Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:124
And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham was tried by his Lord with commands and he fulfilled them. [Allah] said, "Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people." [Abraham] said, "And of my descendants?" [Allah] said, "My covenant does not include the wrongdoers."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Discourse on the Interpretation of His exalted saying: وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ (And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His saying "wa-idh ibtalā" (and when He tried): when He put [him] to the test.
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One says of this: "ibtalaytu fulānan abtalīhi ibtilāʾan" (I tried so-and-so, I try him, a trying). Of this kind is the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتَامَى [Surah al-Nisāʾ: 6] (And try the orphans), by which He means: put them to the test.
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Allah's putting Ibrāhīm to the test — exalted is His mention — was a trial by means of obligations (farāʾiḍ) which He imposed upon him, and a command which He gave him. And these are "the words" (al-kalimāt) which He revealed to him and whose execution He imposed upon him, as an examination and a trial from His side.
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Then the exegetes have differed concerning the nature of "the words" with which Allah tried His prophet and His intimate friend (khalīl) Ibrāhīm — may Allah's blessings be upon him.
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Some of them said: They are the legal prescriptions of Islam, and these are thirty portions (sahm).
* Mention of who said that:
1907 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: No one was tried with this religion and fulfilled it except Ibrāhīm. Allah tried him with words, and he fulfilled them completely. He said: Then Allah ascribed to him acquittal (al-barāʾa) and said: وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّى [Surah al-Najm: 37] (And Ibrāhīm who fulfilled [his obligations]). He said: Ten of them are in [Surah] "al-Aḥzāb," ten of them in "Barāʾa," and ten of them in "al-Muʾminūn" and "Saʾala sāʾil." And he said: Indeed, this Islam comprises thirty portions.
1908 — Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn related to us, he said: Khālid al-Ṭaḥḥān related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: No one was tried with this religion and fulfilled it entirely except Ibrāhīm. He was tried with Islam and fulfilled it completely, and Allah ascribed to him acquittal and said: "And Ibrāhīm who fulfilled [his obligations]." Then he mentioned ten [qualities] in "Barāʾa" [112] and said: التَّائِبُونَ الْعَابِدُونَ الْحَامِدُونَ (The repentant, the worshippers, the praisers) to the end of the verse; and ten in "al-Aḥzāb" [35]: إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ (Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women); and ten in "Surah al-Muʾminūn" [1–9] up to His saying: وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَوَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ (And those who guard their prayers); and ten in "Saʾala sāʾil" [22–34]: وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ (And those who guard their prayer).
1909 — ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Shabbūya related to us, he said: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Khārija ibn Muṣʿab related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Islam comprises thirty portions, and no one was tried with this religion and fulfilled it except Ibrāhīm. Allah said: وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّى (And Ibrāhīm who fulfilled [his obligations]), and Allah ascribed to him an acquittal from the Fire.
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Others said: They are ten qualities from the customs (sunan) of Islam.
* Mention of who said that:
1910 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ibn Ṭāwūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: Allah tried him with purification (ṭahāra): five [acts] pertaining to the head and five pertaining to the body. As for the head: trimming the moustache, rinsing the mouth, sniffing up water, using the tooth-stick (siwāk), and parting the hair. And as for the body: trimming the nails, shaving the pubic hair, circumcision (khitān), plucking the armpit hair, and washing the traces of excrement and urine with water.
1911 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, with something similar — except that he did not mention the traces of urine.
1912 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Sulaymān related to us, he said: Abū Hilāl related to us, he said: Qatāda related to us concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: He tried him with circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, washing the front and the back, using the tooth-stick, trimming the moustache, trimming the nails, and plucking the armpit hair. Abū Hilāl said: And one quality I have forgotten.
1913 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Maṭar, on the authority of Abū al-Jald, who said: Ibrāhīm was tried with ten things, which exist in the human being [as custom], and it is a sunna: sniffing up water, trimming the moustache, using the tooth-stick, plucking the armpit hair, trimming the nails, washing the finger-joints (barājim), circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, and washing the back passage and the genitals.
