(In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
all praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His
Messenger)
Prophet
Abraham (A.S) has a significant place in the history in most of the religions
for how he spread the word of Allah Almighty in the times of darkness. There
are reference of Abraham (A.S) in the bible and the Holy Quran.
“Allah did choose Adam and Noah the
family of
Abraham
, and the family of Imran above all
people.” (Surah Al-e-Imran)
Abraham (A.S) was in the twentieth
generation from Adam (A.S), the first man to step on the Earth. Abraham (A.S)
was given the title of ‘Khalil-ullah’
(Friend of God) and was a milestone in the basic religion setup. He had two
sons Isaac and Ismael. Both of these sons had different mothers and both of
these sons were Prophets a t that time.
Religions like the Jewish, Christianity
and islam are also termed as Abrahamic religions since they taught the same
thing, that there is a unified God, Allah Almighty. The two sons that Abraham
had, Ismail and Isaac, represented two bloodlines. Isaac’s (A.S) bloodline
sprouted jews and Christians and Ismail’s (A.S) bloodline bore our Holy Prophet
Muhammad (S.A.W) and the religion termed as Islam. So, Abraham (A.S) is known as the father of
all the people who belong to these religions. Holy Quran includes;
“They
say: "Become Jews or Christians if ye would be guided (to
salvation)." Say thou: "Nay! (I would rather) the Religion of Abraham is True, and he joined
not gods with Allah." (Surah Al-Baqara)
Abraham
was also the Prophet who built the holy Kaa’ba (House of God) with his son
Ismail so as to guide people to kneel there for prayer. The Hajj is another
prayer and the Fifth pillar of Islam which is attributed tot eh journey that
Abraham (A.S) took with his son and wife Hagar (Hajra).
“Remember We made the House a place of
assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of
Abraham
as a place of prayer; and We covenanted
with
Abraham
and Isma`il that they should sanctify My
House for those who compass it round or use it as a retreat or bow, or
prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).” (Surah Al-Baqara) (
Quran
Online
)
There
are some other stories about Abraham being thrown into the fire when it was
extinguished by Allah’s will.
“Hast
thou not turned thy thought to one who disputed with Abraham about his Lord because
Allah had granted him power? Abraham said:
"My Lord is He Who giveth life and death." He said: "I give life
and death." Said Abraham:
"But it is Allah that causeth the sun to rise from the East: do thou then
cause him to rise from the West?" Thus was he confounded who (in
arrogance) rejected faith. Nor doth Allah give guidance to a people
unjust." (Surah Al-Baqara)
Behold! Abraham said: "My Lord! show
me how Thou givest life to the dead. He said: "Dost thou not then
believe?" He said: "Yea! but to satisfy my own understanding."
He said: "Take four birds; tie them (cut them into pieces), then put a
portion of them on every hill, and call to them; they will come to thee
(flying) with speed. Then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise."
(Surah Al-Baqara)
Recitation
of
Quran
Online
shows that Abraham’s life has many lessons for us Muslims to see how devotion
and commitment in faith pays off.