Surah Ibrahim (Abraham ) 14 : 24

Overview  (Verses 24 - 27)

A Word to Strengthen the Believers

While the nature of the story is the same in every age, the believers who follow God’s messengers stand in this world face to face against tyrannical ignorance, or jāhiliyyah: “And they prayed for God’s help and victory [for the truth]. And every powerful, obstinate enemy of the truth shall come to grief. Behind him stretches hell where he shall be made to drink putrefied water, gulping it little by little, and yet hardly able to swallow it. Death will beset him from every side, yet he shall not die. More severe suffering still awaits him.” (Verses 15-17)

While this takes place in this life, a scene of the hereafter is portrayed whereby an unusual conversation ensues between arrogant tyrants, their powerless followers and Satan. The sūrah also portrays the widely different destinies of good and evil people before providing an analogy of what good and bad words are like. This portrays the working of the law God has set in nature concerning good and evil in life. It also serves as a final comment on the story: “Do you not see how God compares a good word to a good tree? Its roots are firm and its branches reach to the sky. It yields its fruits at all times by its Lord’s leave. Thus does God set parables for people so that they may reflect. And an evil word is like a corrupt tree, torn up onto the face of the earth. It cannot have a stable position. God will strengthen the believers through the true, unshakeable word in both this life and the life to come; but the wrongdoers God lets go astray. God does whatever He wills.” (Verses 24-27)

This scene describing words and utterances, good and evil, is derived from the general atmosphere of the sūrah, and from the history of prophets and those who deny their messages, as well as the destiny of both groups. The tree of prophethood, with its prominent figure of Abraham, the Prophet Muĥammad’s ancestor, is portrayed here as it delivers its great yield every now and then, in the shape of a new prophet who spreads faith and goodness.

Yet the analogy is far more comprehensive, real and effective than just that. For the good word of truth is indeed like a great firm tree, yielding its fruits, solid, unaffected by wind and undisturbed by the storm of evil. It cannot be uprooted by evil tyranny, even though there may be times when it seems to be exposed to grave danger. As it stands high, it looks on evil, injustice and tyranny from above, even though it sometimes seems to the short-sighted that evil squeezes it into a narrow corner. Its fruits are yielded time after time, because its seeds grow within good souls, generation after generation.

The same analogy applies in reverse. An evil word of falsehood is like a foul tree which may spread its branches high and wide, and which may seem to some people to be greater and stronger than the good tree of truth. Nevertheless, it is weak and hollow. Its roots are easily pulled out, as though they stretch on the surface of the earth. One day, it will definitely be uprooted, and then it will have no stable means of existence.

Neither of these is a parable given by way of consolation or encouragement to good people. This is the reality of life, even though it may appear at times to come very slowly. Real goodness does not die or fade away, even though it may be pressed hard by evil which seems to possess enormous power. Conversely, evil exists only while it consumes the little goodness which may be mixed with it. For evil rarely exists in a pure form. In most cases, it has some good within it, and as long as it has that good element, it continues to exist. When this good element no longer exists, evil crumbles and is destroyed, regardless of its initially great appearance. Good remains in its healthy position, enjoying good prospects, whilst evil remains in its foul position, engulfed by serious threats.

“Thus does God set parables for people so that they may reflect.” (Verse 25) These are examples that exist in real life, but people often forget under the pressures of life.

The sūrah provides several elements that contribute to the concept of stability associated with the good, firm tree. It is painted here as having firm roots, well entrenched in the earth, its branches stretching wide on the horizon, giving the clear impression of solidity, strength and firmness. As this great tree is compared to a good word, we are told that “God will strengthen the believers through the true, unshakeable word in both this life and the life to come.” (Verse 27) And just like the bad tree that is uprooted from the face of the earth, lacking stable existence, “the wrongdoers God lets go astray.” (Verse 27) Thus the modes of expression fit harmoniously with the connotations stressed in the sūrah.

God strengthens the believers in this life and in the life to come with the good word of faith that is firmly established in human nature and conscience, yielding its fruit through good and renewed action that has a lasting impact on human life. He further strengthens them with His word contained in the Qur’ān, with the Prophet’s statements, and with His true promise of victory in this life and success in the hereafter. These are all unshakeable words which will always be seen to be true. Those who believe in them will never suffer from worry or confusion.

On the other hand, God lets the wrongdoers go astray as a result of their wrongdoing and associating partners with Him. In fact, ‘wrongdoing’ is often used in the Qur’ān as being synonymous with associating partners with God, since both are manifestations of injustice. Such wrongdoers turn away from the light of divine guidance, and move aimlessly in a great maze of legend and superstition, following laws based on desire, and not on the proper guidance provided by God. As they do so, they are left to go astray. This happens in accordance with the law God has set in operation, which leads to error and confusion anyone who chooses to close his eyes to His guidance and follow his desire.

