Hazrat Ibrahim Alaihis Salam was a prophet in Islam. He had to pass a lot of tests and then he became 'Khalilullah'. Khalilullah is a title that he got from Almighty Allah. Khalilullah means the friend of Allah. Here to mention that the last prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) has the title 'Habibullah' which also means the friend of Allah. But there is a difference between the words. Khalilullah refers to a friend who works for the happiness of Allah. And Habibullah refers to a friend for whose happiness Allah works Himself.
We, most Muslims get all the privilege to be a Muslim by born. When we are born, Adhan is heard into our ears. When we grow up, our parents give us the holy book, Quran. They teach about our Lord, Allah. And thus we are involved in Islam and lead our lives on this straight path.
But Hazrat Ibrahim (As) didn't get any of this privilege. Allah Subhanu Wala Ta'la has said that Hazrat Ibrahim (As) was one ummah. That means, during his time there were no people except him who worshiped Allah. The whole people were Mushrik, but Hazrat Ibrahim (As). So, Allah has declared him as one ummah.
He had a good common sense which he used properly. And Alhamdulillah he had it from his childhood. During his whole childhood, he had only seen the worship of fish, trees, cows, the sun, and statues. But he could not understand which one is his Lord.
When people worshiped fish, he thought this might be his Lord. But when people ate fishes, he thought how it could be his Lord when it could not save himself from being eaten. When they worshiped trees, he thought this might be his Lord. But when they cut trees for fuel or making house, he again thought how it could be his Lord when it can't protect himself from his worshippers.
When people worshiped cows, he thought this might be his Lord. But when they needed shoes, they made it with cows' skin. It made him think the cow is also not his Lord as his worshippers used its skin to make their shoes. After this, a bright and shiny sun arose. It made the weather hot and removed the darkness. Hazrat Ibrahim (As) thought this is beautiful. This might be his Lord. But after the day, the sun set and he thought this is not his Lord. As his Lord never could leave him.
After the day ended and the night started, a big bright moon raised. It looked very beautiful and Hazrat Ibrahim (As) thought it might be his Lord. But when it disappeared, he again was unsuccessful in finding his Lord. Then he thought there might be someone who is running the whole universe in a rule. And he is none but his Lord! Thus he got his Allah. Then he said,
"Inni wajjahtu wajhiya lilladhi fataras-samawati wal arda hanifan wama ana minal mushrikin."
This means-
Surely I am facing towards HE, WHO Creates the Heavens and the Earth and I do not comprise with mushriks/polytheists/those who associate others with ALLAH.
It was the worship day of the then people. They were going to the place and asked Ibrahim (As) to go with them. But he replied that he was feeling sick (mentally sick as people were worshiping handmade statues instead of Allah). He preferred to stay at home. Then the people told him to look after the statues when they went to worship. And Ibrahim (As) agreed.
When he was alone in the locality he went to the statue room. There were lots of statues and their gestures were different. And lots of food were kept in front of them. He noticed that no statue was eating food. The child prophet thought they maybe were shy seeing him and could not eat. So, he forwarded the plates to them and asked them to eat. He tried many times, but the statues never ate. He asked them to eat or to talk. But the handmade stone statues did not do anything. They stood like they were before.
Hazrat Ibrahim (As) then broke all the statues except the biggest one. He used an axe to break them. And hang the axe from the biggest one's shoulder. It seemed that the biggest one had broken them all.
When the people came back and saw this, they called Ibrahim (As). He said that the biggest one had become angry and killed the smallest ones. The people said this could not be possible. Because it was also known to them that the statues could not move. However, they said that Ibrahim (As) would be taken to Namrud who was the emperor of the whole world then.
Namrud told Hazrat Ibrahim (As) that he had known that Ibrahim worshiped another Lord. But he said that he had never known about any Lord except himself in the world. He showed Ibrahim (As) that he was comparative to his Lord. (Nauzubillah)
He took a sharp knife and killed a person in front of Ibrahim (As). Then he was about to kill another person. But stopped there and said to the Prophet Ibrahim, "Your Lord can give and take life. And so can I. So, I am Lord." Hazrat Ibrahim (As) could not say anything about this. But he told Namrud that his Lord arises the sun from the east and sets on the west. If Namrud was Lord, he should arise the sun from the west and set it at the east. But Namrud could not do it and got angry.
He ordered the people to make a large fireplace and throw Ibrahim (As) inside it. They do so and tied his hands and legs with rope. Then threw him into the fire. But Allah was there for his beloved prophet. He ordered the fire to be cool for Ibrahim (As). But also ordered it not to be much cooler lest he should not catch a cold. Fire asked Allah then how it should be. Allah ordered him to be peaceful for Hazrat Ibrahim (As).
The rope which was used to tie him was burnt with the fire. But even a single hair of his body was not burnt. (Subhan Allah) Namrud kept him in the fire for 40 days. Later in his life, Hazrat Ibrahim (As) told his grandchildren that those 40 days in the fire were the best days in his life. Allah had made that fire as a peaceful place for him.
And for Namrud, Allah didn't let him do everything as he always did. He killed Namrud with a lame mosquito. One day that broken leg mosquito entered through the nose of Namrud and went to his brain. Then it started biting. He could not endure it and started beating his head. But it didn't help. He asked his people to beat on his head. They beat and due to lots of beating he died.
The person who claimed himself as Lord was killed by the real and only Lord. It took only a mosquito in fact a lame mosquito to kill Namrud.
to be continued......
