21:51 Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets)

لما ذكر تعالى موسى ومحمدا صلى الله عليهما وسلم، وكتابيهما قال: { وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ رُشْدَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ ْ} أي: من قبل إرسال موسى ومحمد ونزول كتابيهما، فأراه الله ملكوت السماوات والأرض، وأعطاه من الرشد، الذي كمل به نفسه، ودعا الناس إليه، ما لم يؤته أحدا من العالمين، غير محمد، وأضاف الرشد إليه، لكونه رشدا، بحسب حاله، وعلو مرتبته، وإلا فكل مؤمن، له من الرشد، بحسب ما معه من الإيمان. { وَكُنَّا بِهِ عَالِمِينَ ْ} أي: أعطيناه رشده، واختصصناه بالرسالة والخلة، واصطفيناه في الدنيا والآخرة، لعلمنا أنه أهل لذلك، وكفء له، لزكائه وذكائه، ولهذا ذكر محاجته لقومه، ونهيهم عن الشرك، وتكسير الأصنام، وإلزامهم بالحجة

يخبر تعالى عن خليله إبراهيم عليه السلام أنه آتاه رشده من قبل أي من صغره ألهمه الحق والحجة على قومه كما قال تعالى " وتلك حجتنا آتيناها إبراهيم على قومه " وما يذكر من الأخبار عنه في إدخال أبيه له في السرب وهو رضيع وأنه خرج بعد أيام فنظر إلى الكوكب والمخلوقات فتبصر فيها وما قصه كثير من المفسرين وغيرهم فعامتها أحاديث بني إسرائيل فما وافق منها الحق مما بأيدينا عن المعصوم قبلناه لموافقته الصحيح وما خالف شيئا من ذلك رددناه وما ليس فيه موافقة ولا مخالفة لا نصدقه ولا نكذبه بل نجعله وفقا وما كان من هذا الضرب منها فقد رخص كثير من السلف في روايته وكثير من ذلك ما لا فائدة فيه ولا حاصل له مما ينتفع به في الدين ولو كانت فائدته تعود على المكلفين في دينهم لبينته هذه الشريعة الكاملة الشاملة والذي نسلكه في هذا التفسير الإعراض عن كثير من الأحاديث الإسرائيلية لما فيها من تضييع الزمان ولما اشتمل عليه كثير منها من الكذب المروج عليهم فإنهم لا تفرقة عندهم بين صحيحها وسقيمها كما حرره الأئمة الحفاظ المتقنون من هذه الأمة. والمقصود ههنا أن الله تعالى أخبر أنه قد آتى إبراهيم رشده من قبل أي من قبل ذلك وقوله " وكنا به عالمين " أي وكان أهلا لذلك.

The Story of Ibrahim and his People

Allah tells us about His close Friend Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and how He bestowed upon him guidance aforetime, i.e., from an early age He inspired him with truth and evidence against his people, as Allah says elsewhere:

وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهَآ إِبْرَهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ

(And that was Our proof which We gave Ibrahim against his people) 6:83. The point here is that Allah is telling us that He gave guidance to Ibrahim aforetime, i.e., He had already guided him at an early age.

وَكُنَّا بِهِ عَـلِمِينَ

(and We were Well-Acquainted with him.) means, and he was worthy of that. Then Allah says:

إِذْ قَالَ لاًّبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ مَا هَـذِهِ التَّمَـثِيلُ الَّتِى أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَـكِفُونَ

(When he said to his father and his people: "What are these images, to which you are devoted") This is the guidance which he had been given during his youth: his denunciation of his people's worship of idols instead of Allah. Ibrahim said:

مَا هَـذِهِ التَّمَـثِيلُ الَّتِى أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَـكِفُونَ

("What are these images, to which you are devoted") meaning, which you worship with such devotion.

قَالُواْ وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا لَهَا عَـبِدِينَ

(They said: "We found our fathers worshipping them.") means, they had no other evidence apart from the misguided actions of their forefathers. Ibrahim said:

لَقَدْ كُنتُمْ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُمْ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ

(Indeed you and your fathers have been in manifest error.) meaning, Speaking to your fathers whose actions you cite as evidence would be the same as speaking to you. Both you and they are misguided and are not following any straight path.' When he called their intelligence into question, and said that their fathers were misguided and belittled their gods,

قَالُواْ أَجِئْتَنَا بِالْحَقِّ أَمْ أَنتَ مِنَ اللَّـعِبِينَ

(They said: "Have you brought us the Truth, or are you one of those who play about") They said: `These words that you are saying, are you speaking in jest or are you telling the truth For we have never heard such a thing before.'

قَالَ بَل رَّبُّكُمْ رَبُّ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ الَّذِى فطَرَهُنَّ

(He said: "Nay, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who created them...") meaning, your Lord, beside Whom there is no other god, is the One Who created the heavens and the earth and all that they contain; He is the One Who initiated their creation; He is the Creator of all things.

وَأَنَاْ عَلَى ذلِكُمْ مِّنَ الشَّـهِدِينَ

(and to that I am one of the witnesses. ) means, and I bear witness that there is no God other than Him and no Lord except Him.

And verily We had given Abraham his rectitude before that is his right guidance before he came of age — and We were Aware of him in that he was deserving of such guidance

Commentary

الْفُرْ‌قَانَ وَضِيَاءً وَذِكْرً‌ا لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ (Criterion and light and an advice for the God-fearing - 21:48) The three attributes which belong to Torah are فُرْ‌قَانَ (criterion) which differentiates between right and wrong second is 4 ' (light) which provides light and manifestation of truth to hearts, and the third is ذِکر (advice) which is a source of guidance for the people. Some explain فُرْ‌قَانَ as help from God which was available to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) all times. It was manifest when he was raised in the Pharaoh's house, then at the time of his contest with the Egyptian magicians which resulted in the Pharaoh's discomfiture, and again when he was pursued by the Pharaoh and his army and Allah saved him by causing dry passageways to appear in the river and, after the Bani Isra'il had crossed over to the other side, by drowning the Pharaoh and his army. Even after this incident Allah's help was available to him at all times. Qurtubi has pointed out that whereas (ضِيَاءً light) and ذِکر (advice) are the attributes of Torah, o4 (criterion) is something else and not an attribute of Torah, because of the use of the conjunctive letter Wa.'o (و) after the word فُرْ‌قَانَ (Allah knows best).