This article tells of the Prophet Ibrahim's search for the true God since his childhood amid a family of idol-makers, his rejection of the worship of stars and the moon, up to his destruction of his people's idols and his salvation from being burned.
The Story of the Prophet Ibrahim Finding God and Preaching
The noble Qur'an does not tell of the process of his birth and his childhood. We know that in the time of the Prophet Ibrahim mankind was divided into three groups. The first group worshipped statues made of wood and stone. The second group worshipped the stars and the moon, and the third group worshipped kings or rulers. The light of reason had gone out at that time, so darkness filled every corner of the earth.
In the end, the earth's thirst for mercy and its hunger for truth grew ever greater. It was into such circumstances that the Prophet Ibrahim was born. He was born into a family skilled in making statues or idols. It is said that his father died before he was born, and he was then raised by his uncle, who took the place of his father.
The Prophet Ibrahim would call him by the titles usually given to a father. There is also an opinion that his father did not die and that Azar was indeed his real father. Another opinion holds that Azar was the name of one of the fairly famous idols made by his father. In any case, Ibrahim came from a family such as this.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
Ibrahim's head of family was an artisan accustomed to carving statues, so the father's profession earned him a special standing among his people. The Prophet Ibrahim's family was greatly respected. In our language today, one might call it an aristocratic family.
From a family such as this was born a child able to oppose the deviation within his own family, and to oppose the corrupt system of society and to resist all manner of soothsayers' predictions, and to oppose the worship of idols and stars, and every form of associating partners with Allah. In the end, he faced a grave trial when he was thrown into the fire alive.
We do not wish to get ahead of that event. We want to begin the story of the Prophet Ibrahim from his childhood. The Prophet Ibrahim was someone whose mind was brilliant from a young age. Allah, the Exalted, gave life to his heart and his mind and granted him wisdom from his childhood.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Prophet Ibrahim learned, while still a child, that his father was someone who made unique statues. One day, he asked about his father's creation, and his father told him that these were statues of gods. The Prophet Ibrahim was greatly astonished to see this, and there arose within him—through his sound reason—a rejection of it.
Interestingly, the Prophet Ibrahim actually played with the statues when he was small, even sometimes riding on the backs of the statues as people who ride donkeys and other mounts do. One day, his father saw him riding on the back of a statue named Mardukh. His father immediately grew angry and ordered his son not to play with the statue again.
Ibrahim asked: "What statue is this, father? Its two ears are large, larger than ours." His father answered: "That is Mardukh, the god of gods, my son, and those two large ears are a symbol of extraordinary intelligence." Ibrahim seemed to laugh inwardly even though he was then only seven years old.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Gospel of Barnabas, through the words of the Prophet Isa, tells us that the Prophet Ibrahim mocked his father when he was still a child. One day, Ibrahim asked his father: "Who created man, father?" The father answered: "Man, because I made you and my father made me." Ibrahim replied: "That is not so, father, for I once heard an old man say: 'O my Lord, why have You not given me a child.'"
The father said: "True, my son, Allah helps man to make man, but He does not place His hand in it. Therefore, man must show humility before his Lord and offer sacrifice to Him."
Then Ibrahim asked again: "How many gods are there, father?" The father answered: "They are without number, my son." Ibrahim said: "What shall I do, father, if I serve one god and then another god hates me because I do not serve him? How does rivalry and conflict arise among the gods? What if the god who hates me kills my god? Perhaps he would kill me too."
The father answered with a laugh: "You need not fear, my son, for there is no enmity among the gods. In the great house of worship there are thousands of gods, and it has been so for seventy years now. Even so, we have never heard of one god striking another." Ibrahim said: "Then there is harmony and peace among them." The father answered: "That is right."
Ibrahim asked again: "From what are the gods made?" The old man answered: "This one is from palm-frond wood, that one is from olive wood, and that small idol is from ivory. Look how beautiful it is. Only, it has no breath." Ibrahim said: "If the gods have no breath, then how can they give breath?
If they have no life, how can they give life? Father, surely they are not Allah." On hearing Ibrahim's words, the father became furious and angry, saying: "If you were already grown, I would strike you with this axe."