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Some said: Rather, "the words" with which he was tried are ten qualities; some of them pertain to the purification of the body, and some of them to the rites of the ḥajj (manāsik).
* Mention of who said that:
1914 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb related to us, he said: Ibn Lahīʿa related to us, on the authority of Ibn Hubayra, on the authority of Ḥanash, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." He said: Six pertain to the human being, and four pertain to the sacred sites (al-mashāʿir). Those which pertain to the human being are: shaving the pubic hair, circumcision, plucking the armpit hair, trimming the nails, trimming the moustache, and the Friday ablution. And the four which pertain to the sacred sites are: the circumambulation (al-ṭawāf), the running between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa, the casting of the pebbles (ramy al-jimār), and the pouring forth (al-ifāḍa).
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Others said: Rather, it is: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people), with respect to the rites of the ḥajj.
* Mention of who said that:
1915 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, he said: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." Among them is: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people), and the signs of the sacred rite (al-nusuk).
1916 — Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, he said: I heard Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, the freedman of Umm Hāniʾ, concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: Among them is إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people), and among them are the signs of the sacred rite: وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ [Surah al-Baqara: 127] (And when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House).
1917 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." Allah said to Ibrāhīm: Indeed, I am going to try you with a matter; what is it [then]? He said: That You make me a leader for the people! He said: Yes. He said: And [someone] from my offspring. He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers. He said: That You make the House a place of resort for the people. He said: Yes. [He said]: And a place of safety. He said: Yes. [He said]: And that You make us Muslims who submit to You, and from our offspring a community that submits to You. He said: Yes. [He said]: And that You show us our rites and accept our repentance. He said: Yes. He said: And that You make this land safe. He said: Yes. He said: And that You provide its inhabitants — those among them who believe — with fruits. He said: Yes.
1918 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, with something similar.
1919 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, who reported it to him on the authority of ʿIkrima. I laid it before Mujāhid, and he did not reject it.
1920 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, with something of the like. Ibn Jurayj said: On this saying Mujāhid and ʿIkrima both agreed.
1921 — Sufyān related to us, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." He said: He was tried with the verses that come after it: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي قَالَ لا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people. He said: And from my offspring? He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers).
1922 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." The words are: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people), and His saying: وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا الْبَيْتَ مَثَابَةً لِلنَّاسِ (And when We made the House a place of resort for the people), and His saying: وَاتَّخِذُوا مِنْ مَقَامِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ مُصَلًّى (And take the standing-place of Ibrāhīm as a place of prayer), and His saying: وَعَهِدْنَا إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ (And We charged Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl) — the verse, and His saying: وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ (And when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House) — the verse. He said: All this belongs to the words with which Ibrāhīm was tried.
1923 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: My father related to me, he said: My uncle related to me, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." Among them is: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people), and among them is: وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ (And when Ibrāhīm was raising the foundations of the House), and among them are the verses concerning the matter of the sacred rite, and the standing-place that was made for Ibrāhīm, and the provision with which the inhabitants of the House were provided, and [that] Muḥammad — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — would [come] from the offspring of them both — peace be upon them both.
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Others said: Rather, these are exclusively the rites of the ḥajj.
* Mention of who said that:
1924 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Salm ibn Qutayba related to us, he said: ʿUmar ibn Nabhān related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: The rites of the ḥajj.
1925 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās used to say concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words": He said: The rites.
1926 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: He tried him with the rites.
1927 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: It reached us concerning Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: Indeed, the words with which Ibrāhīm was tried are the rites.
1928 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: The rites of the ḥajj.
1929 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: Among them are the rites of the ḥajj.
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Others said: They are matters, among which is circumcision.
* Mention of who said that:
1930 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Salm ibn Qutayba related to us, on the authority of Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: Among them is circumcision.
