16:120 An-Nahl (The Bee)

يخبر تعالى عما فضل به خليله إبراهيم عليه الصلاة والسلام، وخصه به من الفضائل العالية والمناقب الكاملة فقال: { إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةً } أي: إماما جامعا لخصال الخير هاديا مهتديا. { قَانِتًا لِلَّهِ } أي: مديما لطاعة ربه مخلصا له الدين، { حَنِيفًا } مقبلا على الله بالمحبة، والإنابة والعبودية معرضا عمن سواه. { وَلَمْ يَكُ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ } في قوله وعمله، وجميع أحواله لأنه إمام الموحدين الحنفاء.

يمدح تعالى عبده ورسوله وخليله إبراهيم إمام الحنفاء ووالد الأنبياء ويبرئه من المشركين ومن اليهودية والنصرانية فقال "إن إبراهيم كان أمة قانتا لله حنيفا" فأما الأمة فهو الإمام الذي يقتدى به والقانت هو الخاشع المطيع والحنيف المنحرف قصدا عن الشرك إلى التوحيد ولهذا قال "ولم يك من المشركين" قال سفيان الثوري عن سلمة بن كهيل عن مسلم البطين عن أبي العبيدين أنه سأل عبدالله بن مسعود عن الأمة القانت فقال الأمة معلم الخير والقانت المطيع لله ورسوله وعن مالك قال: قال ابن عمر: الأمة الذي يعلم الناس دينهم وقال الأعمش عن يحيى بن الجزار عن أبي العبيدين أنه جاء إلى عبدالله فقال من نسأل إذا لم نسألك؟ فكأن ابن مسعود رق له فقال أخبرني عن الأمة فقال الذي يعلم الناس الخير وقال الشعبي حدثني فروة بن نوفل الأشجعي قال: قال ابن مسعود إن معاذا كان أمة قانتا لله حنيفا فقلت في نفسي غلط أبو عبدالرحمن وقال إنما قال الله "إن إبراهيم كان أمة" فقال تدري ما الأمة وما القانت؟ قلت الله أعلم. فقال الأمة الذي يعلم الخير والقانت المطيع لله ورسوله وكذلك كان معاذ. وقد روي من غير وجه عن ابن مسعود أخرجه ابن جرير وقال مجاهد أمة أي أمة وحده والقانت المطيع وقال مجاهد أيضا كان إبراهيم أمة أي مؤمنا وحده والناس كلهم إذ ذاك كفار وقال قتادة كان إمام هدى والقانت المطيع لله.

He selected him, as Allah says :

وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَآ إِبْرَهِيمَ رُشْدَهُ مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا بِهِ عَـلِمِينَ

(And before, We indeed gave Ibrahim his integrity, and We were indeed most knowledgeable about him)(21:51). Then Allah says:

وَهَدَاهُ إِلَى صِرَطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

(and guided him to a straight path.) which means to worship Allah alone, without partners or associate, in the manner that He prescribed and which pleases Him.

وَءاتَيْنَـهُ فِى الْدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً

(And We gave him good in this world,) meaning, `We granted him all that a believer may require for a good and complete life in this world.'

وَإِنَّهُ فِى الاٌّخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّـلِحِينَ

(and in the Hereafter he shall be of the righteous.) Concerning the Ayah:

وَءاتَيْنَـهُ فِى الْدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً

(And We gave him good in this world,) Mujahid said: "This means a truthful tongue."

ثُمَّ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ أَنِ اتَّبِعْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَهِيمَ حَنِيفًا

(Then, We have sent the revelation to you: "Follow the religion of Ibrahim (he was a) Hanif. ..) meaning, `because of his perfection, greatness, and the soundness of his Tawhid and his way, We revealed to you, O Seal of the Messengers and Leader of the Prophets ,'

أَنِ اتَّبِعْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

(Follow the religion of Ibrahim (he was a) Hanif and he was not of the idolators.) This is like the Ayah in Surat Al-An`am:

قُلْ إِنَّنِى هَدَانِى رَبِّى إِلَى صِرَطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ دِينًا قِيَمًا مِّلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

