61. Here that portion of the history of Prophet Nooh is being presented which shows how Allah saved him from that suffering his community was subjecting him to, and finally delivered him from that punishment which struck his community at the end, and how Allah blessed him with His kind favours.

For details in connection with Prophet Nooh, please see Surah A’raf Note No.95.

62. Refers to that prayer which Prophet Nooh said after remaining for a long time with his community and delivering his message convincingly, and which is mentioned in Surah Qamar, Ayah No.10. Allah answered his prayer and the way in which He did it is a clear example of the fact that when His sincere slaves invoke Him, He not only hears them but also answers them in the best way. In this there is great comfort for the sufferers in the path of Truth.

63. By his ‘Ahl’ (people) are meant those who had accepted his faith, and by ‘Karb-e-Azeem’ is meant the great hardships which he had to suffer at the hands of his community and also the ultimate deluge which overtook his community.

64. The deluge had killed the entire human race, except those persons who were sailing in Prophet Nooh’s Ark, and had believed in his religion. Most of them were the people of his household and subsequently through his progeny that were saved the human race was continued. Through Sam, Arab, Room etc. Semitic nations came into existence, through Haam Ethiopians and Egyptians, etc., and through Yafath came into being the nations of Turks, Mogul, and Gog, Magog, etc.(God knows best).

65. The reward which Prophet Nooh got from Allah in this world is what is stated in the above lines (ayah), that is the human race was continued through his progeny, and the second reward is that he is remembered by the later generations in good and kind words, especially those who believe in the Quran not only remember him with complimentary words but they repeat the splendid mention of his name in Quranic words, and they express their love and regard for him so lovingly.

66. This is the third reward that he got in this world, that he was blessed with Peace. His enemy could not do any harm to him. The great nations of the world pay him respects, that is Jews. Christians and Muslims remember him with affection, and the people of faith pray for him and send blessings of peace for him: Peace be on Nooh.

67. That is: Those whose deeds are righteous, they will get good rewards for their deeds by the grace of Allah.

68. Those who disbelieved were drowned. For explanation, please see Surah A’raf Note No. 103.

69. That is: Ibrahim belonged to the same religion or the religious community as Prophet Nooh. What religion Prophet Ibrahim followed, Prophet Nooh followed the same religion, and he was a member of the same group that was the follower of the Prophet Nooh.

70. That is: Ibrahim presented himself before Allah in such a way that his heart was free from all dirt of polytheism and sins. He had kept his heart in the same healthy condition in which nature had given him. He had taken to worshipping his Lord, from adolescence only.

71. This happened at the time when he was blessed with prophethood. His father Azar was an idolater, and his community was also idolatrous, and Idolatry is the worst type of polytheism, open straying and a very serious guilt. Therefore, he began his dawah by delivering a very heavy blow to idolatry. He gave them an invitation for thinking whether what they were worshipping was really worthy of being worshipped?

72. Only Allah is the real God. Therefore, anybody or thing that will be made a deity will be a false and invented god.

73. Man believes in various deities on the false presumption that the Lord of the universe neither directly hears the prayers of his slaves and answers them, nor does He singly attend to the management of the affairs of the universe, nor is He singly worthy of worship. He has divided the godhood and therefore, others are also worthy of worship. This is absolutely an ill-advised concept of the Lord of the Worlds, Whoever adopts polytheism and idolatry he actually does not appreciate the worthiness of the Lord of the Worlds and turns away from Him. To bring home to them this very idea Ibrahim asked what was their opinion about the Lord of the Worlds?

74. It transpired at the time when people were about to go to some country fair outside the town. Night came and stars appeared in the sky. They also asked Prophet Ibrahim to go with them. He saw a good opportunity to give a good lesson to these star worshippers. First he cast a thoughtful glance at the stars and said to himself: “So these are their gods who are represented by their carved idols.! What attributes of godhood these stars have. How absolutely foolish of them !” Then he proffered an excuse for not going with them, which is mentioned ahead.

