Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)
According to some of the People of the Book, Abraham's lineage was Abraham Ibn Tarikh, Ibn Nahur, Ibn Sarough, Ibn Raghu, Ibn Phaligh, Ibn Aher, Ibn Shalih, Ibn Arfghshand, Ibn Sam, Ibn Noah. These sources say that when Tarikh was seventy five, he had three sons, Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot. Abraham was the middle child, and Haran died during his father's lifetime, in the land of the Chaldeans, also known as Babylonia.
Abraham was born into a world where people worshipped stone and wood idols, or the planets, stars, sun and moon, or even their own kings and rulers. The head of his own family was not simply an idolater like everyone else, he actively rejected Allah entirely and made idols with his own hands for a living. Some traditions say Abraham's father died before he was born and he was raised by an uncle he called father. Others say his father was alive throughout and was named Azer. Either way, Abraham was born into this household destined to stand against his own family and the entire belief system of his community, rejecting every form of polytheism around him.
Abraham's Childhood
From a young age, Abraham was given spiritual insight and understanding. Allah tells us in the Qur'an that He had granted Abraham guidance from early in his life and knew him well (21:51).
As a small child, Abraham noticed his father crafting strange statues and asked what they were. His father told him they were gods. Abraham was astonished and instinctively rejected the idea. Being a child, he would climb onto the statues and ride them like donkeys. One day his father caught him sitting on the statue of Mardukh and became furious, ordering him never to play with it again. Abraham asked innocently why the statue had such large ears, bigger than a person's. His father answered that Mardukh was the god of gods, and his large ears represented his deep knowledge. Abraham, only seven years old at the time, simply laughed.
Abraham's Growing Hatred of Idols
As Abraham grew older, his heart filled with a deepening hatred for these idols. He couldn't understand how a rational person could carve a statue with their own hands and then worship the very thing they had made. He observed that these idols couldn't eat, drink, speak, or even right themselves if knocked over, so how could anyone believe they had the power to help or harm?
His people had a large temple filled with idols, with a central niche holding the greatest gods among them, each of different shapes, sizes and supposed qualities. Abraham, who had visited this temple with his father since childhood, despised all of it, wood and stone alike. What struck him most was watching his people bow down and weep, begging these lifeless objects for help as though the idols could hear or understand a single word. At first this seemed almost comical to Abraham, but over time it turned into real anger. It astonished him that so many people could be so thoroughly deceived, and to make matters worse, his father wanted him to grow up to become a priest, revering these very statues. Abraham never stopped showing his contempt for them.
Abraham Discovers Allah
One night, Abraham left his home and walked alone into the mountains until he found a cave to rest in. Looking up at the night sky, he found himself gazing at the same planets and stars that some people around him worshipped. His heart was struck with a deep pain as he considered what lay beyond those celestial bodies, their true Creator, and how astonishing it was that people worshipped things that had themselves been created only to obey and serve their Maker, appearing and vanishing entirely at His command.
Abraham Reasons With the Star Worshippers
Allah describes how He showed Abraham the workings of the heavens and earth so that he would become fully certain in his faith. As night fell and darkness covered him, Abraham saw a star and said, "This is my Lord." But when it set, he said he did not love things that disappear. When he saw the moon rising, he said the same, but when it too set, he said that without his Lord's guidance he would be lost. When he saw the sun rise, he called it his Lord, and the greatest of all, but when it also set, he declared to his people that he was free of everything they associated with Allah, and that he had turned his face entirely toward the One who created the heavens and the earth, refusing to be counted among those who worship others besides Him.
His people argued with him, and Abraham told them there was no point disputing with him about Allah, since he had already been guided, and he had no fear of what they worshipped alongside Him, since nothing could happen to him except by his Lord's will, whose knowledge encompasses everything. He asked them why he should fear their powerless idols when they themselves felt no fear in worshipping things Allah had never given them any authority to worship, and asked which side truly deserved to feel secure, if only they understood. Allah then explains that it is those who believe without mixing their faith with wrongdoing who are truly secure and rightly guided, and that this reasoning was the very proof Allah gave Abraham to use against his people (6:75-83).
