Surah Ibrahim

Surah Ibrahim is named after one of the great Prophets of Allah. It is a Medinan surah that discusses Aqidah and the Day of Resurrection. This surah also talks about the purpose of the Prophethood.

In the earlier verses of this surah Allah swt explains how He has sent the prophets as guides to Humanity. Their purpose was to convey the message but, as we see through their stories, they were not made to force people to believe in Allah and the last day. The prophets were sent to live the message that Allah had sent down; the message was unique but the prophets, like those they preached to, were no more than humans creations of Allah. Allah sent His prophets to serve as a guide to His path, but there were those who still rejected. They did not want to see the signs. As we sit here reading and engaging in the benefits of Ramadan, we are of those whom Allah swt has shown the path. It is now up to us to advance our position on that path by engaging in ibadah and dhikr even after the month of Ramadan has passed. Allah has explained to the believers many times, that the line of communication with Allah is always open. Why do we only choose to speak with Him in this month? Allah swt, our Creator, our Provider, our source of ease and comfort is the same Merciful God throughout the year as He is in Ramadan; should we not then be the same loyal servant? Allah reminds us in verse 34 that for those who seek from Him with sincerity and true faith will be given all that we ask for. What we must remind ourselves of is that we cannot always see the answer or response from Allah, as there are times when the answer to our dua is being saved for the next life. But this is part of the belief that the servant must have in his Lord; Allah knows best what we need to be given and He knows what our spiritual soul needs for Him to withhold. We must take the same advice that Allah swt gave to His messengers in verse 47 of Surah Ibrahim, "Never think that Allah would fail His messengers in His promise; For Allah is Exalted in Power- The Lord of Retribution." There is no situation or test in this world that will pass without Allah's knowledge. He has promised to hear and respond to the prayer of anyone who seeks His assistance.

For some us our Ibadah, worship, is more intense in this blessed month, for others, it is the only time that we engage in Ibadah. Whose pleasure are we seeking the rest of the year? Allah reminds us in verse 21 and 22 of Surah Ibrahim that there will be those on earth who lead people astray. We must protect ourselves from being followers of those people. For Allah reminds us that on the Day of Judgment such leaders will be held to account for what they did. While they may have welcomed our company in this life, on that Day they will forget their followers and will not be any source of protection. Shaytan has promised to try and remove us from the path of Allah. But even he admits that we were the ones who wrong ourselves. He says, "I had no authority over you except to call you, but you listened to me." Again in this surah Allah is warning us of a danger and out of His love for His servant He is providing us with a solution. In verse 31 Allah tells us to establish regular prayer and spend out of what He has provided to us. Allah further emphasis the importance of the establishment of prayer by conveying to the believers that the best Da'wah is that of one who establishes prayer with his children. Prophet Ibrahim is an example of the best way to do this. We cannot simply ask our children to pray. We have model the actions we want to see in them. It is through such devotion to Allah and sacrifice of that which is dear to us, that we will find ourselves able to stand before Him on the day when He is our only source of hope.

May Allah guides us on His path and protect us from deviation. May He grant us all that is good for us and protect us from that which removes us from His light.