Prophet Ibrahim (2)

As you may recall, most of the people at the time of Ibrahim (alayhis
salam) were idol worshippers. There were very few people who heeded
the words of Ibrahim (alayhis salam). One of the people who did follow
in the way of Allah was his wife, Sarah. She and Ibrahim (alayhis
salam) had been married for many years but did not have any children.
As they became more elderly, it seemed apparent that they would never
have a family. Sarah therefore gave Ibrahim (alayhis salam) her
slavewoman, Hajra, as a wife, in the hopes that she would be able to
bear a child for him. Ibrahim (alayhis salam) prayed for a righteous
son and his prayer was answered. To him and Hajra was born the son
Ismail (alayhis salam).
Ismail (alayhis salam) grew up strong in the belief of Allah. When he
had become old enough tohave become helpful, Ibrahim (alayhis salam)
saw in a vision from Allah that he was to sacrifice his son. You can
imagine how heavy-hearted he was at the thought of giving up that
long-awaited son. Buthe never thought to go against the command of
Allah. He went to his son and told him of the vision and asked him
what he thought of it. Now Ismail (alayhis salam), although very
young, never hesitated. If it was Allah's will, he said, he would go
along with it.
Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and Ismail (alayhis salam) prepared for the
sacrifice and just as Ibrahim (alayhis salam) was about to perform it,
Allah intervened. Allah provided a ram for sacrifice in place of
Ismail (alayhis salam), for Ibrahim (alayhis salam)and Ismail (alayhis
salam) had passed the test of faith which Allah had set for them.
Some time later, the angels who were being sent to Lut (alayhis salam)
stopped at Ibrahim's (alayhis salam) home. When he saw the two
strangers, he roasted a calfin order to entertain them.When he saw
that they didnot eat, he mistrusted and feared them. But they told him
not to be afraid. Sarahwas there and she laughedwhen they told her she
would have a son. She couldn't believe it. She wasan old woman and her
husband an old man. They told her not to wonder at Allah's decree, for
he can do all things.
Ibrahim (alayhis salam), too, couldn't believe his ears when they told
him that he would father another son endowed with wisdom. He asked
themessengers how they could say such a thing when he was such an old
man. But they assured himthat they were telling the truth.
Just as the angels had foretold, a son was born toSarah and Ibrahim
(alayhissalam). He was named Ishaaq (alayhis salam) and he later
became the father of Yaqub (alayhis salam). Itis from Ishaaq (alayhis
salam) that the children of Israel trace their roots.
It is from Ismail (alayhis salam), Ibrahim's (alayhis salam)
first-born son, that the people of Arabia trace their lineage. Thus
can twopeoples, the Jews and the Arabs, trace their beginnings back to
a single ancestor, Ibrahim (alayhis salam), the father of Ismail
(alayhis salam) and Ishaaq (alayhis salam).
You can read about Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and his sons in the
following surat of the Qur'an 11:69-76, 15:51-56,and 37: 99-111.

Prophet Ibrahim (1)