1931 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq related to us, he said: I heard al-Shaʿbī saying — and he mentioned something similar.
1932 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq related to us, he said: I heard al-Shaʿbī — and Abū Isḥāq asked him about the saying of Allah: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words" — he said: Among them is circumcision, O Abū Isḥāq.
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Others said: Rather, these are the six qualities: the star, the moon, the sun, the fire, the migration (hijra), and circumcision, with which he was tried and which he bore patiently.
* Mention of who said that:
1933 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, who said: I said to al-Ḥasan: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words, and he fulfilled them completely." He said: He tried him with the star, and He was pleased with him; and He tried him with the moon, and He was pleased with him; and He tried him with the sun, and He was pleased with him; and He tried him with the fire, and He was pleased with him; and He tried him with the migration; and He tried him with circumcision.
1934 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Al-Ḥasan used to say: Yes, by Allah, He tried him with a matter and he bore it patiently: He tried him with the star, the sun, and the moon, and he conducted himself excellently therein and knew that his Lord is everlasting, does not vanish, so he turned his face to the One who created the heavens and the earth, as a ḥanīf, and he was not among the polytheists (mushrikīn); then He tried him with the migration, and he departed from his land and from his people until he arrived in Syria (al-Shām), emigrating to Allah; then He tried him with the fire before the migration, and he bore it patiently; then Allah tried him with the slaughtering of his son and with circumcision, and he bore it patiently.
1935 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of someone who heard al-Ḥasan saying concerning His saying: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: Allah tried him with the slaughtering of his child, with the fire, with the star, the sun, and the moon.
1936 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Salm ibn Qutayba related to us, he said: Abū Hilāl related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "And when Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord with words." He said: He tried him with the star, and with the sun and the moon, and found him patient.
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Others said the following:
1937 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: The words with which Ibrāhīm was tried by his Lord are: رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ * رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُسْلِمَةً لَكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ * رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولا مِنْهُمْ [Surah al-Baqara: 127–129] (Our Lord, accept from us, indeed You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. Our Lord, and make us two [people] who submit to You, and from our offspring a community that submits to You, and show us our rites and accept our repentance, indeed You are the Accepter of repentance, the Merciful. Our Lord, and raise up among them a messenger from themselves).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view concerning this, in our opinion, is that one says: Indeed, Allah, mighty and exalted is He, has informed His servants that He tried His intimate friend Ibrāhīm with words which He revealed to him, and that He commanded him to act according to them, and he fulfilled them completely, as Allah — exalted is His mention — has informed concerning him that he did. And it is possible that those words encompass everything that those whose statements we have mentioned concerning the interpretation of "the words" have named, and it is possible that it is only a part of them. For Ibrāhīm — may Allah's blessings be upon him — was, according to what has reached us, put to the test with all of this; he acted according to it and accomplished therein obedience to Allah and the command imposed upon him by Him therein. And since that is so, it is not permissible for anyone to say: Allah meant by the words with which Ibrāhīm was tried a particular part of them to the exclusion of something else, nor [is it permissible to say] that He meant all of this — except on the basis of a proof (ḥujja) to which one must submit: either a narration from the Messenger — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — or a consensus (ijmāʿ) that counts as proof. And concerning none of those [opinions] has a narration from the Messenger been authentically established, neither by the narration of a single individual nor by the narration of the community to whose transmission one is obliged to submit. Nevertheless, concerning a meaning related to this, two narrations from the Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — have been transmitted, which, if both of them or one of them were authentically established, would constitute the correct position concerning the interpretation of this. One of them is the following:
1938 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Rishdīn ibn Saʿd related to us, he said: Zabbān ibn Fāʾid related to me, on the authority of Sahl ibn Muʿādh ibn Anas, on the authority of his father, who said: The Prophet — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — used to say: Shall I not inform you why Allah named His intimate friend Ibrāhīm "the one who fulfilled [his obligations]"? [Surah al-Najm: 37] Because every time he reached the morning and every time he reached the evening he said: فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ حِينَ تُمْسُونَ وَحِينَ تُصْبِحُونَ [Surah al-Rūm: 17] (So glory be to Allah when you reach the evening and when you reach the morning), until he completed the verse.
