Surah al-Anbiya' (The Prophets ) 21 : 60

Explanatory Note

Then, those who had heard Abraham both object to his father’s and peers’ idol worship and threaten to destroy the same found their answer: “They said: We heard a youth speak of them; he is called Abraham.”  It appears that Abraham (peace he upon him) was still a young man when God bestowed on him the gift of knowing what is right. Hence, he objected to the worship of idols and destroyed them when the chance presented itself. The question arises, however, as to whether he had already been given his message, or whether he acted on an inspiration that led him to the truth before he had received his message. In this latter case, his denunciation of idol worship and his call upon his father to follow his path were the result of that inspiration. This was most probably the case.

On the other hand, it is possible that Abraham’s people’s reference to him as ‘a youth’ was meant merely as a slight. This is supported by their words referring to him in the passive voice, ‘he is called Abraham’. They implied that he was unknown, and represented no threat. This is possible, but we think the first explanation to be more probable, viz. that he was only a young man at the time.