Ibrahim said: "Father, if the gods help in the creation of man, then how can man create a god? If the gods are made of wood, then burning wood is a grave error, but tell me, father, how did you create the gods and make for them a sufficiently good god, yet how did the gods help you make so many children that you have become the strongest man in the world?"
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The dialogue between Ibrahim and his father ended with the father striking Ibrahim. Then day followed day and Ibrahim grew up. Since childhood, Ibrahim's heart had sown hatred for the statues made by his own father. Ibrahim could not fathom how a rational human being could make statues with his own hands and then prostrate and worship what he himself had made.
Ibrahim observed that those statues did not eat or drink and could not speak, and even if someone knocked one over it could not rise and stand up again by itself. How could people imagine that these statues could bring about harm and give benefit?
This thought troubled Ibrahim greatly for a long time. Could it be that his whole people were wrong while only he was right? Was that not truly astonishing?
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Prophet Ibrahim's people had a great house of worship filled with all kinds of idols. In the middle of that house of worship there was a shrine in which the largest statues were placed. Ibrahim visited that place with his father when he was still a child. Ibrahim looked at the idols made of stone and wood with a look of contempt.
This greatly astonished the people at that time, for upon entering that place of worship, they displayed submission and reverence before the statues. They even wept and pleaded for all manner of things, as if the statues heard what they were lamenting and saying.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
At first this sight made Ibrahim laugh, but gradually he grew angry. What astonished him was that all these people were deceived, and what further complicated matters was that Ibrahim's father wanted Ibrahim to become a soothsayer when he grew up. Ibrahim's father wanted nothing but for Ibrahim to show reverence to those statues, yet he always found Ibrahim opposing and disdaining them.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
One day Ibrahim went with his father into that place of worship. At that time a feast and celebration was taking place before the statues, and in the midst of that celebration was a soothsayer giving a discourse on the greatness of the largest idol-god. In a voice full of feeling, the soothsayer implored the idol to have mercy on his people and grant them sustenance.
Suddenly the silence at that moment was broken by Ibrahim's voice directed at the soothsayer: "O soothsayer, it will never hear you. Do you truly believe it hears?" At that the people were startled. They searched for the source of that voice. They found that it was Ibrahim's voice. Then the soothsayer began to show his uneasiness and anger. The father immediately tried to calm the situation, saying that his son was ill and did not know what he was saying.
Then the two of them left that place of worship. The father accompanied Ibrahim to his bed and tried to get him to sleep, then left him afterward. But Ibrahim was not simply going to sleep after seeing the misguidance that had befallen the people. He soon rose from his bed. He was not one who was ill.
He felt he was facing a momentous event. He considered it impossible that statues made of wood and stone could be gods for his people. Ibrahim left his house and headed to the mountain. He walked alone in the darkness. He chose a cave on the mountain, then leaned his back against it while sitting deep in thought. He gazed at the sky. He had grown weary of looking upon an earth filled with an atmosphere of ignorance resting on idols.
Not long after the Prophet Ibrahim gazed at the sky, he looked at the various stars worshipped on earth. At that time the heart of the Prophet Ibrahim—as a young man still in his youth—felt extraordinary sorrow. He then looked at what lay behind the moon and stars.
This greatly amazed him. Why did people worship what God had created? Did they not all rise and set by His leave? The Prophet Ibrahim experienced an inner dialogue within himself. Allah, the Exalted, relates this state in Surah al-An'am:
"And (remember) when Ibrahim said to his father Azar: 'Is it right for you to take idols as gods? Indeed I see you and your people in manifest error.' And thus did We show Ibrahim the signs of Our greatness in the heavens and the earth, so that he might be among those who are certain. When night grew dark upon him, he saw a star, and he said: 'This is my Lord,' but when it set, he said: 'I do not love those that set.'" (QS. al-An'am: 74-76)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Qur'an does not tell us of the events or atmosphere the Prophet Ibrahim experienced when declaring his stance in this matter, but we sense from the context of the verse that this announcement took place among his people. And it appears that his people were satisfied with it. They thought that Ibrahim rejected idol worship and leaned toward worshipping the stars. We know that in the time of the Prophet Ibrahim mankind was divided into three groups.