And the other of them is the following:
1939 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of Abū Umāma, who said: The Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — said: وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّى (And Ibrāhīm who fulfilled [his obligations]). He said: Do you know what "fulfilled" means? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: He fulfilled the work of his day: four rakʿas in the daytime.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: If the narration of Sahl ibn Muʿādh on the authority of his father had an authentic chain, it would be clear that the words with which Ibrāhīm was tried and which he accomplished were his saying every time he reached the morning and the evening: فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ حِينَ تُمْسُونَ وَحِينَ تُصْبِحُونَ * وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَعَشِيًّا وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ (So glory be to Allah when you reach the evening and when you reach the morning. And to Him belongs [all] praise in the heavens and the earth, and in the late afternoon and when you reach midday) — or, if the transmitters of the narration of Abū Umāma were upright (ʿudūl), it would be known that the words revealed to Ibrāhīm and whose execution was imposed upon him as a trial were [this]: that he prays four rakʿas every day. But these are both narrations in whose chains a [critical] examination is in order.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct position concerning the meaning of "the words" with which Allah informed that Ibrāhīm was tried is what we have just expounded.
And if someone were to say concerning this: Indeed, what Mujāhid, Abū Ṣāliḥ, and al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas said is more in agreement with the correct view than the opinion that others than they proclaimed, then that would be a [tenable] viewpoint. For His saying: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people), and His saying: وَعَهِدْنَا إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ أَنْ طَهِّرَا بَيْتِيَ لِلطَّائِفِينَ (And We charged Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl: Purify My House for those who circumambulate), and the remaining verses related to this, are like the clarification of the words with which Allah mentioned that Ibrāhīm was tried.
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The Discourse on the Interpretation of His exalted saying: فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ (and he fulfilled them completely)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His saying "fa-atammahunna" (and he fulfilled them completely): Ibrāhīm completed the words. And "his completing them" means: his fulfilling them completely, by accomplishing for Allah that which was imposed upon him therein; and that is the fulfillment (al-wafāʾ) of which Allah — exalted is His mention — spoke: وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّى [Surah al-Najm: 37] (And Ibrāhīm who fulfilled [his obligations]), by which is meant: he fulfilled that which he was charged with "by the words," namely that which He commanded him of His obligations and His trial therein, as in:
1940 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and he fulfilled them completely," that is to say: he accomplished them.
1941 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and he fulfilled them completely," that is to say: he acted according to them and completed them.
1942 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "and he fulfilled them completely," that is to say: he acted according to them and completed them.
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The Discourse on the Interpretation of His exalted saying: قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (He said: Indeed, I make you a leader for the people)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His saying "Indeed, I make you a leader for the people": Allah said: O Ibrāhīm, indeed, I make you a leader for the people, who is followed and whose example is followed, as in:
1943 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "Indeed, I make you a leader for the people," so that he may be followed and his example followed.
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One says of this: "amamtu al-qawma fa-anā aʾummuhum amman wa-imāmatan" (I led the people, so I lead them, leading and leadership), when one is their leader (imām).
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The Exalted meant only by His saying to Ibrāhīm: "Indeed, I make you a leader for the people": Indeed, I make you one who leads those after you of the people who believe in Me and in My messengers; you lead them, and they follow your guidance and act according to your custom (sunna) which you act upon, by virtue of My command to you and My revelation to you.
