The Salvation of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) from His Enemies

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta

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Fatwa No. ( 7786 ):

Q: I wish to benefit from your eminence with scholarly knowledge to heal my heart. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
[An-Nahl 16:43]
, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the guardian of truth and correctness, and to Him is the return and the destination. This is because, after I studied the various disciplines, the sciences of hadith, and the sciences of the Qur'an, by the praise of the Merciful, it became firmly established in my heart that the one who threw our master Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him and our Prophet) into the fire was not Nimrod , who ruled over the entire earth as is known among the specialists and the common people and mentioned in the exegeses and histories of the scholars of Islam. Rather, it was only his people who threw him in. This is because the Great Qur'an, to which no falsehood comes from before or behind, whenever it mentions this story, explicitly states that this incident occurred with his people and his father. For they used to worship idols, and he (peace and blessings be upon him and our Prophet Muhammad) prevented them until he made the idols into fragments, and the people approved this punishment in response to what he did. Where He, Exalted is His Majesty, said: They said, "Construct for him a furnace and throw him into the burning fire."
قَالُوا ابْنُوا لَهُ بُنْيَانًا فَأَلْقُوهُ فِي الْجَحِيمِ
[As-Saffat 37:97]
, and others. Thus, those who directly carried out this punishment and those who approved it after consultation were none other than his people. The context and the preceding text, and the attribution of these pronouns to the people, do not explicitly state
explicitly in a way that does not accept figurative interpretation, except that this incident occurred with his people, not with Nimrod . Yes, the incident described in His saying, the Exalted: Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
[Al-Baqarah 2:258]
, the story indicates that it occurred with Nimrod , not with the people. Even though it is known from history that this Nimrod was not from the people of Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him). So, alongside the context of the Qur'an and its explicit statement that does not accept figurative interpretation, and alongside the histories, exegeses, and weak hadiths which do not equal the Qur'anic context and its explicit statement, this anxiety and disturbance arose. And I have consulted the exegeses and found no cure for this dilemma
So, it is requested from your presence a satisfying answer supported by authentic narrations from the Prophetic hadiths, with comprehensiveness, and only the authentic hadith and the sayings of the meticulous scholars are accepted. May Allah reward you and reward you?
A: Allah, the Exalted, mentioned in Surat al-Baqarah the story of the one who argued with Ibrahim about his Lord, and concluded it with the victory of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and the refutation of his doubt, saying:

So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.

فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ وَاللَّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

[Al-Baqarah 2:258]

, and He, the Exalted, did not indicate in the story that he exposed Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) to harm or threatened him with evil. And He, the Exalted, mentioned in Surat al-An'am, al-Anbiya, al-Shu'ara, and al-'Ankabut
the call of Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace and blessings be upon him) to his father and his people to the oneness of Allah, his denial of their worship of other than Allah, his smashing of their idols, and the argument that took place between him and them, and concluded it with their throwing him into the fire and his salvation from it, saying, the Exalted:

⁽⁶⁸⁾ They said, "Burn him and support your gods - if you are to act." ⁽⁶⁹⁾ Allah said, "O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham." ⁽⁷⁰⁾ And they intended for him harm, but We made them the greatest losers. ⁽⁷¹⁾ And We delivered him and Lot to the land which We had blessed for the worlds.

قَالُوا حَرِّقُوهُ وَانْصُرُوا آلِهَتَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ (68) قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ (69) وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الأَخْسَرِينَ (70) وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَلُوطًا إِلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ

[Al-Anbya 21:68-71]

, and this is clear in that his people were the ones who threw him into the fire, and that Allah, the Exalted, repelled their plot and frustrated their effort, and saved His friend Ibrahim (peace and blessings be upon him) from the destruction they intended for him. So there is no difficulty in the issue and no complexity. The purpose is to clarify that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) conveyed the clear message and established the proof against the disbelievers, and that he was tested with a great trial and was patient seeking the Face of the Noble Allah, so Allah saved him from the fire and invalidated the plot of the disbelievers. And all of this was completed by the grace and mercy of Allah. So ease your mind and occupy yourself with what is more important than that. May Allah increase you in understanding of the religion and care, and guide us and you to the beneficial knowledge and righteous action, and benefit the Muslims through us and you. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.

Source www.alifta.gov.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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