rejected everything else, but when he did find the truth, he was muslim: he was completely and utterly devoted and submitted to Allah. Islam means submission.
There are many people today that pretend to be haneef (looking for the truth), even those claiming to be Muslims, but their search for truth only leads them to reject the commands of Allah and the guidance of the Prophet (SAW). For example, some of them in their quest for truth think they can reject hadith and just follow the Quran.
However, Ibrahim (AS) was not just haneef. Ibrahim (AS) was a muslim. He never needed to be told to do anything twice. He did not need a divine voice speaking from the sky to obey. He obeyed Allah even with just an indication.
Slaughtering His Son
One night, Ibrahim (AS) saw a dream that he was slaughtering his son. If one of us were in Ibrahim (AS)’s place, we would ignore the dream as a nightmare and tell ourselves, “Allah did not say anything clear, so I do not need to do anything.”
But, a dream was enough for Ibrahim (AS). Immediately, he called his son and told him he saw this dream. He did not mean to seek his son’s permission. He would have slaughtered him anyway, but he wanted his son to gain the reward by being willing himself.
His son said, “My father, do as you are commanded.” This was the submission of Ibrahim (AS) and his son. They had every avenue for excuses to avoid this command. They could pretend to themselves that the command could not come from Allah because it does not match their personal moral compass. They could pretend a command so big would need an angel to come. But they did none of that.
Allah says ⟪When they had both submitted and he put him down on his forehead⟫ ⟪We called to him, “O Ibrahim⟫ ⟪You have fulfilled the vision.” Indeed, thus we reward the righteous.⟫ (37:103-105)
Ibrahim (AS) submitted to a dream, but people today find it difficult to submit to the clear words of Allah. They find hundreds of excuses to avoid the commands of Allah. In fact, Allah created these avenues for excuses in the Quran and Sunnah so that those who want to find excuses can find excuses and those who want to submit like Ibrahim (AS) can submit.
Muslim vs. muslim
This submission of Ibrahim (AS) is why he is called muslim. Whenever Allah said anything to him, he would immediately obey without question. Allah says ⟪Whenever his Lord said to him, “Submit”, he said “I have submitted [in Islam] to the Lord of the worlds.”⟫ (2:131)
Ibrahim (AS) was a muslim with a small ‘m’. He was a submitter to Allah. We today call ourselves Muslim with a capital ‘M’ in memory of the submission of Ibrahim (AS) and hoping to attain that status of being complete muslims who submit to Allah without hesitation.
Being Muslim does not make you muslim. Only when you are muslim do you truly follow the way of Ibrahim (AS).
Conclusion
Abrahamic Religion
People say Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all Abrahamic religions. This is false, since Allah says ⟪Ibrahim (AS) was neither Jew nor Christian. Rather, he was haneef and muslim.⟫ (3:67)
In fact, not even every manifestation of Islam can truly be called Abrahamic. The true inheritors of Ibrahim (AS) are those who follow his way. Allah says ⟪Indeed, the most worthy of Ibrahim (AS) among the people are those who followed him [in submission to Allah] and this prophet, and those who believe [in his message]. And Allah is the ally of the believers.⟫ (3:68)
If you do not follow the way of Ibrahim (AS), you can call yourself Muslim without being worthy of Ibrahim (AS) and true islam (i.e. submission to Allah). If your religion is not complete obedience to Allah’s commands without resisting them or making excuses against them, it is not true islam (with the small ‘i’).
The Way of Ibrahim (AS)
The way of Ibrahim (AS) can be summarized into three key qualities that made him beloved to Allah: 1) He was discerning, saw beyond the obvious, and saw what other people did not see, 2) He was a haneef who inclined towards truth alone and did not care about culture, family, or ancestry at all, and 3) He was a muslim who submitted to Allah without needing to be told twice about anything.
If you wish to be beloved by Allah, you must also embrace these qualities. However, these qualities take effort and are not easy.
It is easier to think like people think and only see what people see. It is easier to stay illiterate and follow the crowd without reading the Quran and without understanding the religion of Allah. It is much harder to open your mind sincerely and look at the creation of Allah, the verses of Allah, and the failure of society, and to realize the truth that people do not see.
It is easier to follow what people do, your culture, your family, your society, or your friends. It is easier to accept things as they are because most people are doing them. After all, how can the majority be wrong? If everyone is listening to music, it must be ok. After all human civilization has always had music! If so many people are following this or that sect that is common, it must be ok. After all, how can that many people be wrong?
It is more difficult to reject what is common, incline only towards truth, and not accept any compromise. Ibrahim (AS) was not a man of compromise. He was a man who broke idols. But, people today prefer compromise because it is easier.
It is easier to submit Islam to your own desires than to submit your desires to Islam. It is easier to find excuses than to submit even when there are possible excuses to find.
A defining quality of many Muslims today is they are excellent at finding excuses. Five prayers? “I am a good person at heart.” Hijab? “It’s my choice.” Beard? “It’s only sunnah.” Music? “Some scholars allowed it.”
Allah says ⟪And who would turn away from the religion of Ibrahim (AS) except the one who makes a fool of himself? And we had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the afterlife, will be among the righteous.⟫ ⟪Whenever his Lord said to him, “Submit”, he said “I have submitted [in Islam] to the Lord of the worlds.”⟫ (2:130-131)
