Surah Ibrahim (Abraham ) 14 : 52

هَٰذَا بَلَٰغٌ لِّلنَّاسِ وَلِيُنذَرُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَلِيَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ وَلِيَذَّكَّرَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
This [Qur’ān] is a message for the people that they may be warned thereby and that they may know that He is but one God and that those of understanding will be reminded.

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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Explanatory Note

The essential purpose of this message and the warning it contains is that people should know that “He is the One and Only God". This is the basic concept of this religion on which its code of living is built.

What is required here is not that people should merely acquire such information. The purpose is that they should conduct their lives on the basis of this knowledge. It is that people should submit to God alone, since He is the One and only God. It is God who deserves to be the Lord, i.e. the Sovereign, the Ruler and the Legislator.

When life is conducted on this basis it becomes totally different from every type of life based on the lordship of creatures, which means that some submit to others who are considered sovereign over them. The difference involves faith, worship, morality, standards and values, behaviour and practices, as well as political, economic and social systems and every aspect of the life of the individual and society alike.

Believing in the One God is the basis of a complete system. It is not merely a matter of conviction. Faith comprises all aspects of life. In the Islamic perspective, sovereignty is a question of faith, as is morality. It is on the basis of faith that the code of life that comprises both moral values and legal matters is based.

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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It appears from the tone of this Surah that it belongs to a group of Surahs which were revealed during the last stages of the Makkan period. For instance ayah 13: “And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, “We will surely drive you out of our land, or you must return to our religion.” So their Lord inspired to them, “We will surely destroy the wrongdoers.” clearly indicates that the persecution of the Muslims was most intense at the time of the revelation of this Surah and that the people of Makkah were bent on expelling the Muslims, just like the disbelievers of the former Prophets.

8. Reasons for Revelation

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9. Relevant Hadith

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10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

11. Tafsir Zone

 

Overview  (Verse 52)

Elimination of Pagan Concepts
 
The sūrah then ends with something similar to its opening, but it comes in the form of an open and loud declaration, intended to inform all mankind: “This is a message to all mankind. Let them be warned thereby, and let them know that He is the One and Only God. Let those who have insight take heed.” (Verse 52) The essential purpose of this message and the warning it contains is that people should know that “He is the One and Only God.” This is the basic concept of this religion on which its code of living is built.
 
What is required here is not that people should merely acquire such information. The purpose is that they should conduct their lives on the basis of this knowledge. It is that people should submit to God alone, since He is the One and only God. It is God who deserves to be the Lord, i.e. the Sovereign, the Ruler and the Legislator.
 
When life is conducted on this basis it becomes totally different from every type of life based on the lordship of creatures, which means that some submit to others who are considered sovereign over them. The difference involves faith, worship, morality, standards and values, behaviour and practices, as well as political, economic and social systems and every aspect of the life of the individual and society alike.
 
Believing in the One God is the basis of a complete system. It is not merely a matter of conviction. Faith comprises all aspects of life. In the Islamic perspective, sovereignty is a question of faith, as is morality. It is on the basis of faith that the code of life that comprises both moral values and legal matters is based.
 
We cannot appreciate the extent which faith takes in the Islamic perspective unless we understand the full meaning of the basic declaration every Muslim must make in order to be a Muslim: “I bear witness that there is no deity other than God, and I bear witness that Muĥammad is God’s Messenger.” We must also be aware of the meaning of addressing all worship to God alone. This means that submission is only to God, not merely during prayer, but in every life situation.
 
The worship of idols which Abraham prayed to God to spare him and his offspring from does not take only the primitive way which the pagan Arabs and other communities practised. It is not merely the worship of deities made of stones, trees, animals, birds, stars, fire or spirits. To limit the concept of polytheism to this primitive form blurs our view so that we cannot see other forms which may bedevil humanity in different states of jāhiliyyah. We need to have a fuller understanding of the nature of associating partners with God, its relevance to idols, and the nature of idols and how they are represented in modern states of ignorance, or jāhiliyyah.
 
