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What commands did Abraham fulfilled as a test?

By Ijaz Chaudry

 

The following verse, suggest that Abraham went through a test before he was appointed as a imam;

 

[2:124]  Recall that Abraham was put to the test by his Lord, through certain commands, and he fulfilled them. (God) said, "I am appointing you an imam for the people." He said, "And also my descendants?" He said, "My covenant does not include the transgressors."

 

However, this verse starts with the word “Recall” which suggests that, the test must have happened earlier then chapter 2 order of revelation being 87.  There are only three instances where these commands were fulfilled, before chapter 87 which are as follows;

 

Order of revelation 44;

 

[19:48]  "I will abandon you and the gods you worship beside GOD. I will worship only my Lord. By imploring my Lord alone, I cannot go wrong."

[19:49]  Because he abandoned them and the gods they worshiped beside GOD, we granted him Isaac and Jacob, and we made each of them a prophet.

[19:50]  We showered them with our mercy, and we granted them an honourable position in history.

 

Order of revelation 47;

 

[26:69]  Narrate to them Abraham's history.

[26:70]  He said to his father and his people, "What is this you are worshiping?"

[26:71]  They said, "We worship statues; we are totally devoted to them."

[26:72]  He said, "Can they hear you when you implore?

[26:73]  "Can they benefit you, or harm you?"

[26:74]  They said, "No; but we found our parents doing this."

[26:75]  He said, "Do you see these idols that you worship.

[26:76]  "You and your ancestors.

[26:77]  "I am against them, for I am devoted only to the Lord of the universe.

[26:78]  "The One who created me, and guided me.

[26:79]  "The One who feeds me and waters me.

[26:80]  "And when I get sick, He heals me.

[26:81]  "The One who puts me to death, then brings me back to life.

[26:82]  "The One who hopefully will forgive my sins on the Day of Judgment.

[26:83]  "My Lord, grant me wisdom, and include me with the righteous.

[26:84]  "Let the example I set for the future generations be a good one.

[26:85]  "Make me one of the inheritors of the blissful Paradise.

[26:104]  Your Lord is the Almighty, Most Merciful.

 

Order of revelation 73;

 

[21:51]  Before that, we granted Abraham his guidance and understanding, for we were fully aware of him.

[21:52]  He said to his father and his people, "What are these statues to which you are devoting yourselves?"

[21:53]  They said, "We found our parents worshiping them."

[21:54]  He said, "Indeed, you and your parents have gone totally astray."

[21:55]  They said, "Are you telling us the truth, or are you playing?"

[21:56]  He said, "Your only Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them. This is the testimony to which I bear witness.

[21:57]  "I swear by GOD, I have a plan to deal with your statues, as soon as you leave."

[21:58]  He broke them into pieces, except for a big one, that they may refer to it.

[21:59]  They said, "Whoever did this to our gods is really a transgressor."

[21:60]  They said, "We heard a youth threaten them; he is called Abraham."

[21:61]  They said, "Bring him before the eyes of all the people, that they may bear witness."

[21:62]  They said, "Did you do this to our gods, O Abraham?"

[21:63]  He said, "It is that big one who did it. Go ask them, if they can speak."

 

[21:64]  They were taken aback, and said to themselves, "Indeed, you are the ones who have been transgressing."

[21:65]  Yet, they reverted to their old ideas: "You know full well that these cannot speak."

[21:66]  He said, "Do you then worship beside GOD what possesses no power to benefit you or harm you?

[21:67]  "You have incurred shame by worshiping idols beside GOD. Do you not understand?"

[21:68]  They said, "Burn him and support your gods, if this is what you decide to do."

[21:69]  We said, "O fire, be cool and safe for Abraham."*

[21:70]  Thus, they schemed against him, but we made them the losers.

[21:71]  We saved him, and we saved Lot, to the land that we blessed for all the people.

[21:72]  And we granted him Isaac and Jacob as a gift, and we made them both righteous.

[21:73]  We made them imams who guided in accordance with our commandments, and we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat). To us, they were devoted worshipers.

 

The above mentioned verses were the commands fulfilled by Abraham in order to be an imam based on (2:124) and (21:73) where it confirms that Abraham guided with God’s commands which coincide with command mentioned in (2:124) …

 

21 73 2 124 = 1143796 x 19 and 21 73 2 124 / 190 = 114379.6

 

Temporal connection confirms the fact that (21:73) is left most telling us that it happened before (2:124) which is right most which happened later which is true according to the context of the verses, (2:124) is suggesting that (21:73) happened earlier by saying “Recall”.  Position 6 describes “Caution”, indeed caution is necessary with this code because it includes other messengers who are addressed within this verse. However, the code is to do with Abraham.  Thus it follows all messengers are required to go through the same test that is they should abide by the commands of God to be accepted as messengers.  The Level is 6 which is Theme “Messenger related”, indeed both (21:73 & 2:124) address the messengers.