Some of them worshipped idols, some others worshipped the stars, and others worshipped kings. But in the morning, the Prophet Ibrahim reminded his people and startled them, for the stars they had believed in the night before had now set. Ibrahim said that he did not love what sets. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"When night grew dark upon him, he saw a star, and he said: 'This is my Lord.'" (QS. al-An'am: 76)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
Ibrahim reflected again and told his people on the second night that the moon was his lord. The Prophet Ibrahim's people did not know, or did not have sufficient capacity for logic or intelligence, that Ibrahim actually wished to awaken them in a very gentle and loving manner. How could they worship a god that at times is hidden and at times appears, or at times rises and at times sets. At first the Prophet Ibrahim's people did not understand this. First Ibrahim praised the moon, but it turned out the moon, like the other stars, also rose and set. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"Then when he saw the moon rising, he said: 'This is my Lord.' But when it set he said: 'If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be among the misguided people.'" (QS. al-An'am: 77)
We note here that he spoke to his people about rejecting the worship of the moon. Ibrahim succeeded in "tearing apart" the belief in worshipping the moon with complete gentleness and calm. How could people worship a god that at times is hidden and at times appears. Truly, said Ibrahim, how I imagine what would happen to me if my Lord did not guide me. The Prophet Ibrahim was hinting to them that he had a Lord, not like the gods they worshipped. But again they were not yet able to grasp the Prophet Ibrahim's hint. He then again used argument to subdue the first group among his people, namely the star-worshippers. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"Then when he saw the sun rising, he said: 'This is my Lord. This is greater.' But when it set, he said: 'O my people, indeed I am free of what you associate with Allah. Indeed I turn my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward the true religion, and I am not among those who associate partners with Allah.'" (QS. al-An'am: 78-79)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
Ibrahim engaged in dialogue with the sun-worshippers. He told them that the sun was his lord because it was the greatest. Again Ibrahim played an important role in stirring their minds. The sun-worshippers did not realise that they were worshipping a created being. If they thought it was great, then Allah, the Exalted, is the Greatest.
After Ibrahim declared that the sun was his lord, he waited for the right moment until the sun set, and indeed it turned out to be like the other objects of worship that would eventually set. After that Ibrahim proclaimed that he was free of the worship of the stars.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
Ibrahim began to look upon and to instruct his people that there is a Creator of the heavens and the earth. Ibrahim's argument was able to bring forth the truth, but as usual, falsehood does not simply submit. They began to bare their fangs and began to challenge the existence and boldness of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. They began to oppose the Prophet Ibrahim and began to debate with him and even to threaten him. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"And his people argued with him. He said: 'Do you argue with me concerning Allah, when He has indeed guided me? And I do not fear the (harm from the) objects of worship that you associate with Allah, unless my Lord wills something (of that harm). My Lord's knowledge encompasses all things. Then will you not take heed? And how should I fear what you associate (with Allah) when you do not fear having associated with Allah that for which He has not sent down to you any authority? So which of the two parties has more right to security, if you know?'" (QS. al-An'am: 80-81)
We do not know how far the intensity of the struggle went between the Prophet Ibrahim and his people, nor how they tried to frighten the Prophet Ibrahim. The Qur'an does not touch on this. But what is clear is that their stronghold of falsehood was rendered powerless by the Qur'an. From this story, the Qur'an presents the Prophet Ibrahim as using the logic of a sound thinker. Facing all manner of challenges and threats from his people, the Prophet Ibrahim in fact found peace and did not fear them. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"Those who believe and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing (associating partners with Allah), it is they who have security, and it is they who are rightly guided." (QS. al-An'am: 82)
Allah, the Exalted, always gave the Prophet Ibrahim strong proof and argument, so that he was able to confront his people. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"And that was Our argument which We gave to Ibrahim against his people. We raise in degrees whom We will. Indeed your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing." (QS. al-An'am: 83)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
Ibrahim was supported by Allah, the Exalted, and was shown the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. Thus the Prophet Ibrahim continued his opposition to idol worship. Of course, at this point the struggle and conflict between him and his people grew ever sharper and ever wider. The heaviest burden was when he had to confront his own father, whose profession and hidden standing were the root cause of all the worship followed by the majority of his people. The Prophet Ibrahim went out to preach to his people, saying:
"What are these statues to which you are so devoted? They answered: 'We found our fathers worshipping them.' Ibrahim said: 'Indeed you and your fathers are in manifest error.' They said: 'Have you come to us in earnest, or are you one who jests?' Ibrahim said: 'Rather, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them; and I am among those who can bear witness to that.'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 52-56)
Thus the matter was settled. The struggle between the Prophet Ibrahim and his people began. Of course among those who most opposed him and were angry at his stance were his father and his uncle, who had raised him as a father would. In the end, father and son were caught up in a fierce struggle in which the two of them were separated by different principles. The son perched on the summit of truth together with Allah, the Exalted, while the father stood together with falsehood. The father said to his son: "Great indeed is my trial through you, O Ibrahim. You have betrayed me and acted disgracefully toward me." Ibrahim answered:
"O my father, why do you worship that which cannot hear, cannot see, and cannot avail you in anything? O my father, indeed there has come to me some knowledge that has not come to you, so follow me, and I will guide you to a straight path. O my father, do not worship Satan, for indeed Satan is disobedient to the Most Merciful. O my father, indeed I fear that a punishment from the Most Merciful will befall you, so that you become a companion of Satan.'" (QS. Maryam: 42-45)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The father immediately rose and could no longer restrain his anger toward Ibrahim:
"'Do you dislike my gods, O Ibrahim? If you do not stop, I will surely stone you, so leave me for a long time.'" (QS. Maryam: 46)
If you do not stop this preaching of yours, I will surely stone you. I will kill you with a blow of stones. Such is the punishment for anyone who opposes the gods. Get out of my house! I do not want to see you again. Get out!
In the end, that conflict resulted in the Prophet Ibrahim being driven out of his house, and he was even threatened with murder and stoning. Even so, the Prophet Ibrahim's demeanour never changed. He remained a good son and a noble prophet. He conversed with his father using the manners of the prophets and the ethics of the prophets. When he heard the insults, the expulsion, and the threat of murder from his father, he said gently:
"'Peace be upon you. I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you; indeed He is ever gracious to me. And I will withdraw from you and from what you call upon besides Allah, and I will call upon my Lord; perhaps I will not be disappointed in calling upon my Lord.'" (QS. Maryam: 47-48)
The Prophet Ibrahim then left his father's house. He abandoned his people and the objects of worship besides Allah, the Exalted. He resolved a matter within himself; he knew that there was a great feast being held on the riverbank, to which people were flocking in throngs.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
He waited until the celebration arrived, at which time the city fell silent, abandoned by the people who lived there as they headed to that place. The roads leading to the place of worship became empty, and the place of worship itself was left without its guards. Everyone joined the feast.
With great caution, Ibrahim entered the place of worship carrying a sharp axe. Ibrahim saw the statues of gods carved from stones and wood. Ibrahim also saw the food that people had placed before them as offerings and votive gifts. Ibrahim drew near to the statues. To one of the statues—in a mocking tone—he said: "The food before you, O statue, has gone cold. Why do you not eat it?" But the statue remained silent. Ibrahim then asked the other statues around it:
"Then he turned to their gods secretly and said: 'Will you not eat?'" (QS. as-Saffat: 91)
Ibrahim mocked those statues. Ibrahim knew that the statue indeed could not eat it. Ibrahim asked the statues:
"'What is the matter with you that you do not speak?'" (QS. as-Saffat: 92)
Ibrahim then immediately raised the axe in his hand and began to smash the false gods worshipped by the people. Ibrahim destroyed all the statues and spared only one, then hung the axe around his own neck. After carrying out that task, he went off toward the mountain. He had sworn to bring a clear proof, indeed a practical proof, of his people's folly in worshipping other than Allah, the Exalted.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
In the end, the feast finished and the people returned to their respective places. And when one of them entered the place of worship, he cried out. People came to help him and wanted to know the reason behind that cry. And they found that all the gods had been smashed except for one. They began to wonder who was behind all this. Finally they realised that it was Ibrahim's doing, he who had called them to worship Allah, the Exalted:
"They said: 'We heard a young man mentioning them who is called Ibrahim.'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 60)
They immediately went to Ibrahim. When Ibrahim came, they asked him:
"They said: 'Is it you who did this to our gods, O Ibrahim?'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 62)
Ibrahim answered with a smile, then pointed to the biggest god, on whose neck an axe was hanging. "No!"