Associating partners with God may take any form and be represented in any situation where submission in all aspects of life is not to God alone. It is sufficient that a person should submit to beings other than God in certain aspects of his life to be in a situation of associating partners with God, even though he submits to God alone in the other aspects of his life. Worship is only one aspect of life where submission is reflected. But there are many other forms of submission in human life which give us practical examples of polytheism.
 
A person may believe that Godhead belongs completely to God alone, and he submits to Him in his prayers, fasting, performing pilgrimage and other aspects of worship, but he may at the same time submit to laws other than God’s in his social, economic and political life. He may also submit to concepts other than those approved by God in his social standards and to other human beings in his moral values, traditions, customs and style of dress. Such a person practises polytheism in its essence, in full breach of the meaning of the declaration that “there is no deity other than God and Muĥammad is God’s Messenger”. This is what people overlook. They take all such matters carelessly, without thinking that they demonstrate the same paganism that has been practised by different communities throughout history.
 
It is not necessary that idols be represented in primitive form. For idols are mere covers for tyranny which hides behind them in order to impose its authority over people. Yet none of these idols speak, hear or see. Its custodian or priest or the ruler was always around, chanting the idol’s praises or acting as its spokesman, but saying what he wants to say. Therefore, when banners or slogans are raised in any community which give rulers or priests the power to put in place laws, values, standards and practices that are at variance with what is acceptable to God, then these are in effect, position and nature deities like those idols of old.
 
We see today that nationalism, patriotism or a certain class in society or people as a whole are made like banners or slogans which are adored in place of God. People are made to sacrifice for such banners their lives, property, morals and even their honour. Whenever divine law and its requirements come in conflict with what the service of such banners and slogans requires, then God’s law is set aside and the requirements of these banners are met. To be more accurate we should say that it is the requirements of the tyrants standing behind these banners that are fulfilled. This is indeed a form of idol worship, because an idol need not be made of wood or stone. It can be represented in a doctrine or a slogan.
 
The role of Islam is not only to destroy wood or stone idols. That was not the purpose of all the efforts and sacrifices made by God’s messengers and their followers in history. Islam aims rather to establish in a very clear way the difference between submission to God alone in all matters and affairs and submission to other beings or entities. It is necessary to look carefully at forms and appearances in every situation to establish whether the existing order conforms to the concept of God’s oneness or to a form of paganism.
 
People may imagine themselves to be following the faith revealed by God because they declare, “There is no deity except God, and Muĥammad is God’s Messenger”, and they submit to God in all matters of worship and in marriage, divorce and inheritance. Yet when matters go beyond this narrow aspect, their submission is to other beings. They follow laws that are in clear conflict with what God has legislated. They even sacrifice their lives, property, honour and morals, willingly or unwillingly, to fulfil what this neo-paganism requires of them, even when it is in conflict with what is acceptable to God. They are thus totally mistaken when they imagine that they follow Islam. They should wake up and realize that theirs is a situation of clear paganism.
 
Divine faith is not as hollow as it is imagined to be by some of those who claim to be Muslims. It is a complete way of life that comprises all the necessary details for daily life. Submission to God’s law in the details of daily life, as well as in basic principles and concepts, is the core of the divine faith. It is Islam in its true sense, which is the only form acceptable to God.
 
As stated earlier, polytheism does not only take the form of believing in multiple deities and claiming that they are God’s partners. It is instead the acknowledgement of other lords alongside Him. Idol worship is represented in adopting banners and slogans which are given the same sort of authority as belonged to idols of old. People everywhere then must examine their lives to determine whom they actually submit to. If they submit totally to God, obeying His orders and laws to the exclusion of any other, then they follow the divine faith. If not, then they have a religion based on idol worship. This is a terrible situation indeed. This is a message to all mankind. Let them be warned thereby, and let them know that He is the One and Only God. Let those who are endowed with insight take heed. (Verse 52)


12. External Links

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