|
On
account of his ardent love for God,
Prophet Ibrahim pbuh was
honored by God as
“Khaleel-Ullah” (Friend of God). Prophet Ibrahimpbuh
total surrender to the will of Lord and his perfect obedience to
whatever his Lord commanded, won him this distinguished title among the
prophets of God. Further, according to Bible, God gave him the following
good-tiding.
|
“No longer shall
you be called Abraham, for I am making you father of a host of
nations. I shall render you exceedingly fertile. I shall make
nations of you. Kings shall stem from you."
(Genesis 17.3) |
As a patriarch to
Jews,
Christians and
Muslims, he is equally respectable. All the prophets of
Bani-Isra-el (Children of Isra-el) belong to his progeny. His
second son Is-haq (Isaac pbuh) was a prophet.
Is-haq’s son
Yaqoob pbuh (Jacob) was also a prophet and
Yaqoob’s son
Yousuf pbuh (Joseph) too was a great prophet. A
large number of other prophets who came after Yousuf *, including
Musa pbuh (Moses), Dawood pbuh (David)
and his son
Suleiman (Solomon pbuh),
Zakariyah pbuh and
Yah-ya pbuh (John) all belonged to the progeny of
Is-hac pbuh
, the second son of
Ibrahim pbuh . Even the mother of
Isapbuh
(Jesus),
Mariyam (Allah bless her and give her peace) belonged to the
progeny of Is'haqpbuh.
Ibrahim's pbuh first son, Isma-el pbuh
(Ishmael) was also a great prophet of God. However, there had been
no prophet down the line of Isma-el pbuh until the
last of all the prophets,
Muhammad son of Abdullah (Allah’s blessings and
peace be upon him).
Imam of the later age, the promised MAHDI pbuh,
Syed
Muhammad, son of Syed Abdullah too was born in the progeny
of Isma-el
pbuh.
This was a fulfillment of the prayers of Prophet Ibrahim pbuh.
The birth of Muslim UMMAH (people of the last of all the
prophets) was also a fulfillment of the prayers of the father and son, Ibrahim pbuh
and Isma-el pbuh. Ka-bah (the very first house of
God on the earth) to become the spiritual center of Muslims all
over the world, and
Mecca
to become the City of peace
was also prayed for by both the prophets of God. The prayer of the
father (Abraham) and the son
(Ishmael-eel) have been narrated in the last book
of Allah
revealed to the last of the prophets (Muhammad pbuh)
in the second chapter named Al-Baqarah
as follows:
"And when his lord tested Abraham with certain words, and he
fulfilled them. He said; ‘Behold, I make you a leader (Imam) for
the people’. Said he, “And of my seed” ? He said “ (the
benefit of ) my covenant shall not reach the evil doers.”
Al-Baqarah
Here the Qur'anic term “Imamul-Linnas” denotes a divinely
guided spiritual leader. In the words of Abraham *, “and of my
seed?” there is a humble and an earnest prayer to make a leader
(Imam) for the people from among my progeny too."
|
"And when Abraham said, My Lord, make this a land secure, and
provide it’s people with fruits, such of them as believe in God
and the Last day,”
He said, “ And whoso disbelieves , to him I shall
give enjoyment a little, then I shall compel him to the
chastisement of the Fire – how evil a home coming”!
|
The
above prayer of Abraham
pbuh was granted with the advent of
Prophet Muhammad ( Allah bless him and give him peace) and his conquest
of
Mecca.
| "..And when
Abraham and
Ishmael pbuh raised up the foundations of
the House, they prayed: 'Our Lord, receive this from us; Thou art the All-hearing,
the
All-knowing; and , our Lord, make us Muslims – submissive to
Thee; and show us our holy sites, and turn towards us; surely Thou
turnest, and art All compassionate.'" |
The prayer of the father and the son was granted when a submissive
nation (i.e. the
Muslim UMMAH) was raised through the ministry of the
last
Prophet Muhammad pbuh God had promised to Abraham
pbuh
that He will raise a nation from Ishma-el pbuh...
According to Torah, God said to Abraham pbuh that:
|
“As for Ishmael, I am heeding you: I hereby bless him. I will make him
fertile and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of
twelve chieftains, and I will make him a great nation.”
(Genesis
17:20) |
God said to
Ishma-el’s mother,
Hager (Hajirapbuh)
|
“Arise, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand; for I will make him
a great nation.”
(Genesis 21:18).
|
|
“and our Lord, do thou send among them a Messenger, one of them,
who shall recite to them Thy signs, and teach them the Book and
the Wisdom, and purify them; Thou art the All-mighty, the
All-wise.”
|
Although
a number of great messengers of God sent from time to time from among
the progeny of Isaac (Ishaqpbuh
), but none of them is meant in the above
prayer. The prayer for “a messenger” is for none but the last of the
messengers who belonged to the progeny of Ishmael pbuh
and by the word “them” is meant the “Nation” which was raised
from the seed of Ishma-el namely the Arabs, and more particularly the
Quresh among them. By the word
“Book” is meant the last Book of God revealed to
Prophet Muhammad pbuh.
So also by the prayer for a “Leader”
(an Imam) is meant the
Imam MAHDI,
the promised
Caliph of God, who too belonged to the progeny of
Ishma-el pbuh.
The
Prophet pbuh had informed the UMMAH that the
MAHDI is
from me (my house) and that he shall belong to the progeny of Prophet’s
daughter, Fatima RZ.
Thus,
by His Grace, the Lord has already granted all the prayers of His
friend, Abraham regarding the progeny of his elder son Ishma-el
pbuh.
|