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The Discourse on the Interpretation of His exalted saying: قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي (He said: And from my offspring)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by it: Ibrāhīm said — when Allah raised his rank and honored him, and informed him of what He would do with him, namely make him a leader in good deeds for those in his time and for those who would come after him from his offspring and the rest of the people besides them, [a leader] whose guidance is followed and whose deeds and character traits are imitated —: O Lord, and make also from my offspring leaders who are followed, as You have made me a leader who is followed and whose example is followed. It is a request from Ibrāhīm to his Lord which he asked of Him, as in:
1944 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: Ibrāhīm said: "And from my offspring," by which he says: Then make from my offspring one who is followed and whose example is followed.
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Some people have claimed that the saying of Ibrāhīm: "And from my offspring," was a request from him to his Lord for his descendants, that they should be upon his covenant and his religion, as he said: وَاجْنُبْنِي وَبَنِيَّ أَنْ نَعْبُدَ الأَصْنَامَ [Surah Ibrāhīm: 35] (And keep me and my sons far from worshipping the idols). Allah — exalted is His mention — then informed that among his descendants would be the wrongdoer who deviated from him in his religion, with His saying: لا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ (My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers).
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The apparent sense of the revelation, however, points to something other than what the proclaimer of this opinion claimed. For the saying of Ibrāhīm — may Allah's blessings be upon him —: "And from my offspring," comes directly after the saying of Allah — exalted is His mention —: إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people). It is thus known that what Ibrāhīm requested for his offspring, had it been something other than what his Lord informed him He had given him, would have been explicitly mentioned. But since the request belonged to that of which mention had already been made, it was sufficed with the previously mentioned, without repetition and without reiteration of it, and so he said: "And from my offspring," in the meaning: and make from my offspring the like of that to which You have made me, namely the leadership (imāma) over the people.
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The Discourse on the Interpretation of His exalted saying: قَالَ لا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ (124) (He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is an announcement from Allah — exalted is His mention — that the wrongdoer will not be a leader followed by the people of good. And it is from Allah — exalted is His mention — an answer to what one might suppose in his request to Him, namely that He would make from his offspring leaders like him. He informed that He would do that, except for whoever of them belonged to the people of wrongdoing; for He does not make such a one for that [purpose], nor does He place him in the position of His friends (awliyāʾ) with Him, with the honor of leadership. For leadership is exclusively for His friends and the people who obey Him, to the exclusion of His enemies and those who disbelieve in Him.
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The exegetes have differed concerning the covenant (al-ʿahd) which Allah — exalted is His mention — forbade the wrongdoers from reaching.
Some of them said: That "covenant" is prophethood (al-nubuwwa).
* Mention of who said that:
1945 — Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers," he says: My covenant, [that is] My prophethood.
The meaning of the proclaimer of this opinion in the interpretation of the verse is thus: Prophethood does not reach the people of wrongdoing and shirk.
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Others said: The meaning of "the covenant" is: the covenant of leadership (imāma).
The interpretation of the verse according to their opinion is thus: I do not make of those from your offspring who are all wrongdoers a leader for My servants who is followed.
* Mention of who said that:
1946 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: A leader will not be a wrongdoer.
1947 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: Allah said: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: A leader will not be a wrongdoer.
1948 — Al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿIkrima, with something similar.
1949 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: A wrongdoing leader who is followed will not exist.
1950 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, with something similar.
1951 — Musharraf ibn Abān al-Ḥaṭṭāb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: I do not make a wrongdoing leader who is followed.
1952 — Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to us, he said: Muslim ibn Khālid al-Zanjī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: I do not make a wrongdoing leader who is followed.
1953 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: A wrongdoer will not be a leader.
Ibn Jurayj said: As for ʿAṭāʾ, he said: "إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي (Indeed, I make you a leader for the people. He said: And from my offspring?)," whereupon He refused to make a wrongdoer from his offspring a leader. I said to ʿAṭāʾ: What is His covenant? He said: His command.
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Others said: The meaning of it is: that there is no obligation upon you toward a wrongdoer to obey him in his wrongdoing.
* Mention of who said that:
1954 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to us, he said: My father related to me, he said: My uncle related to me, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, [concerning] His saying: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers," by which is meant: A wrongdoer has no covenant upon you in his wrongdoing, that you should obey him therein.
