The Life & Legacy of Ibrahim (as) Webinar

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The Life & Legacy of Ibrahim (AS)

Webinar by Dr. Omar Suleiman

Opening

"Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Aalameen. Wa la 'udwana illa 'ala adh-dhalimeen. Wal 'aaqibatu lil-muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala 'abdika wa rasoolika Muhammadin sallaAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasleeman katheera"

Introduction and Purpose

Alayhis Salaam. And I want to preface this with a few things. Number one, that typically I would be going over the life of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam in hajj with my hajj group. And subhanAllah that this year we're not able to do hajj. And so I want to begin by asking Allah to accept on behalf of all of those that had intended to do hajj this year. May Allah give you the full reward of hajj.

And to facilitate it for all that yearn for that journey as soon as Allah opens that door for us once again. The second thing is Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam and why this emphasis on Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam. So as I was thinking about Dhul Hijjah and as things are coming up there's a lot that I want to do on Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.

The Significance of Ibrahim's Study

And so if you've been following the nightly reminders we've been going through just some snapshots from Surah Ibrahim. Not really a tafsir but more of reflections on some of the themes that come up in Surah Ibrahim which if you pay close enough attention have a lot to do with the person and the life of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam. Then I wanted to do this sort of background story on Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam the life of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.

And it's not to give you a full in-depth look at the life of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam except to really understand his virtues. Understand where he comes from. What the order of his life is. So understanding the story of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam chronologically. Understanding why he's so celebrated and emphasized. And to give us a greater appreciation for the series that inshaAllah we're going to be doing for the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah and that is a series on the du'as of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.

Ibrahim's Distinguished Virtues

The Title of Khaleel (Friend of Allah)

So let's talk about Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam and I want to start specifically by talking about his virtues and what makes him so unique obviously there are things that prophets have, distinctions that they have that are given to them in the Qur'an some of the prophets have nicknames that refer to a prominent incident that took place.

So Musa Alayhis Salaam, Moses peace be upon him for example being Kaleemullah, the one who Allah spoke to with Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam we know that his nickname is the friend of Allah, the Khaleel, Khaleelur Rahman and it's special that Allah says:

"And Allah took Ibrahim as a friend."

That he took Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam as a Khaleel for many reasons and one of those things is that Khaleel is a very exclusive title that you give to someone Allah says that he took Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam as a Khaleel and the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم also says that Allah has taken him as a Khaleel both in the ayah and the Quran and in the hadith, Allah is the one who chose his Khaleel Allah took Ibrahim as a Khaleel and then the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم says Allah took me as a friend took me as a Khaleel, but when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described it, he said:

"If I was to take a Khaleel it would have been Abu Bakr As-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu had it not been that Allah has already taken me as a Khaleel"

Ibrahim's Ranking Among Prophets

And the way that the scholars talk about this amongst many other ways is that Khaleel is an exclusive friend a special friend and when it comes to human beings you could only have one Khaleel, but with Allah, Allah has Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam and he has Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم so while Allah says that he's taken Ibrahim as a Khaleel and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم says that he's taken me as a Khaleel, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says that I cannot take anyone else as a Khaleel, so he is the friend of Allah, Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam is the friend of Allah and he is certainly distinguished in his virtues in the way that he's talked about in the Qur'an over 70 times referenced, no prophets dua's are spoken about, supplications are spoken about more than Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam he's praised in very special ways, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was once with his companions and a man came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he said:

"Ya Khairal Bariyyah"

"Oh best of mankind, oh best of mankind" and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"That is Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam"

Allah's Praise for Ibrahim in the Quran

Now you might be wondering, wait a minute but isn't the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم khairul khalqillah, the best of Allah's creation isn't he the sayyid of Bani Adam the chief, the master of mankind mercy to the worlds, the answer to that is yes, and the scholars say that this is the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم praising him in a specific way while also showing humility Alayhis Salaatu Wasallam himself so Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam is an incredible human being, an incredible prophet, distinguished amongst the messengers of Allah, and some of the scholars, they talked about fadl, they talked about virtue, they said that after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he is the greatest of the messengers of Allah, ulul azm min al-rusul, the messengers, Nuh Alayhis Salaam Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam Musa Alayhis Salaam, Isa Alayhis Salaam Jesus peace be upon him, and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلمthat Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam, after the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is the most distinguished of them all.