Prophet Ibrahim as a role model
We often see the term "role model" in newspapers and magazines. It
refers to someone who leads the sort of life that you would like to
live. Many of us choose our favorite sports star or film star as our
role model because we are impressed by the glitter and flair of these
wealthy people. However, if we stopped to think about what kind of
lives the starsreally lead, perhaps we would have second thoughts
about our choice of role model. How many of these stars have never
known or have forgotten Allah in their quest for fame and riches! How
often are they consumed by hate, envy, violence, drugs and other
evils! Whoreally wants that kind of life? Certainly not we Muslims.
The Qur'an tells us that theprophets should be our role models, and
Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) in particular is frequently mentioned.
He was obedient to Allah, upright, and he did not worship any god but
Allah. He turned away from those who worshipped idols, even from his
own father. He was grateful to Allah for the blessings which were
bestowed on him. Hewas rewarded with good in this world and he is
among the righteous in the hereafter.
Prophet Ibrahim's call
Prophet Ibrahim 's (alayhis salam) father, Azer, was a stone carver.
He carved theimages of the idols which his people worshipped. Prophet
Ibrahim (alayhis salam) grew up in an atmosphere of paganism, in which
Allah was just one of many gods worshipped by his people. But Allah
chose Ibrahim (alayhis salam) to be His prophet. Prophet Ibrahim
(alayhis salam) saw a star when it rose and called upon it as his
lord, but when it set he realized that it was powerless. He called
upon the moon when it rose in the sky, but it too disappeared as
itset. Then he decided to worship the sun when it rose, but even the
sun with all its brilliance had to set each evening. It wasat this
point that Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) was ready to acknowledgethe
supremacy of the Creator of all the heavenly bodies, the Lord of all
creation, and a being without equal and withoutpartners. He tried
unsuccessfully to persuadehis father and his people to discard the
useless idolsand to submit themselves wholly to Allah. He promised his
father that he would pray for forgiveness for him, and since he had
promised, he did pray. But we are told in the Qur'an that we should
shun pagans and we should not pray for them (Qur'an 9:113-114).
Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) asked his people why they worshipped
those idols which they themselves had made, instead of the true God
who had created everything and everybody.The people answered that they
worshipped the idols because their fathers had done so. One day, when
noone was about, Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) took his right hand
and smashed the idols to pieces, all except the biggest. The people
came running, asking who had destroyed their gods. Prophet Ibrahim
(alayhis salam) pointed to the big god and said, "He did it. Why don't
you ask them?" But of course those fragments of stone were not able to
speak and the people knew in their hearts that the big stone could not
have destroyed them. So Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) asked, "Why do
you worship these powerless rocks instead of Allah who is all
powerful?" Then the people were very angry and they seized Prophet
Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and threw him into a blazing fire. But Allah
was with Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and made the blaze feel cool
to him. Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) emerged from the fire
unharmed.
In Arabia at the time of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),
threereligious groups claimed ancestry to the prophet Ibrahim (alayhis
salam). They were the Christians, the Jews, and the pagan
idol-worshippers. But the religion of Ibrahim (alayhissalam) was none
of these three. His religion was truly that of Islam , a total
submission to the will of Allah. It is he who should serve as our role
model, a man of unswerving faith introubled times.
You can read about Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis salam) as a role model
andabout his disputes over the idols in the following suras of the
Qur'an: 2:130, 135, 258; 3:67; 6:74-83; 16:120-123; 19:41-50;
21:51-71; 26:70-82; 37:83-98; 60:4-6.

Allah Will Protect Me

Once Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was taking rest under a tree
when he was returning from an expedition and hung his sword from the
tree. A Non-Muslim person came quietly, took hold of the sword and,
addressing the Prophet said to him:"O Muhammad! now who will save you
from my hand?" The Prophet heard it, rose up from his seat and said:
"Allah will save me." Hearing the name of Allah, he was overawed and
the sword slipped from his hand. The Prophet rose up from his place,
took the sword into his hand and questioned him: "Now who will save
you from my hand?" He felt sorry and begged apology. The Prophet
forgave him. He was so impressed by this kindnessthat he embraced
Islam. He then went to his tribesmen and expressed that he never found
a manbetter than Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Source: "The Miracles of the Prophet" by Shaikh Ahmed S. Dehalvi; also
related in Bukhari and other sources with slight variations.
Related to the protection of the Prophet Muhammad, Allah has mentioned
in the Quran "OApostle! proclaim the message which has been sent to
you from your Lord. If you do not do it, you would not have fulfilled
and proclaimed this mission. And Allah willdefend you against men who
mean mischief. For Allah guides not those who reject faith." (Al
Quran5:67).
( Love for Muhammad PBUH is the basic teaching of Islam.)... Islam is
not terrorism nor backwordness, but Islam isteachings of
peace."Ashadunna La illaha illallahu Wa Ashadunna Muhammadan Wa
Rasuluhu." "I bear witness that there is no god, but Allah, and
Muhammad is His Last Messenger."

Punishment of a Liar

Narrated Anas: There was a Christian who embraced Islam and read
Surat-al-Baqara and Al-Imran, and he used to write (the revelations)
for the Prophet. Later on he returned to Christianity again and he
used to say:"Muhammad knows nothing but what I have written for him."
Then Allah caused him to die, and the people buried him,but in the
morning they saw that the earth had thrown his body out. They said,
"This is the act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of
our companion and took his body out of itbecause he had run away from
them." They again dug the grave deeply for him, but in the morning
they again saw that the earth had thrown his bodyout. They said, "This
is an act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our
companion and threw his body outside it, for he had run away from
them." They dug the grave for him as deep as they could, but in the
morning they again saw that the earth had thrown his body out. So they
believed that what had befallen him was not done by human beings and
had to leave him thrown (on the ground).
Source: Sahih Al Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 814.
( Love for Muhammad PBUH is the basic teaching of Islam.)... Islam is
not terrorism nor backwordness, but Islam isteachings of
peace."Ashadunna La illaha illallahu Wa Ashadunna Muhammadan Wa
Rasuluhu." "I bear witness that there is no god, but Allah, and
Muhammad is His Last Messenger."