1955 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Muslim al-Aʿwar, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: The wrongdoers have no covenant, and if you make a covenant with him, break it.
1956 — Al-Qāsim related to me, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hārūn ibn ʿAntara, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: A wrongdoer has no covenant.
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Others said: The meaning of "the covenant" in this place is: safe-conduct (al-amān).
The interpretation of the saying according to their opinion is: Allah said: My safe-conducts do not reach My enemies and the people of wrongdoing against My servants. That is to say: I do not give them safety from My punishment in the hereafter.
* Mention of who said that:
1957 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." That is with Allah on the Day of Resurrection: His covenant does not reach any wrongdoer. But as for the worldly life, in it they did reach the covenant of Allah, and on the basis of it they inherited from the Muslims, waged war (armed combat) with them, and married among them. And when the Day of Resurrection came, Allah restricted His covenant and His honor to His friends.
1958 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His saying: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: The covenant of Allah in the hereafter does not reach the wrongdoers. But as for the worldly life, in it the wrongdoer did reach it, and he ate of it and lived [by it].
1959 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "He said: My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: The covenant of Allah in the hereafter does not reach the wrongdoers. But as for the worldly life, in it the wrongdoer did reach it, and he was safeguarded by it, and he ate, saw, and lived [by it].
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Others said: Rather, "the covenant" which Allah mentioned in this place is: the religion of Allah (dīn Allah).
* Mention of who said that:
1960 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: Allah said to Ibrāhīm: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: The covenant of Allah which He charged upon His servants is His religion. He says: His religion does not reach the wrongdoers. Do you not see that He said: وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى إِسْحَاقَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ [Surah al-Ṣāffāt: 113] (And We blessed him and Isḥāq; and among their offspring is the doer of good and the one who clearly wrongs himself). He says: Not all your offspring, O Ibrāhīm, are upon the truth.
1961 — Yaḥyā ibn Jaʿfar related to me, he said: Yazīd informed us, he said: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: My covenant does not reach any enemy of Mine who disobeys Me, and I grant it only to a friend of Mine who obeys Me.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: This saying, even though its apparent meaning is that of an announcement — namely that of the children of Ibrāhīm — may Allah's blessings be upon him — the covenant of Allah is not reached by whoever of them was wrongdoing, transgressing, and deviating from the straight path of truth — which covenant is prophethood and leadership for the people of good, in the sense of being followed in the worldly life, and [also] the covenant by the fulfillment of which in the hereafter is saved whoever fulfilled it to Allah in the worldly life — , [yet] this is [at the same time] a communication from Allah — exalted is His mention — to Ibrāhīm: that among his children would be one who assigns partners to Him (commits shirk), deviates from the straight path, and wrongs himself and the servants [of Allah], as in the following:
1962 — Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥabīb ibn al-Shahīd related to me, he said: ʿAttāb ibn Bishr related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His saying: "My covenant does not reach the wrongdoers." He said: Indeed, there will be among your offspring wrongdoers.
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As for the accusative (naṣb) of "al-ẓālimīn" (the wrongdoers): that is because it is [My] covenant which does not reach the wrongdoers.
And it is mentioned that in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it reads: "lā yanālu ʿahdī al-ẓālimūn" (the wrongdoers do not reach My covenant) — in the nominative — in the meaning: that the wrongdoers are the ones who do not reach the covenant of Allah.
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The nominative (rafʿ) of "al-ẓālimīn" was [grammatically] permissible, just as the accusative was, and likewise for "al-ʿahd," because everything that reaches a person is [also] reached by that person, as one says: "nālanī khayru fulān, wa-niltu khayrahu" (the good of so-and-so reached me, and I reached his good), where the action is directed once toward the good and once toward the person himself.
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We have already expounded the meaning of "wrongdoing" (al-ẓulm) earlier, and therefore we have deemed it undesirable to repeat it.