Through this, Abraham made clear that celestial bodies are created things, controlled and made to serve, appearing and disappearing from view, while Allah alone never disappears and is never hidden from anything. Elsewhere the Qur'an reinforces this, commanding that people prostrate not to the sun or moon, both simply among Allah's signs, but to Allah who created them (41:37). This reasoning did not go unchallenged. The worshippers of stars and planets pushed back and began threatening Abraham, and he answered them with the same firm reasoning: that he feared nothing from beings that could neither help nor harm him, and that it was those who believed without mixing in wrongdoing who held true security (6:80-83).
Abraham Reasons With the Idol Worshippers
With his argument against the star worshippers complete, Abraham turned to confronting the idol worshippers directly, using the same clarity of reasoning Allah had given him. He asked his father and his people directly what these images were that they were so devoted to. They answered simply that they had found their fathers worshipping them. Abraham told them plainly that both they and their fathers had been in clear error. Taken aback, they asked whether he had come to them with the truth or was simply joking. He answered that their true Lord was the Lord of the heavens and earth, who had created them, and that he bore witness to this (21:52-56).
Abraham Reasons With His Father
With his stance against his community now firmly set, Abraham turned to his own father, who as it happened, not only worshipped idols but carved and sold them for a living, and who was the most furious and astonished by his son's rejection of everything he stood for. Abraham felt it was his duty as a good son to warn his father away from this evil path so that he might be spared Allah's punishment. Being wise, he didn't mock his father or make him feel foolish. He told him he loved him, hoping to reach him through that love, and gently asked why he worshipped lifeless idols that could neither see, hear, nor protect him.
Before his father's anger could rise, Abraham told him that knowledge had come to him that had not reached his father, and asked him to follow his guidance toward the straight path. He warned him not to worship Satan, who had long rebelled against the Most Merciful, and told him he feared his father might bring Allah's punishment upon himself and end up a companion of Satan in the Hellfire. His father responded harshly, asking if Abraham was truly rejecting his gods, and threatened to stone him if he did not stop, ordering him to leave. Abraham responded with peace, telling his father he would ask Allah's forgiveness for him, since Allah had always been gracious to him, and that he would now turn away from his father and everything he worshipped besides Allah (19:43-48).
Abraham Debates the Idolaters Publicly
His father's harsh rejection didn't stop Abraham from spreading the truth. Grieved and angered by seeing people bow before lifeless statues, he was determined to confront this practice directly, going into the town to debate the people even knowing he might be harmed for it.
Like a doctor searching for the root of an illness, Abraham asked them plainly whether the idols could see them when they prostrated, or whether the idols brought them any benefit at all. They defended themselves weakly, admitting the idols were lifeless but insisting that their forefathers had worshipped them, and that this was reason enough. Abraham told them their forefathers had simply been wrong. Furious, they accused him of mocking both their gods and their ancestors. Abraham stood firm, insisting he was entirely serious and had come with true guidance from the one Lord truly worthy of worship, the Creator of the heavens and earth who governs all affairs of life, unlike their mute idols of stone and wood. To prove the idols held no real power, he challenged them directly, pointing out that if the idols could truly harm him, they would have done so already, since he had already condemned them openly.
The Qur'an recounts a similar exchange: Abraham asked his father and people what they worshipped, and they answered that they worshipped idols and remained devoted to them. He asked whether the idols heard them when they called out, or brought them any benefit or harm, and they answered only that they had found their fathers doing the same. Abraham told them that everything they and their ancestors had worshipped was his enemy, except the Lord of all creation, who had created him, who guided him, who fed him and gave him drink, who cured him when ill, who would cause his death and then bring him back to life, and who he hoped would forgive his faults on the Day of Resurrection (26:69-82).
In another surah, Allah recounts Abraham telling his people to worship Allah alone and fear Him, since the idols they worshipped besides Him held no power to provide for them at all, so they should seek their provision from Allah alone, to whom they would ultimately return. He reminded them that nations before them had also rejected their messengers, and that a messenger's only real duty is to deliver the message clearly. He pointed them toward how Allah first brings creation into being and will bring it back again, something easy for Him, and told them to travel the earth and observe how creation first began, since that same Allah would bring about the resurrection to come. Allah punishes and shows mercy as He wills, and no one can escape Him anywhere in the heavens or on earth, having no protector or helper besides Him. Those who reject His signs and deny the meeting with Him, Allah says, are left with no hope of His mercy and face a painful punishment (22:16-23).
