The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) البقرة 127–129
127
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
And when Abraham and Ishmael were laying the foundations of the House, [they prayed], ‘Our Lord, accept this from us; for You are All Hearing, All Knowing.
128
رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِنَا أُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ
Lord, make us submissive to You; make of our descendants a nation that will submit to You. Teach us our rites of worship and turn to us with mercy; You are the Forgiving One and the Merciful.
129
رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولاً مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ العَزِيزُ الحَكِيمُ
Our Lord, send forth to them a messenger of their own to recite Your revelations to them, to teach them the Scripture and wisdom, and purify them. You are the Mighty, the Wise One.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a)God ordained that a universal centre of Islamic dawah be established in Hijaz. Almighty God chose Abraham and his family to establish this centre and make provision for its functioning. The words which Abraham and Ishmael uttered when they were building the house of God in Makkah were, in addition to being supplications to God, an indication of their unwavering fidelity to God’s scheme of things. It is prayer of this kind that is most pleasing to God, so He accepted their prayer and a permanent fountain of spiritual life for the whole world gushed forth from the barren desert of Arabia. The name of this fountain was Islam. As for the people who inhabited this desert, the offspring of Ishmael, God made them enthusiastic proponents of the Islamic cause: He enabled them to propagate His word far and wide. Through them, he informed mankind how they should please their Lord, so that He might turn to them in mercy. It was to the Children of Ishmael that the final prophet was sent, and for the first time in history, the entire prophetic pattern was recorded for posterity, so that future generations could follow it. ( a) The first and foremost task of God’s messenger is to interpret His signs, which are proofs of His greatness and power. God has introduced innumerable signs into human nature as well as into the outside world to enable human beings to know their Creator. But these signs have to be unveiled by God’s messenger: he shares his divine insight with them so that they may have a glimpse of God’s glory. (b) ‘The Scripture’ refers here to the Quran. The second task of the prophet is to become a recipient of revelation from God. He has to communicate this divine message to man. (c) ‘Wisdom’ here refers to insight. When this insight is produced within man, he is able to see more deeply into the signs of God. When he moulds himself according to the teachings of the Quran, the light of insight burns within him, producing a sublime level of consciousness. This enables him to arrive at right conclusions in all matters as desired by God. (d) ‘Purification’, or tazkiah, means ‘to free something from unfavourable elements’. In this context it means enabling human beings to purify themselves of all negative influences resulting from their conditioning. The final aim of a prophet is to fashion such souls as are totally absorbed in love for and devotion to God; that are free from all kinds of complexes; that derive their spiritual nourishment from the world around them, something which God Himself has made available to His believing servants.