75. This excuse was put by Ibrahim because he was also not well, and going out in the night would have caused him more trouble. And also because he wanted to do his work in the absence of the people, since his work could be done in private only and silently. Therefore, he thought it sufficient to give the excuse of his illness without expressing what was his real motive. But a number or commentators have tried to interpret his excuse in strange ways. In their support they present a hadith which states that Ibrahim had made wrong statements three times, and this was one time when he stated that he was ill (Inni saqeemun)(Bukhari-Kitabul Anbia).We have discussed this hadith in detail in our Note No.80 of Surah Anbia, a summary of which is this that for reasons it cannot be considered as a correct or authentic hadith, and there is no reason that his excuse of illness should be considered wrong. It can be questioned only when his excuse is proved to be wrong, and when it is not proved, then what is stated in Quran is correct and true.

76. After the people went out of the city, Ibrahim got an opportunity to enter the temple and do his work. When he entered the temple, he saw that eatables things of various kinds were placed before the idols. He addressed the idols and asked them why they did not eat the food. This was a taunt meant for their worshippers who offer good and edible things before the idols.

77. This was the second taunt, that they make gods of those who are unable to speak.

78. The right hand is more powerful. Prophet Ibrahim hit the idols with full force, and broke them into smithereens. This event has been mentioned in detail in Surah Anbia. For details please see Surah Anbia, Note No.76.

79. That is: When people returned from the fair, they saw their idols broken into pieces, and since Prophet Ibrahim earlier told them that he would do something against them, as is mentioned in the Ayah No.57 of Surah Anbia, people went to him running to find out whether this damage was wrought by him.

80. The reply given to them by Prophet Ibrahim has been mentioned in Surah Anbia in detail. In these ayat a part of his reply has been presented. To bring into spotlight the unreality of the idols, Prophet Ibrahim had raised this issue: What is the meaning of worshipping things carved with their own hands? None of these idols is a creator, for they themselves have made them, then how have they become worthy of worship?

81. Creator is Allah only, yours and also of the things like stone, clay, wood, etc., from which you carve out idols or deities. Therefore the fact of Allah’s being the real God is absolutely clear, and to make deities of the things or idols carved by yourselves is absolutely foolish.

82. They had no reply to the question from Prophet Ibrahim, which were like proof and convincing arguments, and because of their religious prejudice they were not prepared to accept the truth. Therefore, they decided to throw Prophet Ibrahim into fire.

The reason for making a house for fire might have been that within the four walls the fire could be blazed to a very high degree and it would not allow Ibrahim to escape from the house, and it would be easier to catch him and bring him to the fire without the knowledge of his relatives of home and throw him into the fire.

83. They had conspired to throw Ibrahim into the fire, but as narrated in Surah Anbia, ayah No. 69, Allah cooled the fire for Ibrahim and he remained hale and hearty. Thus his enemies were made to taste defeat and they were disgraced.

84. Since the message of Allah was convincingly conveyed to the community, and the community was after his life, Prophet Ibrahim decided to migrate from the city. For details of migration see Surah Ankaboot, Note No.48.

85. Prophet Ibrahim had migrated from Iraq and had reached Syria (Palestine). There he prayed for righteous sons so that through them he might find support and the light of religion might spread everywhere.

Righteous children are a great blessing from Allah, and whenever prayer may be made to Allah for children, it should be for righteous children only.

And when he reached the age when He could run with him (Ibrahim), he said: “My son, I have seen in the dream that I am sacrificing you, so tell me what do you think?” He said:”O my father! Do what you have been commanded. Allah willing, you shall find me of the steadfast.”(AL-Quran)

86. That is: of Ismail’s birth, who was the first son of Prophet Ibrahim. He was extremely tolerant and gentle, the proof of which can be seen in his offer to readily being sacrificed.

87. He became a support to his father that he walked with him and helped him in his work.

88 That is: I am sacrificing you for the sake of Allah. This was the dream of a prophet, in which there are unseen hints from Allah and which are totally free from all Satanic misgivings and doubts. Therefore, Prophet Ibrahim considered it a hint from Allah.

