The Way Of Abraham Is Rational And Based On Sound Reason

In the previous installment, we have seen that Islam owes its concept of tawhid and idolatry to Prophet Abraham.  In fact, Prophet Abraham is not only revered by Islam.  Judaism and Christianity revere as well.  All these major religions claim their origin to him.

All prophets brought similar message, but Prophet Abraham is more revered than others because he brought it in a more complete, rational and pure form.  For this, Allah singles him out as “hanifa.”  No other prophet either before or after him receives that honor. 

While all prophets brought similar message, each of them tends to have different focus and significance.  For instance, the significance of the story of Prophet Adam is mankind’s role as the khalifah on earth.  Through his story, we learn about mankind special characteristic as well as worst features, and we also learn that Iblis and the devils will always work to lead people astray so that mankind will also be condemned like them.

From Prophet Noah, we learn that the true savior is faith (iman).  Even the wife of Prophet Noah was drowned in the Great Flood because she disbelieved in Allah.  One of his sons was also drowned.  A few others who were not his direct family members were saved because they believed in him. 

We have not discussed other prophets such as Jonah and Job, but it is proper to mention a few words about them here.

The significance of the story about Prophet Jonah (Nabi Yunus) is that we have to remain consistent and persistence in our faith and struggle although we may not succeed in our task.  Prophet Jonah was greatly disappointed when no one listened to him after spreading the message for so long.  In disgust, he ran away, leaving his people behind.  Allah taught him a lesson by sending a whale or a great fish to swallow him.  In the belly of the great fish, he realized his error.  He repented and Allah saved him.

The significance of the story about Prophet Job (Nabi Ayub) is that he remained patient despite great afflictions.  He was a rich man.  Then he was afflicted with terrible disease.  Later, his house collapsed, killing all his children.  Next, he lost all his wealth. Finally, his wife left him when she could not take it anymore.  When he lost everything—his wealth, his children, his wife, his health—satan came whispering.  All satan wanted was for him to complain--how come Allah put him in such a terrible and pathetic state when he had done nothing wrong.  Yet, he remained true to his faith and accepted what Allah had put him into without slightest complaint.  Then Allah restored his health and his wealth, and his wife also came back to him after realizing her undutiful behavior.

As for Prophet Abraham, other than making clear the concept and practice of idolatry, his life also taught us that the religion sent by Allah is rational, and that it should be spread with sound and rational argument. 

By rational, we mean that it is easy to be digested by intellect, can be understood easily, can be proven, and the mind can accept it readily.  It is not based on superstition or mystical belief.  It is also not based on speculation or fanciful assumption. 

Prophet Abraham rejected idolatry ever since he was a boy.  As we learn earlier, his father was an idol maker.  He saw his father was making idols from stone or wood, then sold these idols to people, and people worship these idols.  To him, this act did not make sense at all.  When he asked why they worship these idols, he was told that these are the gods of their forefathers.  

The boy Abraham cannot accept that justification.  He knew that his father was in fact better than these idols.  After all, it was his father who made them.  At least his father can talk, can listen, can see and can defend himself should he get attacked.  The idols made by his father were just dumb stones that cannot talk, cannot listen, cannot see and cannot defend themselves.  

So, the boy Abraham concluded that these idols cannot be real God.  Then he started thinking and searching for the real God.  He looked for something that is worthy to be considered as God. 

He saw people taking their great king as god.  He thought that the king is more worthy to be a god than a stone made by his father.  But then he realized that the king also got sick and die.  And the king also ate and slept like him.  So he concluded that the real God cannot be like that. 

Then he observed that some people took the sun to be the god.  He thought the sun was great.  It lighted the whole world.  Without the sun, nothing can survive.  Then he thought the sun is more worthy to be a god than the stone made by his father, and more worthy than the king that people worshiped as god.  But soon he realized that the sun has the habit of appearing in the morning but disappearing in the evening.  He realized that the sun is working not on its own free will, but someone or something else is making it appears in the morning and disappear in the evening.  He concluded that the real God should not be like that.

