In answer to the video by "Orthodox Shahada"; Quran In Context - Abraham, Temple Worship, Jerusalem & The Ethiopian Connection
Allah is the One true God, worshipped before and after the prophet Muhammad, whether by Jews, Christians, the hanif monotheists, or the polytheists who associated interceding deities with Him all the while recognizing Him as the Supreme God.
Contrary to any entity or concept worshiped besides Him, Allah is "the Truth" al haqq, one of God's Quranic attributes signifying the Ultimate Reality or Primal Cause of all that exists. It is therefore natural that only the prayers addressed to him are true and valid
13:14"To Him is due the true prayer; and those whom they pray to besides Allah give them no answer, but (they are) like one who stretches forth his two hands towards water that it may reach his mouth, but it will not reach it; and the prayer of the unbelievers is only in error".
False deities, animate or inanimate have no intrinsic powers. They are in a state of subjugation to the laws of the universe like their worshippers are, incapable of inflicting evil or bringing any good upon their followers by themselves, not even able to create or catch the most insignificant insect should they all collaborate in their efforts. As contingent entities, they, just like the most saintly personalities of this world 7:188,10:49 stand in contrast to the uncaused cause, the necessary being, under Whose dominion are all benefit or harm that may come upon creation
6:17-18"And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him. And if He touches you with good - then He is over all things competent. And He is the subjugator over His servants. And He is the Wise, the Acquainted [with all]".
In the words of the prophet Jeremiah as inspired to him
Jer10:5"fear them not for they will do no harm, neither is it in them to do good".
Abraham demonstrated this reality to his people. They worshipped the celestial bodies, which were represented by statues. The Quran points to the Sun, Moon and the bright entity/kawkab. The reference to this triad is historically accurate, and recently attested by archaeology. The Judeo-Christian tradition did not preserve that knowledge, as the Bible merely speaks of "gods" in Abraham's native land, while the oral tradition mentions both celestial and earthly deities. Abraham was very critical towards their beliefs, from a young age, even sickenned by them 37:83-90.
God thus inspired him with strong arguments, gave him certainty of heart to confront them 6:75,83. As the sun, the moon and the bright entity appeared and disappeared, Abraham each time declared the superiority of the rising one over the setting one. He was sarcastically pointing to the naivity of his people, who should have reasoned just as he was doing outloud. How could they not see the ephemerity of each astral body despite that they have always been rising then setting. This lead to an impass since turn after turn, none of these objects remained indefinitely. Abraham was doing this reasoning out loud, addressing his own self in front of his people, in order to stimulate the audience's senses and reasoning. The demonstration led to the inevitable conclusion that there must be a Power above and beyond all the visible forces of nature, a Power Who had created them, and Who regulated and controlled them at all times
6:78-9"O my people! surely I am clear of what you associate. Surely I have turned myself, being upright, wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the polytheists".
In the non-canonical Book of Jubilee ch12 which retraces some of Abraham's early life, we read of a similar story. While trying to find natural indications for the year's rainfall in the celestial objects, Abraham reasons that these entities, together with all things and natural phenomena are created by God. He concludes that it is meaningless to seek answers and guidance in anything other than the Creator. It is this very reasoning, which Allah had guided him to, through his inner spiritual disposition, the fitra, which Abraham subsequently used in his argument against star worship as depicted in the Quran
6:75"And thus did We show Abraham the realm of the heavens and the earth that he would be among the certain [in faith]".
After arguing against worshipping God's creation, Abraham turned to the idols that represented them. He secretly entered the location in which they were gathered then began addressing them sarcastically, challenging them to defend themselves. But they do not eat nor speak, so he smote them. The people arrived, enraged, and started looking for the culprit until they remembered about that youth, Ibrahim who was the sole person to denounce their religious practices. They find him and bring him for a public confrontation. His argument was that it was the leader of these deities that had destroyed the others. Ibrahim had cleverly left it intact after smashing all the others, who should now be in a position to confirm the guilt of the remaining statue
21:63"therefore ask them, if they can speak".