"He said: 'Rather, it was this biggest one of them that did it, so ask them, if they can speak.'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 63)
The soothsayers said: "Whom should we ask?" Ibrahim answered: "Ask your god." Then they said: "Do you not know that the gods do not speak?" Ibrahim replied: "Why then do you worship something that cannot speak, something that cannot bring benefit, and something that cannot cause harm? Will you not think for a moment about where your reason has gone? Indeed your gods have been smashed while the biggest god stands merely looking on. The gods are unable to fend off harm from themselves, so how could they bring you any good? Will you not think for a moment. The axe hangs on the biggest god, yet strangely it cannot tell what happened. It cannot speak, cannot hear, cannot move, cannot see, cannot bring benefit, and cannot bring harm. It is merely a stone, so why do people worship a stone? Where has sound reason gone?" Allah, the Exalted, relates this event in His words:
"And indeed We had bestowed upon Ibrahim his right guidance before (Musa and Harun), and We knew him well. (Remember) when Ibrahim said to his father and his people: 'What are these statues to which you are so devoted?' They said: 'We found our fathers worshipping them.' Ibrahim said: 'Indeed you and your fathers have been in manifest error.' They said: 'Have you come to us in earnest, or are you one of those who jest?' Ibrahim said: 'Rather, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, who created them, and I am among those who can bear witness to that. By Allah, I will surely plot against your idols after you have turned your backs and gone away.' Then he broke them into pieces, except the biggest of them, so that they might come back to it (and ask). They said: 'Who has done this to our gods? He is indeed one of the wrongdoers.'
They said: 'We heard a young man mentioning them who is called Ibrahim.' They said: '(If so) then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may testify.' They asked: 'Is it you who did this to our gods, O Ibrahim?' Ibrahim said: 'Rather, it was this biggest one of them that did it, so ask them, if they can speak.' Then they turned to themselves in their own minds and said: 'Indeed it is you who are the wrongdoers.'
Then they hung their heads (and said): 'You know indeed that these do not speak.' Ibrahim said: 'Do you then worship, besides Allah, that which can neither benefit you at all nor harm you? Fie upon you and upon that which you worship besides Allah. Will you not then understand?' They said: 'Burn him and support your gods, if you are truly going to act.'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 51-68)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Prophet Ibrahim was able to overcome them with argument and sound logical thinking. But they responded by resolving to hang him over the fire. This is indeed astonishing. A terrifying tribunal was convened in which the accused would be punished by burning.
Thus the struggle between ways of thinking, or between values, or between principles has always occurred and always burned in the midst of society. The Prophet Ibrahim had tried to stir the hearts and minds of the people when he pointed to the biggest god and accused it of being the one that had destroyed the other gods.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Prophet Ibrahim asked them to question the gods themselves about who had smashed them. But the gods were unable to speak, so why then would people worship something that cannot speak and understands nothing.
When the Prophet Ibrahim succeeded in demolishing their arguments, the arrogant ones rose up to calm the situation. Those opponents did not want people to worship anything besides the idols. They then said they would hang and burn Ibrahim alive. The Prophet Ibrahim was seized and a place for the burning was prepared. Those opponents said to their followers: "Burn Ibrahim, and help your god if you truly worship him." The people were swayed by these words. They then prepared the tools to burn the Prophet Ibrahim.
The news spread throughout the kingdom and the entire land. People came from all corners, from the mountains, from various villages, and from various towns to witness the punishment given to anyone who dared to oppose the gods, let alone destroy them. They dug a great pit filled with logs, stones, and trees, and then lit a fire within it.
Then they brought a manjaniq, a device that could be used to hurl the Prophet Ibrahim into the fire so that he would fall into the fire pit. They placed the Prophet Ibrahim on the manjaniq after binding both his hands and his feet. The fire then began to blaze and its smoke began to billow into the sky.