The Source of All Prophethood

There are many reasons that Allah gives to us for this one of them is that after Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam, all of the prophets descend from him, and Allah has chosen him in that sense, that it would be from his offspring, and if you think about how incredible that is, that Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam reached adulthood, being rejected by all of his people, all of his people, with the exception of his wife Sara, and his nephew Lut Alayhis Salaam Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam reached a place of adulthood, and he did not have a single follower amongst his people, nor did he have a child and there is a moment, which we'll talk about, where Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam is asking Allah:

"Oh Allah, grant me some righteous children, or grant me a righteous child"

Ibrahim as an Ummah

Someone that will inherit this message, that will continue on this message, and Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam is making that dua, making that supplication as an adult, and this is not as a very young man, this is Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam after he's really spent a long time with his people, his own people, calling them to Allah, there's almost a sense of finality, right, that he's expelled from his people, or by his people, after being thrown into a fire, and he's leaving them and he does not know what exists on the outside of his people, his da'wah was to his people primarily, his call was to his people primarily in Iraq for all of those years and he doesn't know what's going to come, and look what Allah gave him, Allah gave him not just multiple children and grandchildren but made him the source of prophethood for everyone that would come after him, so he has a lineage of prophethood that descends from him from multiple directions, and the greatest human beings after him all come from him Alayhis Salaam, and so this is a special gift that Allah gives him, Allah also says:

"Indeed, Ibrahim was a [comprehensive] leader"

"Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam was a nation, a nation"

And there are numerous things that we can derive from that as well, but one of the most beautiful interpretations of that is that Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam was a nation and that what was contained in that one man was the good that would be produced from an entire nation an entire Ummah could not put forth what Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam put forth of good, both in terms of the good qualities that he himself had as well as the good deeds that he put forth, that this man is a nation, he is an Ummah.

Allah's Choice of Ibrahim

And there's a narration that Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu Anhu was an Ummah, right, so it's not uncommon while it is distinguished while a person would be distinguished to be referred to in that way it is not the only time that we see that, but Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam is praised by Allah that he was an Ummah, he was a nation in and of himself Allah also mentions that he chose him, Allah says:

"Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran over the worlds"

"Allah has chosen Adam Alayhis Salaam, and then Nuh Alayhis Salaam and then from, so from the descendants of Adam, Allah chose Nuh Alayhis Salaam, Noah from the descendants of Noah Allah chose Al-Ibraheem the family of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam and prophethood comes from them, and then from the family of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam Allah chose this blessed family of Al-Imran, where you have the likes of Zakariya Alayhis Salaam Maryam Alayhis Salaam Isa Alayhis Salaam, Yahya Alayhis Salaam you have those blessed prophets that family that's chosen by Allah"

So Allah mentions that he chose him both in regards to his family, and then him specifically so the scholars say that typically you know, the Mufassirun will say if you pay attention, Allah mentions he chose a person as an individual or as a family, but here Allah chose him as a family and then Allah says about him as an individual:

"And We have chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the Hereafter, will be among the righteous."

"We have chosen him in this world, we have chosen him in this life and that means that he has lisan as-siddiqin aliyya, that he has a high reputation, a high honor that he is the standard the example for the righteous, and he is claimed by all people, righteous and otherwise so he's claimed by so many the righteous and the wicked and he's followed, or he sets the standard for the righteous he's chosen, alayhi salatu wa salam in a special way wa innahu fil akhirati la minas salihin, and in the hereafter he will be from the righteous"

Ibrahim's Categories of Excellence

So Allah chose him, both in this world, as well as in the next, with a special distinction, and you'll notice here that Allah calls him from the righteous and this is not the only way that Allah refers to him in terms of his quality in terms of his distinction Allah refers to him as a nabi Allah refers to him as a siddiq Allah refers to him as a salih so a nabi, a prophet a siddiq, a person of truth, as well as from the salihin, from the righteous, and if you think about the categories:

"the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the witnesses, and the righteous."

Right, Allah mentions these four categories that reside at the top of paradise, that reside in the highest levels of paradise Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam qualifies for three of those four categories, alayhi salatu wa salam.

Ibrahim's Tests and Trials

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also mentioned:

"The people most tested are the prophets, then the next best, then the next best."

