The Story of Abraham in the Quran – part 1

With the grace of God, we will look into the story of prophet Abraham in the Quran and see how it relates to our lives. The Quran presents the prophets in a way where every prophet introduces one aspect of the belief system that I should be able to apply in practical terms.

Abraham’s story is spread in various sections of the Quran from the first to the last revealed sections. Some verses referring to Abraham may come in between certain verses surprising us as to how bringing Abraham’s story into the picture for what was being discussed as if it is some other subject. However, when one closely examines the subject being discussed, they will notice how closely tied to it is the example of the prophet there. It would touch upon one aspect of Abraham’s story in his life which would be directly related to the subject matter in that part of the section mainly emphasizing on the struggle for Tawhid, uniqueness, Oneness of God, to realize an Absolute God.  Prophet Abraham is mentioned in around 208 verses of the Quran that mention him and his mission. 

Prophet Abraham searches observable witnesses for his belief: Without witnessing anything, not seeing any evidence, I am not convinced in my belief.

In his journey or when prophet Abraham was delivering the message to people, he was using his reasoning. Sometimes taking evidence from the universe, communicating with the universe, analyzing his sensual and emotional attachments. Let’s look into the following verse to start:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُرِىٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ مَلَكُوتَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَلِيَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُوقِنِينَ

6:75 In this way We made Abraham understand God’s mighty dominion over the heavens and the earth, so that he might become a firm believer.

In order to have certainty in my belief rather than just an intellectual conclusion, I should notice that there is the display of the Godhead reflected in the angelic side of the universe. The created world cannot have any kind of Absolute nature. The phrase “مَلَكُوتَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ” refers to the angelic side of the heavens and earth, the created universe all together in its entirety. The phrase “وَلِيَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُوقِنِينَ” translated as “so that he might become a firm believer”, i.e. in order to gain certainty in belief, not blind assumption.

That means a logical conclusion is not enough, which would be just my intellectual conclusion. The essence of the message in the existence of the universe lets me know, not only to human intelligence but to my consciousness and feelings that this must be a conscious choice by a one who must have Absolute qualities. Why Absolute? Otherwise, it would be a dependent, measurable, limited, numbered being with various needs to be given existence. For anything to come into existence there must be Absolute Power, Absolute Knowledge, etc. The things in the universe cannot be self-existent beings, they are dependent, have a beginning and an end. Their existence giver must not be like them but must have a nature which cannot be described within the conditions of this universe. He must be a self-existent being, must not need anything, and must not have a beginning or an end. This is what my human abilities can conclude easily which is what I am responsible for. I cannot go beyond what my capacity is.

A simple example is when I am looking at a bird. I look at it and see a physical entity which is a necessary start to the process of examining its existence. The angelic side of the bird is how it comes into existence, when it flies, how the flying comes into existence, how it is arranged, how about the balance that exists in the bird. We have to find out by questioning the existence of the color, design, flying quality, balance, symmetry, beauty and other qualities. Always question the existence of the qualities that appealed to me. This sets up the communication between me and the qualities that appealed to me pointing to their source of existence. My feelings which like these qualities need to be explained as far as their source of existence is concerned. I have to go through this journey to find out the angelic side of the things in the universe; pay attention to this angelic side and benefit from it.

When I say that “the bird is beautiful”. What does that beauty mean to me as far as my needs are concerned? What do I mean by beautiful? What do I get out of the existence of this beauty that I see in the bird? What is the source of existence of this beauty? That is being a human! My abstract side such as senses, intelligence, feelings which have nothing to do with matter communicates with beauty, symmetry, design, perfection, knowledge, art of the bird which are all abstract concepts. How can I claim matter to be the source of existence of these abstract notions?

According to the verse, the angelic side of the universe was presented to prophet Abraham. Now I can say that the angelic side of the universe is being presented to me and you. I am free to make my own choices as an individual; family background doesn’t matter. I cannot blame the family culture for having influenced my choices. 

The prophetic narration mentioned in the Quran may have taken place in history where God is presenting a lived, experienced life of an individual that I can benefit from. Even if the event did not occur, it should not bother me. I have to get the message presented in the prophetic narrations and apply that to my life. Prophet Abraham is teaching me my journey. Similar to how he reached satisfaction in his belief, that is how I will learn to confirm my belief.