Abraham Breaks the Idols
Abraham explained to his people the beauty of Allah's creation and His power and wisdom, and how idol worship was something Allah utterly detests, since it is Allah alone who created mankind, guided them, fed them, cured their sickness, and would ultimately cause their death and resurrection. Still, his people clung stubbornly to their idols and refused to change.
Abraham left his father's house and turned away from his people's beliefs, but rather than simply walking away, he decided to act, quietly, without revealing his plan. He learned of a great festival to be held across the river that all the townspeople would attend. He waited until the city had emptied out, then made his way carefully to the temple, which stood completely deserted, even the priests having left for the festival. He arrived carrying a sharp axe and looked over the stone and wood statues along with the food offerings laid before them. He mockingly asked one statue why it wasn't eating the food cooling in front of it, then asked the same of all the other idols around him (37:91), asking why none of them would even speak (37:92).
He then raised his axe and smashed every idol in the temple, except for the largest one, on whose neck he hung the axe. Once his anger had passed, he left the temple in peace, having fulfilled his intention to give his people undeniable, practical proof of the foolishness of what they worshipped.
Abraham Is Questioned
When the people returned and found their gods shattered across the temple floor, they immediately began asking who could have done such a thing, quickly recalling that a young man named Abraham had been speaking against the gods. They demanded he be brought before the people so they could question him publicly. When asked directly if he was responsible, Abraham told them to ask the largest idol instead, since the axe was hanging from its neck, and if it could speak, it would surely answer.
This forced them to turn on themselves, acknowledging they themselves were the wrongdoers for believing in gods that couldn't even defend themselves, though in the next breath they returned to accusing Abraham, pointing out that he already knew the idols couldn't speak. Abraham used this exact admission against them, asking why they continued worshipping things that could neither help nor harm them, and expressed his disgust both at them and everything they worshipped besides Allah, asking whether they had no sense at all (21:59-67).
Furious and humiliated, they demanded Abraham be formally arrested and tried. He didn't resist, since public exposure of their foolishness had been his goal all along. At his trial, he repeated the same challenge, telling them to ask the largest idol if it could speak. Though they understood, deep down, how senseless their beliefs truly were, their pride wouldn't allow them to admit it, so they resorted instead to using their power as rulers to punish him, holding him in chains while they planned their revenge.
Abraham Is Thrown Into the Fire
Their anger unresolved, they decided to burn Abraham alive in the largest fire they could build. Every citizen was ordered to gather wood as an act of devotion to their gods. Even sick women reportedly vowed that if they recovered, they would donate wood toward burning him. For days, fuel was collected. A deep pit was dug, filled with firewood, and set alight, and a catapult was built to hurl Abraham directly into the blaze. With his hands and feet bound, Abraham was placed on the catapult as the flames rose so high that people had to keep their distance from the heat.
As the order was given to launch him into the fire, the angel Gabriel came to Abraham and asked whether he wished for anything. Abraham answered that he wanted nothing from him. The catapult released, and Abraham was cast into the flames, yet his fall into the fire felt like walking down steps into a cool garden. The fire remained lit, but it no longer burned, because Allah had commanded it directly: "O fire, be coolness and safety for Abraham" (21:69).
The fire obeyed Allah's command completely, becoming cool and safe, burning away only the ropes that bound him. Abraham sat within the flames as though sitting in a garden, his heart filled entirely with love and praise for Allah, with no room left for fear or worry. Those who truly love Allah, as Abraham did, have nothing left to fear.
Allah affirms elsewhere that believers who are warned that a great force has gathered against them only grow stronger in faith, trusting that Allah alone is sufficient for them, and that such believers return unharmed, following Allah's pleasure, since it is only Satan who tries to plant fear of his allies in people's hearts, when true believers should fear Allah alone (3:173-175).
The crowd, along with the rulers and priests, watched from a distance, the heat scorching their faces and nearly suffocating them, the fire burning for so long that they assumed it would never go out. When it finally did, they were astonished to find Abraham walking out of the pit completely unharmed, his face bright with Allah's light and grace while their own faces were blackened with smoke. He walked out of the fire as easily as if leaving a garden, and cries of disbelief rose from the crowd. Allah tells us that although they intended him great harm, He turned them instead into the greatest losers (21:70). This miracle humiliated the tyrants, though it didn't cool their anger. Still, many people came to follow Abraham afterward, even if some kept their faith hidden out of fear of the rulers.