This process went on and on.  At long last, he realized that the real God must be above everything that people take as gods.   As his father made those idols, there must also be the Creator that made every object that people worship.  He must be the one who created the trees and stones that people cut to make the idols.  He must be the one who made the sun rises in the morning and sets it down in the evening.  He must be the one who made the stars, the moon, the planets and everything in the sky, and the one who ensured that these celestial bodies do not crash into one another.  In short, the real God must be the Creator of the earth, the heaven, and everything in the whole universe. 

From this, we can see that his approach is rational and based on reason.  It was after long observation and deep soul searching that he realized that all the gods worshiped by people during his time were false gods.  It was probably by then that the revelation started to come to him, and he started to teach people about the real God.

Quran tells the story that, after preaching for many years but people still refused to listen, Prophet Abraham decided to teach them by practical example.  So, during a great festivity, he sneaked into a temple carrying an axe.  No one was in the temple as even the priests were attending the great festivity.

Once inside, he smashed all the idols with his axe, except the largest one.  He then put the axe in the hand of the largest idol that he did not smash.  Then he quietly went home as if nothing happened. 

There was great commotion when the priests discovered the idols were being smashed.  It was not long before people started to gather in front of the temple.  They thought the horrible deed must have been perpetrated by a young man named Abraham, as he had been against idol worshiping all along.

So they arrested and brought him to the large gathering in front of the temple.  Their idea was to force him to confess.  Instead of confessing, Prophet Abraham pointed to the largest idol and said: “Go and ask him. The axe is in his hand.” 

Angry, and unaware that it was a trap by Abraham, they said: “You know well that they cannot speak.”  And Abraham quickly replied: “Yet, you take them to be your gods, knowing full well they cannot speak, cannot see, cannot do any harm or any good, cannot benefit you, and cannot even defend themselves.”

Furious, they made a huge bonfire and threw him inside the inferno.  But Allah made the fire cool for him and he was saved. 

The news that a young man named Abraham was saved from raging fire had reached the great king named Nimrod.  He was the most powerful king at that time and controlled all the food supply.  Because of that, people worshiped him as god.  The king Nimrod summoned Abraham to come to his court. 

Abraham refused to recognize the king Nimrod as god, saying the real God gives and takes life.  Nimrod arrogantly replied: “I also give and take life.”  

To prove his claim, Nimrod pardoned a man who was already condemned with death sentence, and ordered an innocent man to be killed.  Then the king Nimrod said: “This man is already condemned with death sentence and about to be executed.  He is as good as dead, but I make him alive again.  And the other man has done nothing wrong, but I just took his life.  So I give and take life.”

The king Nimrod thought that he had won the debate, but Abraham then said: “My God raises the sun from the East and sets it at the West.  Now I challenge your majesty to make it rises from the West and sets it at the East.”

It is sufficient to say that the king Nimrod was angry because he cannot answer that challenge. 

Here, we briefly highlight a few episodes in the life of Prophet Abraham to serve as examples that the true religion is rational and based on sound reason.  The Western people define religion as a set of beliefs and rituals.  This definition is very narrow. Islam simply calls it “Deen,” which means a way of life.  Not only that the religion (Deen) sent by Allah is rational, but it is also comprehensive, because religion in Islam is a way of life, and it includes everything that has to do with our lives.    The deen of Islam (or Islamic religion) is not confined to matters of faith and ritual alone.

The way of life as intended by Allah did not come to fruition in the large scale during Prophet Abraham’s time, as he had only a few followers, and did not manage to establish a state.  Such way of life was accomplished by his descendants, first through the line of his son with Sarah, and finally through the line of his son with Hagar. 

From his son with Sarah, named Isaac, come a nation known as Israel, and from his son with Hagar, named Ishmael, come a nation known as Arab.  The nation of Israel carried the religion of Abraham which was later known as Judaism, then branched out into another religion known as Christianity; while the nation of Arab carried the final and complete religion of Abraham known as Islam.

It is no wonder, therefore, that Prophet Abraham is not only revered in Islam, but in Judaism and Christianity as well.  We can say that many of the bricks in the House of Prophethood were his descendants, with Prophet Muhammad being the last brick.  After all, Abraham is known as the Father of prophets.