51 And We verily gave Abraham of old his proper course, and We were Aware of him,
Trivia:
Surah 21
THE PROPHETS (Al-Anbiya)
21:51-70
52 When he said unto his father and his folk: What are these images unto which ye pay devotion?
53 They said: We found our fathers worshippers of them.
54 He said: Verily ye and your fathers were in plain error.
55 They said: Bringest thou unto us the truth, or art thou some jester?
56 He said: Nay, but your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who created them; and I am of those who testify unto that.
Abraham said to his father and his people,
What are thise images that you are worshiping? [1]
They answered,
These are the images that our fathers worshiped.
Abraham replied,
Well, you and your fathers are wrong.
57 And, by Allah, I shall circumvent your idols after ye have gone away and turned your backs.
I'll destroy your idols when you aren't looking.
58 Then he reduced them to fragments, all save the chief of them, that haply they might have recourse to it.
59 They said: Who hath done this to our gods? Surely it must be some evil- doer.
60 They said: We heard a youth make mention of them, who is called Abraham.
And Abraham smashed them all to pieces,
except for the largest one.
61 They said: Then bring him (hither) before the people's eyes that they may testify.
62 They said: Is it thou who hast done this to our gods, O Abraham?
They said
Did you destroy our gods, Abraham?
63 He said: But this, their chief hath done it. So question them, if they can speak.
64 Then gathered they apart and said: Lo! ye yourselves are the wrong-doers.
Abraham said,
No, the largest one did it. [2]
Just ask the ones that he destroyed.
65 And they were utterly confounded, and they said: Well thou knowest that these speak not.
66 He said: Worship ye then instead of Allah that which cannot profit you at all, nor harm you?
67 Fie on you and all that ye worship instead of Allah! Have ye then no sense?
They said,
You know they can't speak.
68 They cried: Burn him and stand by your gods, if ye will be doing.
Stand up for your gods and burn him to death.
69 We said: O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham,
70 And they wished to set a snare for him, but We made them the greater losers.
But we [Allah] said,
The fire will be coolness and peace for Abraham.
And we made them the losers.
21:71-75
71 And We rescued him and Lot (and brought them) to the land which We have blessed for (all) peoples.
72 And We bestowed upon him Isaac, and Jacob as a grandson. Each of them We made righteous.
73 And We made them chiefs who guide by Our command, and We inspired in them the doing of good deeds and the right establishment of worship and the giving of alms, and they were worshippers of Us (alone).
74 And unto Lot we gave judgment and knowledge, and We delivered him from the community that did abominations. Lo! they were folk of evil, lewd.
75 And We brought him in unto Our mercy. Lo! he was of the righteous.
We gave Lot judgment and knowledge.
And we delivered him from the community of evil, abominations, and lewdness.
He was a righteous man. [3]
21:76-77
76 And Noah, when he cried of old, We heard his prayer and saved him and his household from the great affliction.
77 And delivered him from the people who denied Our revelations. Lo! they were folk of evil, therefor did We drown them all.
21:78-82
78 And David and Solomon, when they gave judgment concerning the field, when people's sheep had strayed and browsed therein by night; and We were witnesses to their judgment.
79 And We made Solomon to understand (the case); and unto each of them We gave judgment and knowledge. And we subdued the hills and the birds to hymn (His) praise along with David. We were the doers (thereof).
The hills and birds sung hyms of praies to David and Solomon.
80 And We taught him the art of making garments (of mail) to protect you in your daring. Are ye then thankful?
81 And unto Solomon (We subdued) the wind in its raging. It set by his command toward the land which We had blessed. nd of everything We are Aware.
We taught Davdi to make garments.
Are you thankful for that?
And Solomon made the wind stop blowing.
82 And of the evil ones (subdued We unto him) some who dived (for pearls) for him and did other work, and We were warders unto them.
Some evil ones dived for pearls.
21:83-84
83 And Job, when he cried unto his Lord, (saying): Lo! adversity afflicteth me, and Thou art Most Merciful of all who show mercy.
When Job asked for mercy, we gave it to him,
84 Then We heard his prayer and removed that adversity from which he suffered, and We gave him his household (that he had lost) and the like thereof along with them, a mercy from Our store, and a remembrance for the worshippers;
by returning his family (after we killed them). [6]
Notes
- What are these images unto which ye pay devotion? (v.52)
Verses 52-54 are sometimes interpreted to mean that images of Allah, Muhammad, or the other prophets are forbidden.
- Their chief hath done it. (v.63)
Abraham destroyed his father's gods while no one was looking. Then he lied about it, saying the largest god destroyed the other gods. Since Muslims believe Abraham was a prophet and all prophets are perfect, Abraham's lie is a problem for them. They try to get around it by lying about it, saying that Abraham's lie really wasn't a lie. But clearly it was.
- Lot ... was of the righteous. (v.74-75)
The Bible tells us that Lot offered his two virgin daughters to a crowd of angel rapers. Then he got drunk and impregnated them. (See Genesis 19 for the details.) This is, of course, a problem for both Islam and Christianity, but it's a bigger problem for Islam, since Islam considers Lot a prophet and insists that everything a prophet does is perfect.
The Quran and the Bible agree: Lot was a just and righteous man.
- Noah, when he cried of old, We heard his prayer and saved him. (v.76)
Noah is another prophet in Islam. So it was okay for him to get drunk and curse his grandson (and all of his descendants) with slavery because his son saw him drunk and naked. (Genesis 9:20-29).
- They were folk of evil, therefor did We drown them all. (v.77)
See The Flood of Noah: All flesh died that moved upon the earth
- We gave him his household (that he had lost). (v.84)
God and/or Satan killed Job's ten children as part of a bet. (See Drunk with Blood: God and/or Satan kill Job's children, servants, and animals.)
But later, God made Job a new set of kids to replace the ones that he and Satan killed. (Job 42:10-17)