“God does whatever He wills.” (Verse 27) His will is free. It chooses the law it sets in operation, but is not limited or restricted by it. Whenever God’s wisdom determines to change it, it is changed by God’s will which is free, unimpeded by anything, irresistible. Indeed, everything in the universe takes place in accordance with God’s will. This statement serves as a final comment on the main topic that takes up more than half of the sūrah that is entitled Abraham, after the father of the prophets. This principal subject matter is God’s message and its advocacy. The good tree with its good fruit and stretching, cool shade, and the good word that survives one generation after another, contain together the great truth of the one message which never changes, namely the message of the oneness of God, the Almighty.

Messengers versus Unbelievers

We need to pause here in order to reflect on the main facts in the history of God’s messengers and their encounter with jāhiliyyah. We have already made brief references to these in our commentary, but they now merit further discussion.

The first basic fact which God, in His absolute wisdom and faultless knowledge, tells us is that there has been a procession of faith ever since the beginning of human history. This procession has continued uninterrupted, led by God’s messengers who have advocated the same truth and followed the same method. They have advocated the oneness of God, the Lord of the universe. None of them has ever associated any partners with God. None relied on, or sought support from, or appealed to, anyone other than God.

This means that faith in the One God has not come about progressively or developed from a belief in a multiplicity of deities, to dualism and then the concept of a single God, as claimed by scholars of Comparative Religion. This claim saying that man started with the worship of totems, spirits and stars before progressing to the worship of a single deity is false. Nor is it true to claim that such progress parallels the progress of human knowledge and experience, or the development of political power in human society. All such claims are false.

Faith in God, the only deity to be worshipped, has been preached by God’s messengers ever since the beginning of history. The basic truth of God’s oneness was established in its full form in all divine messages. None of these messages or divine religions introduced any change in, or modification of, this truth. This is what we are told by God whose knowledge encompasses all things.

Had such scholars said that acceptability of the faith based on God’s oneness developed over the centuries, and that pagan beliefs have been influenced by the different forms of the divine faith, preached by God’s successive messengers who confronted such pagan beliefs, until there was a time when the masses were more ready to accept the divine faith, then their claims might have had some validity. But such scholars follow a method of research and investigation that is based on an old subtle hostility to the church in Europe. This old hostility still survives although it may go unnoticed by modern scholars. They are motivated by an underlying desire, of which they may or may not be aware, to disprove the religious way of thinking. In this respect, they want to prove that religion never came about as revelation from on high, but was instead invented by human beings. When it is classified as such, then it is subject to all the rules applicable to human thinking, such as modification, experimentation, and revision. It is such old hostility and subtle desire that have given birth to the study of Comparative Religion which is falsely called a branch of science.

Such claims may deceive some people into accepting what such scholars say. However, no Muslim who respects his faith and its method of establishing the facts should be deceived by it for a moment. How can he, when such claims contradict clear Islamic texts that put the facts in a most lucid manner?4

One Message by All Messengers

A long procession of God’s messengers called on humanity, right from the very first day, to believe in a single message embodying the same faith. Jāhiliyyah, on the other hand, confronted this call to faith with the same type of rejection. The Qur’ān portrays this confrontation, disregarding the elements of time and place, in order to show the fact that the resistance to the divine faith has not changed throughout history. This in itself is very noteworthy. Jāhiliyyah is the same throughout history. It is not a particular stage of human history. It is a state of mind giving rise to a belief and a social structure based on it.

The state of ignorance, or jāhiliyyah, is based on the submission of one group of people to another, giving the qualities of Godhead to someone other than God, or assigning lordship to anyone other than God. Whether people believe in polytheism or in a monotheism that acknowledges a multiplicity of lords, they sink into a state of ignorance, or what is described in Islamic terminology as jāhiliyyah, with all its secondary characteristics.

The message preached by God’s messengers is essentially based on God’s oneness and the rejection of all false lords. Submission to God must be pure and complete. He is the only Lord, and to Him belongs sovereignty and all authority. Hence it is in direct conflict with the conceptual foundation of jāhiliyyah society, constituting a direct threat to it. This is especially so when the message begins to form a separate grouping that draws its members from within that society, giving them new beliefs and a new leadership and loyalties. This is a normal and essential line of action which divine religion inevitably follows.

As a single unit, jāhiliyyah society begins to feel the ideological threat to its 4 This concept is discussed at length in the commentary on Sūrah 11, Vol. IX, pp. 184-190 existence, particularly when the faith based on submission to God alone, or Islam, comes to be represented as a separate entity. Hence, jāhiliyyah society declares its hostile attitude to Islam, in its general meaning of submission to God alone.