The people watching that event stood some distance from the fire pit because of the intense heat. Then a soothsayer ordered that Ibrahim be released into the fire. Suddenly the angel Jibril stood before the Prophet Ibrahim and asked him: "O Ibrahim, do you have any need?" The Prophet Ibrahim answered: "I need nothing from you." The Prophet Ibrahim was then released and cast into the blazing pit. The Prophet Ibrahim fell into the fire. The fire then began to surround him, and Allah, the Exalted, then sent down a command to the fire. Allah, the Exalted, said:
"We said: 'O fire, be cool and safe for Ibrahim.'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 69)
The fire then submitted to the command of Allah, the Exalted, so that it became cool and brought safety to the Prophet Ibrahim. The fire only burned the ropes that bound the Prophet Ibrahim. The Prophet Ibrahim sat calmly in the midst of the fire as if he were sitting in the middle of a garden. He praised Allah, the Exalted, his Lord, and glorified Him. In his heart there was nothing but love for his Beloved, namely Allah, the Exalted.
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Prophet Ibrahim's heart was not filled with fear or regret or complaint. In his heart there was only love. The fire then became peaceful and cool. Indeed those who love Allah, the Exalted, will feel no fear. The nobles and the soothsayers watched from a distance, seeing how intensely the fire burned. Indeed the fire kept blazing for a long time, so that the disbelievers thought it would never go out. When the fire finally went out, they were astonished to see the Prophet Ibrahim emerge from the burning pit unharmed.
Their faces had turned black from the effect of the fire's smoke, while the Prophet Ibrahim's face shone radiantly and appeared enveloped in light and majesty. Even the clothes the Prophet Ibrahim wore were not burned, and not a single part of him was touched by the fire. The Prophet Ibrahim emerged from the fire as if he were coming out of a garden. The disbelievers then cried out in astonishment. They suffered defeat and loss. Allah, the Exalted, says:
"They intended a plot against him, but We made them the greatest losers." (QS. al-Anbiya': 70)
The Qur'an does not tell us the age of the Prophet Ibrahim when he destroyed his people's idols. Nor does the Qur'an tell us how old he was when he took up the responsibility of preaching and calling to the way of Allah, the Exalted. Through a study of the texts, it can be known that the Prophet Ibrahim was still quite young when he carried out that great event. Proof of this is that when his people heard of the destruction of the idols, they said:
"They said: 'We heard a young man mentioning them who is called Ibrahim.'" (QS. al-Anbiya': 60)
The Prophet Ibrahim Finds God and Preaches
The Gospel of Barnabas relates that the Prophet Ibrahim destroyed the statues before Allah, the Exalted, obligated him to preach. The Gospel of Barnabas states in chapter 29 that the Prophet Ibrahim heard a voice calling out to him. The Prophet Ibrahim asked: "Who is calling me?" At that moment the Prophet Ibrahim heard a voice say: "I am the angel Jibril." The Prophet Ibrahim became afraid, but the angel quickly calmed him, saying: "Do not be afraid, O Ibrahim, for you are the beloved of Allah, the Exalted, and when you destroyed the gods that people worshipped, Allah, the Exalted, chose you as leader of the angels and the prophets." Then—still according to the Gospel of Barnabas: "The Prophet Ibrahim asked what he must do to worship the god of the angels and the prophets?" Jibril answered: "That he should go to this spring and bathe, so that he may climb the mountain, so that Allah, the Exalted, will speak to him."
Then the Prophet Ibrahim climbed the mountain, and Allah, the Exalted, called to him. The Prophet Ibrahim answered: "Who is calling me?" Allah, the Exalted, said: "I am your Lord, O Ibrahim." The Prophet Ibrahim trembled in fear and prostrated upon the ground, saying: "O my Lord, how can Your servant hear Your call while he is but dust and ashes." It was there that Allah, the Exalted, commanded him to rise, for Allah, the Exalted, had chosen him as His servant and had blessed him and those who would follow him.
This account fixes the time of the Prophet Ibrahim's selection and his appointment at the moment he destroyed the idols and objects of worship of the people. This is what the noble Qur'an relates in His words:
"When his Lord said to him: 'Submit!' he said: 'I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds.'" (QS. al-Baqarah: 131)
In the end, the time of Allah, the Exalted's, choosing of the Prophet Ibrahim is not fixed in the Qur'an, so we cannot give a definite answer about it, but what we can say is that the Prophet Ibrahim was able to construct a sufficiently clear argument to demolish the argument of the idol-worshippers. Just as he had earlier been able to demolish the argument of the star-worshippers, so that only one argument remained to be delivered to the rulers and the kings. In this way, the disbelievers had received the whole of the argument of truth.
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