فَلَمَّا جَنَّ عَلَيْهِ ٱلَّيْلُ رَءَا كَوْكَبًۭا ۖ قَالَ هَـٰذَا رَبِّى ۖ فَلَمَّآ أَفَلَ قَالَ لَآ أُحِبُّ ٱلْـَٔافِلِينَ

6:76 When the night overshadowed him, he saw a star and said, “This is my Lord!’ But when it went down he said, “I do not like things that disappear.”

This verse goes into the process of finding out the angelic side of the universe. In the story of prophet Abraham, most of the verses emphasize the word “Lord” rather than “Allah” as is the case in this verse. This is important for us if we too want to investigate the source of existence of anything we should look for a source which must have manifested its qualities in the existence of that thing. “Lord” is a quality of the source which means the one who takes care of that thing whatever it needs to continue its existence with all of its qualities. “Lord” is the one who owns that thing, provides all what it needs and gives its existence in such a way that it perfectly and continuously functions to perform what it is created for.

The word “جَنَّ” refers to things were covered by darkness physically. The word “ٱلَّيْلُ “meaning nighttime refers to something is mysterious within the things. What could that be? He started wondering that something is covered, what is that? Then he sees a star and thinks: “maybe the star is what I am looking for, this is my Lord”. Perhaps this is what will solve my human problems.

When I don’t question the thing I am looking at, that is what “جَنَّ” refers to, the thing is covered up in darkness. If I don’t question the source of existence of the qualities manifested in the thing then the thing would remain covered up for me. The thing would look interesting but meaningless when I don’t question why it is interesting. 

When I first look at the appearance of the thing, it is covered by darkness unless I start questioning the existence of the thing. This civilization talks about the things that are covered up, just how to benefit from it. Is that human? At the expense of killing one’s human side, thinking that existence only consists of bodily needs and its nourishment.

So, the covered night is the start of the human investigative process. Prophet Abraham in initiating his investigation started by saying the star to be his Lord. This is the beginning of his reflection on the event. If one says how can a prophet be committing “shirk”, the association of Lordship to some created thing? He is teaching me my journey, represented as a human being in his life, on how to read creation, see the angelic side of the universe and reach the conviction of belief in an Absolute Being. Human beings need training in the stages of reflection, going through the process of “la ila ha” (no deity of worship in the universe) to gain the firmness of belief.

The word “رَبِّى” is translated as “Lord”. Thinking of the star as this may be my owner, taking care of my life since it is out there, far away, having a broad vision over everything. My existence is under his surveillance. All the endless things I need belong to him. The star is an example here but could be anything that I may value as solving my problems. Similarly, the word night can be interpreted as to mean something totally dark and covered up to its real meaning, whereas the light means giving me some meaningful explanation.

Continuing with the verse “but when it went down” as if the star disappeared using the word “أَفَلَ”. We know from astronomy that the star doesn’t disappear but it may not be visible. This is the stage of reasoning where I can question whether the star can be my Lord. Can the star sustain its own existence let alone my existence? For example, someone may say that my existence is accidental? I would wonder, is it? There would be a doubt that would make me think which is good. What is “accident,” an unconscious thing? Do I see anything here, where everything is so meaningful, to be a result of something unconscious? Can I ignore the purpose of my existence, why am I here? That thing goes down, so it cannot be the source of existence of my being, who takes care of me, what my existence requires. I cannot reasonably approve something that fails to satisfy my needs.

For example, the food I eat. The food will act as the star of Abraham for me. Can it satisfy me?  No, I know that when I eat food, it disappears and I will be hungry again later. I won’t be able to eat the same food again as the food cannot sustain its existence. The food cannot be my Lord, it cannot be responsible for the existence of my being. The phrase “لَآ أُحِبُّ ٱلْـَٔافِلِينَ”, translated as “I do not like things that disappear”. My reasoning cannot accept the food to be my Lord, I cannot confirm it as it fails to satisfy my needs. I don’t love it. Why love? It’s not just a logical conclusion but all my feelings, the abstract qualities such as conscience, intellect say this. My human side says that “I don’t love it”. Anything that fades away which cannot sustain its existence doesn’t fit, satisfy my human needs.