The conflict, then, is between two entities which cannot co-exist peacefully. It is a conflict between two structures, each one of which has a basis that is totally opposed to that of the other. One of them permits submission to human beings, while the other rejects this totally. The Islamic grouping, particularly during its formative period, takes its recruits from jāhiliyyah society. Later, it confronts that society to take over leadership and liberate all mankind from submission to anyone other than God. Such development is inevitable when the advocates of Islam follow the right course defined by their faith. In view of this, jāhiliyyah society does not tolerate Islam right from the beginning. With this being the case, we can readily understand the unity of reaction by all jāhiliyyah societies to the messages of all God’s messengers. Jāhiliyyah society is defending its own existence. It has usurped God’s sovereignty, and it wants to keep it.

Since jāhiliyyah society senses the danger to its very existence represented by the Islamic message, it confronts that message with an onslaught that accepts neither a truce nor a modus vivendi. It is a war to the bitter end, since it is over survival. Neither jāhiliyyah society nor God’s noble messengers indulge in any self-deception over the nature of this confrontation. Nor did God’s messengers ever deceive their followers over it. “The unbelievers said to their messengers: ‘We shall most certainly expel you from our land, unless you return to our ways.’“ (Verse 13) They do not accept that the messengers or their followers should have a separate faith, leadership or grouping. They demand that they should return to their ways, integrating in their society, or else they will be thrown out of their land altogether.

Likewise, God’s messengers do not accept any reverting to full integration into jāhiliyyah society, or to shedding their independent personality or grouping. They realize that their community is based on a totally different foundation to that of jāhiliyyah society. Nor do they say, as do those who do not realize the true nature of Islam or the nature of the organic structure of societies, “Let us integrate into that society so that we can advocate our message and serve our cause from within it.” The fact that a Muslim living in an un-Islamic society has his own distinct faith must inevitably be followed by having an independent community that has its own leadership and allegiance. This is not a matter of choice. It is absolutely inevitable. By its very structure, un-Islamic society is highly sensitive to the Islamic faith which has as its foundation belief in the oneness of God, to whom all people must submit themselves. It removes all false deities from positions of leadership and authority. Every Muslim who integrates into jāhiliyyah society becomes a servant of that society, when he should be serving the cause of Islam only. There remains the fact of destiny which advocates of Islam must never lose sight of. The fulfilment of God’s promise to His servants that He will grant them victory and authority and will judge between them and their people on the basis of the truth will not take place until the believers have separated themselves and declared their allegiance to the truth they preach. God’s victory is not given while Islam’s advocates are integrated within un-Islamic society, serving its interests. When such integration occurs, it delays victory. This is then a great responsibility which must be clearly understood by the advocates of Islam.

A Style of Exceptional Refinement

A brief note on the style employed in this passage should be added. It is at this juncture that we find the breathtakingly beautiful style of the Qur’ān demonstrating the procession of faith as it confronts erring jāhiliyyah throughout human history. It is the beauty of the truth: simple, natural, clear, confident, reassured, strong and profound: “Said the messengers sent to them: ‘Can there be any doubt about God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth? He calls you, so that He may forgive you your sins and grant you respite for an appointed term.’ They replied: ‘You are but mortals like ourselves. You want to turn us away from what our forefathers used to worship. Bring us, then, a clear proof’ Their messengers replied: ‘We are indeed but mortals like yourselves. But God bestows His grace on whomever He wills of His servants. It is not within our power to bring you any proof except by God’s leave. It is in God that all believers must place their trust. And why should we not place our trust in God, when He has guided us on our paths? Hence we will bear with patience all your persecution. In God let all the faithful place their trust.’“ (Verses 10-12)

Here we see all God’s messengers marching in a single procession, confronting jāhiliyyah which is one in nature. This essential fact remains true despite the changing circumstances. The beauty of the Qur’ānic style is at its best where it describes the truth embodied in the message preached by the prophets as related to the truth behind the existence of the universe: “Said the messengers sent to them: Can there be any doubt about God, the Originator of the heavens and earth?” (Verse 10) “And why should we not place our trust in God, when He has guided us on our paths?” (Verse 12) “Do you not see that God has created the heavens and the earth in accordance with the truth. If He so wills, He can do away with you and bring into being a new creation. This is no difficult thing for God.” (Verses 19-20)

Thus the fundamental relationship between the truth embodied in the divine message and the truth of the existence of the universe is emphasized as one single truth, derived from God who is the truth. It is firmly established and deeply rooted, just like “a good tree: its roots are firm and its branches reach to the sky.” (Verse 24) Everything else is false, transitory, similar to “a corrupt tree, torn up onto the face of the earth. It cannot have a stable position.” (Verse 26)

The same beauty is seen in the nature of the messengers’ understanding of the nature of their Lord, and the nature of Godhead as it fills the hearts of His faithful servants: “And why should we not place our trust in God, when He has guided us on our paths? Hence we will bear with patience all your persecution. In God alone let all the faithful place their trust.” (Verse 12)

All these are aspects of that spectacular beauty which human expression cannot describe. It can only be pointed to, just like we point to a far away star. We do not reach it with our signal, but we draw attention to it as it lights up our horizon.