Abraham Confronts King Namrud
Having thoroughly answered the idol worshippers, only one challenge remained for Abraham, confronting those who claimed to be gods themselves. When King Namrud heard that Abraham had walked out of the fire unharmed, he grew furious, fearing that his own claim to godhood was now being challenged by an ordinary man. He summoned Abraham to his palace for a direct confrontation.
Allah recounts this exchange in the Qur'an: when Abraham told the king that his Lord was the one who gives life and causes death, the king boasted that he too could give life and cause death. Abraham responded simply that his Lord causes the sun to rise from the east, and challenged the king to make it rise from the west instead. The king was left utterly speechless, and Allah does not guide those who commit such wrongdoing (2:258).
Abraham's Emigration
Word of Abraham's survival and his defeat of the king in open debate spread throughout the kingdom. Abraham continued calling people toward Allah with great effort and care, trying every possible approach to reach them, but in spite of his love for his people, they responded only with anger and abandoned him. In the end, only two people from among his community believed him: a woman named Sarah, who became his wife, and a man named Lot, who became a prophet in his own right.
Once Abraham realized no one else among his people would believe, he chose to emigrate, leaving with Sarah and Lot, travelling first to the city of Ur, then to Haran, and eventually to Palestine. The Qur'an confirms that Lot believed in Abraham's message, and records Abraham declaring that he would emigrate for the sake of his Lord, who is Almighty and All Wise (29:26). From Palestine, Abraham continued on to Egypt, calling people to Allah wherever he travelled, judging fairly between them and guiding them toward truth and righteousness.
The Story of Sarah and the Tyrant
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said Abraham told only three untruths in his life, and two of them were entirely for Allah's sake: once when he told his people he was sick to avoid attending their festival (37:89), and once when he said it was the largest idol that had smashed the others. The third occurred during a journey Abraham took with Sarah through the territory of a tyrant ruler.
Someone told the ruler that Abraham was travelling with a remarkably beautiful woman, so the ruler summoned Abraham and asked who she was. Abraham told him she was his sister. He then went to Sarah and told her that since they were the only two believers on the face of the earth, she should not contradict him if asked, since he had already told the ruler she was his sister. When the ruler sent for Sarah and reached out to grab her, his hand became stiff and useless, leaving him utterly confounded. He begged Sarah to pray to Allah on his behalf, promising not to harm her, and when she did, he was healed. He tried to reach for her a second time, and his hand seized up even more severely than before. He again begged for her prayer, and she prayed for him once more, and he recovered. Realizing what had happened, he told the guard who had brought her that they had brought him not a human being but a devil, and instead gave her his servant Hajar as a handmaiden. When Abraham asked Sarah what had happened, she told him that Allah had foiled the wicked plan of that immoral man and given her Hajar in return. Abu Hurairah then told his listeners that this same Hajar was the mother of the Arabs descended through her son Ishmael.
Hajar and the Birth of Ishmael
Sarah was unable to have children and had been given the Egyptian woman Hajar as a servant. By this point, Abraham had grown old, his hair turned gray after many years spent calling people to Allah. Feeling that she and Abraham remained childless and alone, Sarah offered her own servant Hajar to Abraham in marriage. Hajar gave birth to Abraham's first son, Ishmael, when Abraham was already an old man.
Abraham Asks About Resurrection
Throughout his life, Abraham worshipped Allah and called others to monotheism, all the while aware that his time on earth was limited and would end in death, followed eventually by resurrection. This certainty filled him with peace and love rather than fear. One day, Abraham asked Allah to show him directly how He brings the dead back to life. Allah instructed him to take four birds, cut them into pieces, mix their parts together, then divide the mixture into four portions and place each portion on a separate hill, and then call the birds back to him in Allah's name. Abraham did exactly as instructed, and immediately the mixed pieces separated and reassembled themselves into whole birds on each hill, which then flew swiftly back to him.
The Qur'an records this moment directly: Abraham asked Allah to show him how He gives life to the dead. Allah asked whether he did not already believe, and Abraham answered that he did believe, but wanted his heart to be more fully at peace. Allah then gave him the instruction with the birds, telling him that they would come to him swiftly, and reminding him that Allah is All Mighty and All Wise (2:260).