"The most tested of people are those who are the prophets, and then the righteous and then those that follow them in righteousness in terms of their order"

And so Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, what you notice about him as well is that he's one of the most tested prophets of Allah tested in so many ways, tested with his father, tested with his people, tested with his children, tested with his spouses tested with a tyrant, tested with the laity, tested with everybody right, so Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam is tested in so many ways throughout his life and that tells us something, right the fact that, despite all of these distinctions that he has despite the righteousness that's assigned to him, the honor that's assigned to him, the fact that he's still tested this severely, tells you something it's not that, you know, he is tested even though he is righteous, he's tested because of how loved and righteous he is he's tested for that reason, and so there is a correlation between bala'a, between test and trial, and the love of Allah, and we see it with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمwe see it with Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, we see it with Ayyub Alayhi Salaam we see it with Yusuf Alayhi Salaam, right, the great grandson of Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam.

Allah's Completed Favor

So there is something to be said about the tests that come to Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, despite the love of Allah and the high station and the high honor that he gave to him, Allah also mentions him amongst those who his favor was completed upon, so again I want you to see that these are themes in our own lives that typically we not only disconnect with one another, but we think that one of them disqualifies the other and so the love of Allah, but then the most tested, and then here Allah completed his favor upon him when Allah says in Surah Yusuf:

"And thus your Lord will choose you and teach you the interpretation of narratives and complete His favor upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He completed it upon your fathers before, Abraham and Isaac. Indeed, your Lord is Knowing and Wise."

"Allah may complete his favor upon the family of Jacob, the way that he has completed it upon your grandparents, Ibrahim and Ishaq, Abraham and Isaac, peace be upon them all"

Ibrahim's Pure Heart

So Allah mentions him amongst those whose favor has been completed upon him, Allah also praises his heart and I just love this because he asked Allah in one of his duas, as he's referencing the day of judgment:

"[It is] the day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children, But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart."

"That a person will not be benefited by wealth or children unless they come back to Allah with a sound heart"

And Allah mentions:

"[Mention] when he came to his Lord with a sound heart"

"When he came back to his Lord with a pure heart with a sound heart"

Allah mentions:

"[The one] who feared the Most Merciful unseen and came with a heart returning [to Him]."

"Those who would succeed in the hereafter are those who feared Allah those who were conscious of their Lord, those who loved Allah, those who were mindful of Him bilghayb, when they were not seen by the people and they come back to Allah with a pure heart"

Ibrahim's Beautiful Character Traits

And Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam was a man who would worship Allah diligently, in private with great devotion, and on top of that, he comes back to Allah with that pure heart that he himself has a recognition of as being the key to success on the day of judgement Allah praises his du'a his supplication, and the way that he was always turned back to Allah, says that Ibrahim is:

"Indeed, Abraham was forbearing, grieving and [frequently] returning [to Allah]."

"Forbearing, grieving frequently, always turning back to Allah"

And there is a deep connection between these three things haleem is that a person is forbearing Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam had an incredible capacity to take in he was able to be patient with the insults of the people with the harm of the people, with the injury of the people, he was able to take it all in, he had a great level of patience and a great deal of capacity when dealing with his people, and there is a direct correlation between the capacity that he had with dealing with his people, and the frequency with which he turned back to Allah so he is haleemun, he takes in a lot, awwaahun he grieves frequently he grieves frequently and so think about the intake of injury and insult, but then the output or how he exhales that grief to Allah awwaah, he grieves to Allah, he turns back to his Lord when he is turned away by the people muneeb, and he is always turned back to Allah all the time, and channels that grief and channels that hurt, and channels that injury to him, which is why we're going to have that series about his du'as his du'as are so beautiful, his supplications are so beautiful, they are raw and they're all encompassing they encompass every facet of life, as he is turned back to Allah.

Ibrahim's Defining Quality: Siddiq

But what is his defining feature his defining feature is that he is:

"Indeed, he was a man of truth, a prophet."

"A truthful prophet"

His defining feature after his prophethood is that he is siddiq, is that he is truthful, and siddiq here when we talked about it in the first we talked about Abu Bakr as-siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and the meaning of as-siddiqoon, they are even a higher ranking than in the maratib

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