Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:26
And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham said to his father and his people, "Indeed, I am disassociated from that which you worship
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 explanation of His word, the Exalted: وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ لأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ إِنَّنِي بَرَاءٌ مِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ (And when Ibrāhīm said to his father and his people: indeed, I disassociate myself from that which you worship) (26)
The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: ( And when Ibrāhīm said to his father and his people ) — those who worshipped what the polytheists of your people worship, O Muhammad — ( indeed, I disassociate myself from that which you worship ) besides Allah. Then they denied him, and We took vengeance upon them just as We took vengeance upon the communities before them who denied their messengers. And it has been said: ( إِنَّنِي بَرَاءٌ مِمَّا تَعْبُدُونَ ) (indeed, I disassociate myself from that which you worship); here "al-barāʾ" — which is a verbal noun (maṣdar) — is placed in the position of an adjectival qualifier. The Arabs do not use for "al-barāʾ" a dual, a plural, or a feminine form, and so they say: "we are al-barāʾ" and "al-khalāʾ" — for the reason I mentioned, namely that it is a maṣdar. But when they say: "he is free (barīʾ) of you", then they do use the dual, the plural, and the feminine form, and they say: "the two of them are free (barīʾān) of you" and "they are free (barīʾūn) of you". And it has been related that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh it is "innanī barīʾun" with the yāʾ. And "barīʾ" may be pluralized as "barāʾ" and "abrāʾ".
