Surah Al Anbiya

Surah Al Anbiya is a Meccan surah and was amongst the earliest chapters revealed. The surah opens with a reminder of The Day of Reckoning. Allah tells us many times that this Day is promised, it is true, and there is no doubt of its arrival. Surah Anbiya also discusses the revelation of the Tawrah and the Qur'an in verses 48-50. He reminds us that the message conveyed to Musa and Haroon is the same as that was sent to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Both the message of Musa and Muhammad (Peace be upon them both) were differentiating between truth and falsehood, transgressions and righteousness, light and darkness, and fearing and loving Allah. How is it then that we reject what has been conveyed not only to the final Prophet of Allah but to the Prophets generations before him?

While every moment we grow closer to the Hour, there are too many of us that disregard it and are careless in our actions. We treat the serious matters of this life without concern and instead direct our attention to the size of the house, the model or the car, the extravagance of our celebrations, and other matters of trivial nature. Will those things help us on the Day? Allah swt reminds us that though we may preoccupy ourselves with other matters or try to escape the reminder of the Qiyamah, there is no place to retreat to except in Allah. Therefore, we must design our actions to be of things that speak on our behalf rather than against us. Allah swt reminds us that He alone is aware of when the Day will come. And as a teacher once reminded us, if you look in the side mirror of your car you will see written on it the words, "Object is closer than it appears", as to caution the driver. Similarly the Akhirah is closer to us than it might appear in our minds, and we must be cautious of the steps we take as each decision affects our future.

Surah Anbiya mentions Prophets Lut, Nuh, Dawud, Sulayman, Ayyub, Yunus, Ismail, Yahya, Zakariya, Idris, and Isa. This surah goes on to speak a great deal about Prophet Ibrahim and his dealings with the Idol worshippers. In verse 51-75, Allah swt tells us the story of the Prophet known as His friend, Ibrahim (May Allah be pleased with him). Prophet Ibrahim was granted guidance and wisdom from and early age in his life and begin calling people to Tawhid in his youth. Ibrahim (May Allah be pleased with him) had the task of not only guiding his people from falsehood and idol-worship but in doing so he had to confront his father as well. He questioned the actions of his people, and they had nothing greater to justify their actions then that they were following the actions of their fathers before them. This is a lesson to us that we cannot follow our parents, teachers, or Imams blindly. We must internalize what they are giving to us, contemplate it and then follow it or leave it based on thought. The idol worshippers are not free from the sin because they are following the actions of people before them or doing what their fathers did; those before them will be held accountable and they will be held accountable and not one will be able to protect the other when they come before Allah. It is important to respect the knowledge that is given to us but we must be a community who is practicing Islam because we understand it and have conviction in its teachings, not because another person said "Do" and we react to their command.

Ibrahim (May Allah be pleased with him) tested his people one day but putting their "gods" to a test. The community left for some town festivities and Ibrahim (May Allah be pleased with him) stayed behind. In their absence he, destroyed their idols, all but the biggest one. Immediately upon their return they questioned Ibrahim as he was the only one left behind capable of such and action. Ibrahim (May Allah be pleased with him) responded to their accusations by suggesting the question be posed to the remaining idol that they prayed to for help on other matters. If the idol was able to provide them with answers before, should it not be able to do so now? The idol worshippers were confused by Ibrahim's question. All they were able to respond with was that Ibrahim knew full well that the idols were not capable of such destruction. In their arrogance they refused to see the wisdom behind Prophet Ibrahim's actions. He provided them a great reminder of the limitation of the idols, yet they refused to believe. Rather, they rallied against him and decided to eliminate him by throwing him in a fire. By every law of nature, the fire should have been hot and anyone would have felt the pain of the heat immediately. It is reported by Ibn Abbas that as the Prophet of Allah was being placed into the fire the angel of rain waited for the command to send down rain as ease for Prophet Ibrahim. But Allah swt, as He has told us many times throughout the Qur'an, never abandons His servant. Allah knows the effort that Ibrahim (May Allah be pleased with him) made and the lesson he taught his people even though they refused to accept it. So He swt commanded the fire to be made cool and safe for Prophet Ibrahim and it was, preventing any harm from him. Allah helps those who are steadfast in His way. "We protect our Prophets and those who believe in this life and in life to come." Surah 40:51

Allah swt then concludes the surah by reminding us of the Akhirah and the two destinations. He is calling us to put our strength towards good deeds while there is still time. All of us will perish and all of us will be brought in front of Allah for judgment.