(Say: "Truly, my Lord has guided me to a straight path, a right religion, the religion of Ibrahim, (he was a) Hanif and he was not of the idolators.") (6:161). Then Allah rebukes the Jews,

Truly Abraham was a community a leader imām a good example comprising in his character all the good traits obedient to God a hanīf inclining towards the upright religion and he was not of the idolaters;

Sequence of Verses

Refuted in the previous verses was the root of Shirk and Kufr which is rejection of the reality of Allah's Oneness and the rejection of the mandate given by Him to His prophet. Also refuted there were some off-shoots of Kufr and Shirk in the form of legalizing the illegal and illegalizing the legal, a virtual reversal of Divinely ordained arrangements. Since the Mushriks of Makkah who were the first direct addressees of the Holy Qur’ an and who, despite their infidelity and idol-worship, claimed that they were adherents of the great community of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and that what they did was all in accordance with his teachings, it was also taken up as due. The rejection of their position came on the basis of what they already believed in.

So, in the first (120) of the five verses cited above, it was said that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was the foremost universal leader of nations with the high station of a prophet and messenger of Allah. This proves that he was a great prophet and messenger. Then, by saying: وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِ‌كِينَ (and he was not among the Mushriks...121) along with it, his being a torch bearer of the most perfect belief in the Oneness of Allah was confirmed.

And in the second verse (121), by saying that he was grateful to Allah and was on the straight path, a warning signal was given to his adversaries who claimed to be his followers - how could they, being as ungrateful as they were, had the cheek to call themselves his adherents and followers?

After that it was said in the third verse (122) that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was successful in Dunya and 'Akhirah and then it was said in the fourth verse (123) that the prophetic mission of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ was true and that he was truly committed to the ideal of the authentic community of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) . After having stated these two premises, the instruction given was: your claim cannot be correct without faith in and obedience to the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

In the fifth verse (124): إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ السَّبْتُ (The Sabbath was appointed only for those...) the hint given is that good things you, on your own, have made unlawful for yourself were really not unlawful in the community of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) .

Commentary

The word: اُمَّہ (ummah) has a few other meanings, but the well-known sense is that of community, nation, or group of people. At this place, this is what it means - as reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ . The sense is that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) is, in his person, a community, a nation, almost a compendium of their perfections and merits. There is another meaning of the word: اُمَّہ (ummah), that of the leader of a community, someone imbibing in his person many perfections. Some commentators have taken exactly this meaning of the word at this place. And the word: قَانِت (qanit) in verse 120 means obedient to the command (of his Creator). Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) has distinct status in these two qualities. As for being a leader, people from all famous Faiths of the world believe in him and consider it an honour to be the followers of his community. Of course, the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims revere him. Even the Mushriks of Arabia, despite their idol-worship, felt proud to believe in him and in (supposedly) following his way (the way of someone who was the foremost idol-breaker in human annals) ! As for the signal distinction of his being 'qanit' (obedient), it becomes crystal clear from the trials this 'friend' (khalil) of Allah has gone through. Imagine the fire of Namrud (Nimrod), the Command to go elsewhere leaving behind his family in a wilderness, and then, his being ready to sacrifice his very dear son. All these are singularities because of which Allah Ta’ ala has honoured him with such epithets.

Surely Abraham was a community, devoted to God and unswerving, not among the associaters, grateful for His blessings. He chose him and guided him to a straight path. Abraham said, “O Lord, You were all [that I saw], and You are all.” So God said, “The community is you yourself. You are the togetherness of all, and that's it.” Indeed, “When someone belongs to God, God belongs to him.” Then He says, “grateful for His blessings.” Abraham discharged gratitude for blessings, for he recognized the Patron of Blessings. He accepted the decree without protest and he approved of whatever came forth without unwillingness. He chose him and guided him to a straight path. He saw the road of servanthood and he went straight in servanthood. He knew that he did not see that road by himself, for it was shown to him, nor did he reach it by the effort of servanthood, for he was made to reach it. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, do You know what has made me happy? I did not fall to You by myself. O God, You wanted-it was not I who wanted. I saw the Friend at my pillow when I woke up from sleep.” Her love came to me before I knew love- it came across a carefree heart and took possession.