Parents Of Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S) Were Mu’min

Aazar was Not The Father Of Hzt Ibrahim(AS)
By: Syed Imroz Dean Naqshbandi
Imam and Khatib Masjid Anwaar-
E-Madina, Surrey
Urdu speech Translated in English by Talib e Ilm Afzal Khan Saifi
For the guidance of mankind in all the past, present and future generations, Allah Tabarak Wa Ta’ala has sent more or less one hundred and twenty-four thousand Prophets in this world. All Nabi preached that Allah(SWT) is “Wahdahu La Sharika Lahu” ‘He is one and He has no partner with Him’ All the Prophets propagated that sovereignty belongs to Allah and all praise is due to Him, and He is potent over everything. There is none worthy of worship except Allah. The manner in which the message of Allah was preached by Hazrat Ibrahim(alaihis salaam) is also mentioned in The Holy Quran. Like all other Prophets, Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) also preached to his people the ‘oneness and the supremacy of Allah. It is stated in the Holy Quran and in Hadith, that at the time of the birth of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S), idolatry was prevalent. The ‘oneness and the sovereignty of Allah was rejected by most people. Other than the parents of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S), all his relatives were idol worshippers. Aazar, an uncle (father’s brother) of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S), not only worshipped idols, but he also made the idols and sold them to the people. When Hzt Ibrahim(A.S)started spreading the message of Allah, he preached his uncle Aazar first. In The Holy Quran, Allah converses with his beloved Nabi .“And remember, when Ibrahim said to his father, Aazar” (Surah Al-An’aam. v 74) A point to note: The demise of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) was twenty-one hundred years before the blessed birth of Nabi. And Allah is inspiring his beloved to ‘remember’. However, one can recall only those things that one has heard or seen earlier. Hence, our Nabi has the knowledge of events that took place twenty-one hundred years prior to his declaration of his Prophet hood. Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) started the propagation of ‘oneness of Allah’ from his own family. He preached his uncle Aazar first. This is the reason Allah addressed His beloved: “And O beloved, warn your nearest kinsmen” (Surah Ash-Sho’ra. v 214) “And remember, when Ibrahim said to his father, Aazar” (Surah Al-An’aam. v 74) “Do you take the idols for gods?” (Surah Al-An’aam. v 74) Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) warns his uncle against worshipping idols: “Undoubtedly, I find you and your people in open error” (Surah Al-An’aam. v74) In this verse of The Holy Quran, Allah mentions Aazar as the father of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S). But, in this verse, ‘father’ is used to denote uncle (fathers brother). If for instance, Aazar is recognized as the father of Ibrahim(A.S), then it would also have to be accepted that Aazar is the grandfather of Nabi Because Nabi is a descendant of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S). But Nabi has said that ‘none of his ancestors, from Adam(A.S) to his father were idolaters. Nor any of his mothers were idolaters’. And Aazar was an idolater. It is for this reason, The Ahle Sunnah Wa Jama’ah has formulated the aqeeda that Aazar is not the father of Ibrahim(A.S), but is his uncle. Now! The question arises as to why The Holy Quran mentions Aazar as the father of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S). It was a tradition in Arab to denote grandfather, uncle and father as ‘Aba’. Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) had two sons, Is’haaq(A.S) and Ismail(A.S). Is’haaq (A.S) had one son, Yakub(A.S). And Hzt Yakub(A.S) had twelve sons, one of whom was Yusuf(A.S). At the time of his demise, Hzt Yakub(A.S) sent for all his sons and asked: Allah states in The Holy Quran: “Well, were you present when death came to Yakub, when he asked his sons: ‘Whom will you worship after me?’ They said: ‘We will worship only Him who is worthy of your worship and worthy of worship of your Aba; Ibrahim, Ismail and Is’haaq. The only one god and to him we submit’.” (Surah Al-Baqaraa. v 133) The point to note: The sons replied that they will worship ‘who is worthy of your (Yakub (A.S) worship, and the worthy of your Aba’s (Ibrahim(A.S), Ismail(A.S),and Is’haaq(A.S) worship. So, who is Aba?- Hzt Yakub(A.S)-the father is included; Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) is included; Hzt Is’haaq(A.S)-the grandfather is included; Hzt Ismail(A.S)-the uncle is included. Hence, Aba is a common term for uncle, grandfather and father. When Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) preached his uncle Aazar the ‘oneness of Allah’, and that idols are not worthy of worship, Aazar replied that he would never forgive Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) for being disrespectful and offensive to his idol gods. But Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) told his uncle Aazar that he would continue to give him the true message of Allah and supplicate for him. At the time of his death, Aazar had not accepted the ‘oneness of Allah and was still worshipping idols. He died as an idolater- in the state of infidelity. After the death of Aazar, Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) went to his grave and raised his hands to make dua for his uncle. Allah immediately addressed Hzt Ibrahim(A.S), and reminded him that ‘all of his life Aazar worshipped idols, was offensive and abusive to you, and he was offensive to me- (Allah Ta’ala), and never accepted me as Allah. You are my friend (Khalil) and I will accept your supplication. But I have made the jannat for the believers; not for your opponents and enemies. I will accept your dua and this non-believer will enter jannat’. Allah states in The Holy Quran: “And Ibrahim asking for forgiveness for his father was not but an account of a promise, he had made to him. But when it was made clear to him that he is an enemy of Allah, he disassociates himself from him. No doubt Ibrahim was most tender hearted, clement” (Surah At-Tauba. v 114) Hence, Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) did not supplicate for his idolater uncle Aazar. When Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) reached the age of one-hundred years, Allah blessed him with a handsome son. Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) dropped off his wife Bibi Haajra(Radi Allaahu Anha) and his son in the valley of Mecca. There was no food, and no water present there. He came away from there and made supplication in the court of Allah. Allah states in The Holy Quran: “O my Lord, keep me as an establisher of prayer and my children too. O our Lord, accept our prayer” “O our Lord, forgive me, and my parents, and all Muslims on the day when reckoning shall take place” (Surah Ibrahim. v 40, 41) Now! In this verse, Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) is making dua for his parents. If Aazar was the father of Hzt Ibrahim(A.S), then Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) would not make dua for Aazar; for the reason, Allah had forbidden him to make dua for Aazar earlier when Aazar died. Hzt Ibrahim(A.S) deserted his wife and son in the valley of Mecca for the sake of Allah. Allah accepted his dua and granted jannat to his mother and father both. If Aazar was the father of Ibrahim(A.S), Allah would have stopped him again for making dua for Aazar, as Allah did before. Thus, Aazar was the uncle of Ibrahim(A.S) and not the father. And for those people whom Allah has not granted Imaan, they would recite and listen to The Holy Quran, but would refuse to believe it.