Ibrahim's clever argument consisted in making them admit the absurdity of their practices by themselves. He had openly stated that he would plan something against their idols behind their backs 21:57 so obviously when they returned to their worship site and saw all their statues smashed except for the leading deity, they immediately pointed the finger at him. In what would seem as an absurd twist, Ibrahim who had previously declared his intentions towards the idols, rejected any responsibility and put the blame on the last remaining statue, challenging the people to make it testify if what they say and believe about these powerless, inanimate objects is true.
We thus see a pattern in Abraham's method of argumentation against polytheism and idol worship, using role play, sarcasm, leading to an impactful conclusion.
But they, in their obduracy and after they realized they were outsmarted, immediately reversed position after a short moment of self-reflexion 21:64 and went back to their former way of thinking
21:65"Certainly you know that they do not speak".
Followed a hard confrontation in which Ibrahim tried again to appeal to their reason, but his efforts were fruitless and the people attempted to execute him for blasphemy 21:51-71,26:69-82,37:91-96.
Concerning Ibrahim's father, the Quran depicts Ibrahim during his mission as praying for God to forgive his disbelieving father, like Nuh did before him for his disbelieving son. Ibrahim's father in addition physically threatened his son. Ibrahim's forbearance in regards to him is thus an example for every believer to contemplate, even though Ibrahim had distanced himself spiritually from his father's religion. The Quran in 31:33 subtly alludes to that idea.
When speaking of the impossibility for father and child to bear one another's burden on the day of resurrection, it uses jaza in the future tense for the father while it is in the form of a noun for the child. This indicates permanence and repetition, in allusion to the child's duty in this life of repeatedly dealing with humility and forbearance with the parents. This also points to the hard reality that although it could and should be the case in this world, it is a state that will not perdure in the hereafter where eachone carries his own burdens.
The Quran records 2 prayers of forgiveness of Ibrahim. The first for his father/ab 26:69-86 and the second for both his progenitors/walidaya 14:41.
The first prayer, as is clear from the passage, occurs earlier in his life, together with a spiritual dissociation from his father/ab. This prayer was due to a previous pledge Ibrahim had made to his father/ab and but once it became clear to him that his father/ab was a willful enemy of God, Ibrahim distanced himself from that father/ab 9:114,19:47,60:4. The second prayer of Ibrahim occurs at a later stage of his life, once he had reached old age and is made for his progenitors/walidaya who have now passed away. This indicates that his father/ab whom the Quran names Azar could not have been his literal progenitor.
God dislikes and does not accede to prayers made on behalf of those who knowingly remain in their spiritual deviations after clear and repeated admonitions 9:80,63:6. This has always been the way of God, as taught to Muhammad and all prophets, for instance Jeremiah is told in the Hebrew Bible concerning the same kind of disbelievers
Jer7:16"And you, pray not on behalf of this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer, and entreat Me not for I will not hear you" Jer14:11"And the Lord said to me; Do not pray for this people for good".
God forbids prayers to those who obdurately take their idolatry with them to their grave 9:84,113. Ibrahim was aware of that reality. As per 9:114,60:4 Ibrahim would not have repeated his prayer for his father after the fulfilment of his pledge.
Azar was thus called the father/ab of Ibrahim figuratively, in that he was involved in his upbringing.
This account of Ibrahim and his father/ab establishes the important principle that should a situation occur where the enmity of a kinsfolk toward one's faith becomes so severe, as the early Muslims experienced 60:1-3, then one should severe all ties with them indiscriminately. One cannot, after that point pray for their forgiveness as Ibrahim did. Ibrahim only did so because he wanted to honour a pledge he had made when his father's opposition to the religion had not become as severe as when he later joined other idolaters in their enmity.
Further reading;
- Islam critiqued inspects the source; Abraham and the idols from Jewish tradition?