It may be noted that for anyone it is not proper to take any step on the basis of a dream which is not allowed by the Shariah, but since prophets are innocent beings, their dreams are also free from all falsehood. And there is also a specialty of the Prophets that if they commit any mistake in interpreting the dreams, Allah intervenes and rectifies the mistake on time.

89. Prophet Ibrahim asked the opinion of his son, because his son was to be sacrificed, and also because an idea and correct estimate of his patience and steadfastness could be made.

90. This was the reply of the son, whose every word was full of the feelings of faith and belief, sincerity and selflessness, patience and tolerance, courage and determination, humility and sacrifice. With this solid determination the use of the words ‘Allah willing’ reflects a high example of trust in Allah.

From the reply of the son it is learnt that he had not only reached the age of understanding, but also had become a person of sound intelligence.

91.’Aslama’, i.e. both of them surrendered themselves to the will of Allah and were ready to obey His command unhesitatingly. It has thus become clear that the reality of Islam is to surrender oneself to Allah without any reservation, so much so that if the command is to stake one’s life, one should not hesitate. Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail, by obeying such a command in which there was a great test for them, they reached the high peak of submission that is Islam.

92. That is: He made Ismail lie down on his stomach, probably the idea was that his face should not be before him while sacrificing.

93. That is: The knife was not even applied to his throat that Allah called him and stopped him from sacrificing his son.

94. Prophet Ibrahim had seen himself sacrificing his son in the dream, and he had not left anything undone in obeying this divine hint, and had made all arrangements for sacrificing his son. In this way he had shown unreserved obedience to Allah and thus fulfilled the vision. Now that the knife was to be applied to the throat, Allah stopped him, for the purpose was not to shed the blood of Ismail but only to see whether the father and the son pass through the test successfully or not. When they were successful in the test, Allah accepted their sacrifice even before it was actually offered. So there was no need to wield the knife. This was a mercy from Allah and also His appreciation.

95. Those who adopt virtue as their way of life, Allah helps them pass their tests successfully and with safety, and blesses them with honour and favour.

96. There is no doubt that it was a great trial. Ibrahim’s trial in this sense whether he shows his readiness to sacrifice his dear and only child, and Ismail’s trial in this sense whether he shows his readiness to be sacrificed in obedience to Allah.

97. That is: Allah presented a sheep in lieu of his life, that by sacrificing it a great tradition will be established. Accordingly among the rites of Hajj one important rite is sacrifice, which is offered by slaughtering camel, cow, ox, goat, sheep, any of these animals. Moreover, on the occasion of Eedul Azha Muslims all over the world offer sacrifices.

Prophet Ibrahim had offered the sacrifice of a sheep in lieu of the life of his son, which Allah had accepted as a great sacrifice. And this sacrifice is great because it has been established as a great tradition of Ibrahim. In the Bible in the Book Genesis, Chapter 22 there is a mention of sacrifice of a sheep.

This event of sacrifice had taken place on the hillock Marwah in Makkah, which is near the House of Ka’ba and where ‘Sai’ is done. Relevant arguments are given below:

1. It was a unique sacrifice, for which the proper place would have been either Baitul Maqdis or Makkah. So far as Baitul Maqdis is concerned, the place was developed much after Prophet Ibrahim, by Prophets Dawood and Sulaiman (Peace be upon them). However in Makkah the House of Allah (Ka’ba) was built by Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail, therefore, this sacred land was the fittest place for this sacrifice.

2. The main place for the sacrifice is Baitullah (Surah Hajj:32), Therefore, sacrifice near it is sacrifice in a proper place.

