A124
Surah: 002 - Ayah: 124
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2:124
This preface remains incomplete without the mention of heavenly love. However, the question is that since there are many treasures of love in the Holy Qur'an,to which one should we have recourse? In this regard the heart says that we should have recourse to the treasure of Khalil and explain some wisdoms from it. Khalil means: (1) darwish (2) sincere friend. But what kind of sincere friend? A lover (ihabib, muhibb, ashiq), and such a lover that he does not spare any sacrifice in the path of God, including that of his beloved son. Such exalted attributes belonged to Hazrat Ibrahim, the khalil of Allah, who was made the Imam of all people by God (2:124) and therefore, the Wise Qur'an mentions him as a model of guidance and of how he, in his spiritual journey, passed through the higher ranks (star, moon and sun, 6:76-79) and reached the oneness of God.
Imam (1) (Guide)
In verse (2:124) God says: "And (remember) when his Lord tried Ibrahim with certain words and he fulfilled them. He said: Verily, I make you an Imam for mankind." Question: What were these words? Answer: They were the supreme Names of God and His perfect words.
Every Prophet and Perfect wali is the nafs-i wahidah in his own time, for the spirit or light of God and the world of particles have to be there forever. A clear proof of how all human beings are in the Perfect Man can be found from the blessed personality of Hazrat Ibrahim, may peace be on him. He was not only a believer in one God and a great Messenger, but also a community obeying and recognising God (16:120). The community which has been praised by God Himself was the spiritual community of the Prophets and Siddiqin, in whose representation, Hazrat Ibrahim became the Imam of mankind in the past, the present and the future (2:124). Further, in this wisdom-filled successive representation, the holy Prophet is not only the Imam of the people, of the first and the last, but also the Imam of all Prophets and awliya', as he has been sent by God as a mercy for all worlds (21:107). It is obvious that this mercy is for every age. Thus, it is true to say that this universal mercy has continued to be spread through the chain of the Prophets and awliya'.
Q8 What type of Imamat was that of Hazrat Abraham(c)? Please describe it in the light of the wise Qur’an.
A8 God says in verse (2:124) regarding the Imamat of Hazrat Abraham(c): “And (remember) when his Lord tried Abraham with certain words, and he fulfilled them. He said: Verily, I make you an Imam for humankind”.
Q153 Referring to verse (2:124) you have said that great secrets of Imamat are hidden in the Qur’anic story of Hazrat Abraham(c). In that story, please tell us what is the ta’wil of the construction of the Kacbah, the house of God? What is the esoteric meaning of the qiblah? What is the wisdom in calling the Kacbah the ancient house (baytu’l-cataq) (22:29)?
A153 The ta’wil of the construction of the house of God, which was done by Hazrat Abraham(c) and Hazrat Ismacil(c), is that every Prophet and Imam by the command of God, builds a house of God (qiblah) in every successful personal world, just as Hazrat Moses(c) and Hazrat Aaron(c) were later on commanded to do so too (10:87). The esoteric meaning of the qiblah is the Imam, because the inner house of God is the Imam. The wisdom of calling the house of God, the ancient house is that the light of the Imam is ancient. It should be noted that whatever is always renewed is old as well as new, just as the history of the Kacbah shows that it has been reconstructed several times, yet the Qur’an calls it the ancient house. Thus, there cannot be any doubt in its being the ancient house.
The Holy Qur’ᾱn mentions, not that God gave the Word to all the Prophets, but in the case of some, such as Hazrat Ibrᾱhīm, it is prominently mentioned, as He says: “And (remember) when his Lord tried Ibrᾱhīm with some Wordsand he fulfilled them” (2:124). Those Words were the supreme Names of Allah.
The word Imam had been used as a special religious technical term before the revelation of the Qur’an, in the time of Hadrat Adam and prominently in the time of Hadrat Ibrahim and then in the community of the children of Ismacil and the children of Israel. The word Imam has always been used literally for a worldly leader and technically for a religious leader, whose rank apparently is next to a great Prophet. In the lifetime of every great Prophet, he has remained as his miraculous wazir (minister) and after him, his heir, legatee (''wasi') and successor. In order to make this most exalted meaning of Imam understandable, a wisdom-filled Qur’anic verse is presented, which is:
“When his Lord tried Ibrahim with [perfect] Words, and he fulfilled them (as the luminous dhikr). (Then) He said: I make you an Imam for humankind. He pleaded: And (make Imams) from my offspring also! He answered: (Do not worry) My covenant (which has the characteristic of justice) is not within the reach of wrongdoers”(2:124). That is, the rank of Imamat will continue in your progeny, until the Resurrection and will not be given to others.
Part 5
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
From the wisdom-filled and blessed verse (2:124), it is clear that God had made Hazrat Abraham the Imam of all people by saying: “I am going to appoint you an Imam for humankind.”
The exalted Imam is the inheritor of Adam (warith-i Adam), the Imam of humankind (imamu’n-nas), the Imam of the righteous (imamu’l-muttaqin), the guide and the lord of the spiritual resurrection.
The above statement is wholly based on Qur’anic wisdom. As such it provides absolute satisfaction.
Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all human beings!
Part 43
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
In the surah (110) of Nasr (Succour), God says: “When Allah’s succour and the triumph come, and you see people entering the religion of Allah in troops, then purify your Lord with hamd (praise) and seek forgiveness of Him. Verily He is oftreturning.”
Reflect on the wisdom-filled verse (2:124). Does this farman not encompass all ages? For, if the Imamat was Allah’s mercy for the people of Hazrat Abraham’s time, why should it not be so for the people of every time? If viewed with the inner eye, this Divine mercy in the form of the Imam of the time is always living and present in every time. See the Qur’an (4:54). Thus, the last name of the chain of the permanent (mustaqarr) Imams between Hazrat Abraham (peace be upon him) and Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) is Hazrat Imam Abu Talib (peace be upon him).37 He gave the holy Prophet the sacred teaching of ism-i aczam, the luminous miracle of which was the spiritual or cirfani resurrection in the cave of Hira. The guides in the sacred and sublime path of the spiritual or cirfani resurrection are the natiq, the asas and the Imam. Then there are the bab, hujjat and daci, i.e. the male and female mu’mins of the first rank, who can also walk in their footsteps.
This verse has been referred 22 times.