3. In the Bible it is mentioned that Ibrahim was commanded to offer sacrifice in the country of ‘Moriah’, on a hillock. (See Genesis Chapter 22). Where is this country Moriah. The people of Bible have not been able to point out where it is. The commentator of the Bible writes: “The land of Moriah cannot be identified.” -(The Interpreter’ one volume commentary of the Bible p.18)

‘Moriah’ is in fact Marwah hillock, which is near Ka’ba in Makkah. On this hillock the event of Ismail’s sacrifice had taken place. In the hadith it is stated that the Prophet has said about Marwah:

“This is the place of sacrifice, and all the big and small roads of Makkah are places for sacrifice.” (Muatta, Kitabul Hajj).

In the hadith the mention of Mina as a place for sacrifices is on account of Shariah considerations. Firstly, Mina is situated adjacent to Makkah. Secondly on the occasion of Hajj it was necessary that the place for offering sacrifices should be wide because of the large number of the animals. For this reason sacrificing in Mina was made necessary by Shariah.

98. This ayah clarifies that the glad tidings about Ishaq was given to Prophet Ibrahim after the first son’s birth and after the event of his sacrifice. Therefore, the son who was offered for sacrifice was Ismail only, but in the Bible Ishaq has been stated to be the one offered for sacrifice, which is a modification by the Jews. In support of Ismail being offered for sacrifice are those arguments which we have given above in Note No.97, and besides:

1. In the Bible it is stated that he was the only son of Ibrahim (Genesis, Chapter 22), and in Book Genesis, Chapter 16 it is stated that Sarah had no issue, and Ismail was born of Hajra:

“And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ish’mael. Abram was eighty-six years when Hagar bore Ish’mael to Abram”. (Gen.16:15,16)

And it is also proved from the Bible that Ismail was older than Ishaq by 14 years (Genesis, Chapter 17). Therefore, the only son could be Ismail alone. But the Jews out of prejudice put the name of Ishaq in place of Ismail. This is their open distortion.

2. It is stated in the Bible that when ‘Allah gave the glad tidings about Ishaq to Ibrahim, He said:

“God said, ‘No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call him name Isaac. I will establish my covenant for him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”-(Gen. 17:19)

With the glad tidings of the birth of Ishaq this good news was also given that he will have children. Then how could the command of sacrificing Ishaq be given before his birth? It is also narrated in the Quran that when the glad tidings of the birth of Ishaq was given to Ibrahim’s wife, the good news of the birth of Yaqub (Jacob) was also given to her:

“Then We gave her good tidings of Ishaq, and after Ishaq of Yaqub.”, (Surah Hood -71).

3. If Prophet Ishaq were offered as a sacrifice, then this event would have been kept as a religious tradition among the Bani Israil, but the fact of there being no tradition of sacrifice in Bani Israil and there existing the tradition of sacrifice at the occasion of ‘Eed Faseeh’, commemorating the exodus from Egypt is a clear proof that the son offered for sacrifice was Ismail and not Ishaq, for in the Hajj this tradition has been kept as a rite and also during Eedul Azha.

4. In the Quran two attributes of Prophet Ismail have been mentioned which are related to old his having been offered as a sacrifice: one is his being tolerant and submissive (Ayah No.101) and another of his being keeper of his promise (Surah Maryam Ayah No.54), while the attribute of Prophet Ishaq has been mentioned as ‘man with knowledge’ (Surah Hijr- 53).

Some commentators have copied certain narratives in support of Ishaq being offered as sacrifice on the basis of what the people of the Book stated, but as stated above the evidence quoted therein is not confirmed by Quran.

99. That is: Showered blessings on both Ismail and Ishaq. Accordingly from both of them such races came into being which have very prominent place in the world. From Prophet Ismail Bani Ismail (Arabs) and from Prophet Ishaq Bani Israil (Jews).

100. That is: Whether it is Bani Ismail or Bani Israil, there are good and bad people in both the communities. There are those who have adopted righteous way of life and also those who have adopted the life of denial, disbelief, polytheism and are doing wrong to their own souls. It means that both the races are prominent because they descend from two great personages, but in the balance of Allah only one’s good and righteous acts have weight and not the honour of birth.