Chapter 2: Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), verse 258
Translation:
“Have you not considered him who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because God had given him the kingdom. When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is He who gives life and causes to die,” he said, ‘I too have power to give life and cause death.’ Abraham said: ‘Surely God causes the sun to rise from the East. Make it rise yourself from the West.’ Thus was the unbeliever confounded. God does not guide aright the unjust.” (2:258)
Commentary:
In the
modern age, the right to govern a people is secured by popular support. Such was
not the case in pre-democratic times, however, when kings sanctioned their rule
by laying claim before their subjects to being some kind of divine incarnation.
Nimrod, a king of ancient Iraq, was a case in point. A contemporary of the
Prophet Abraham, he was one of those monarchs who used this method to back up
their right of sovereignty over the people. He was revered by his subjects as
chieftain of all the gods. His own claim was that he was an incarnation of the
Sun-god, a position which gave him a divine right to worldly sovereignty. When
Abraham first preached the message of the One God in the land of Iraq, his
teachings had no direct connection with the system of government in the country.
All he did was to impress upon the people that there was but One God; He was
their sole Lord and Master. There were no partners with Him in the godhead, so
mankind should worship Him alone, fearing Him and placing their hopes in Him.
Though Abraham’s message was unpolitical, still it appeared to Nimrod as a
threat to his political base, for according to the message taught by Abraham,
even the Sun was part of God’s creation. It had no power of its own, but was
controlled by God Almighty. Nimrod could see the edifice of his political power
collapsing, were his subjects to accept Abraham’s message of the One God. It
was for this reason that Nimrod turned vehemently against Abraham and his
teachings.
The
dialogue conducted between Abraham and Nimrod shows us the method adopted by the
Prophets in the communication of their message. First of all, Abraham pointed
out that his Lord had control over life and death. Immediately, Nimrod disputed
this, claiming himself to have power over life and death. Abraham, of course,
could have answered this claim made by Nimrod, but he did not want the
conversation to deteriorate into a heated polemical discussion. So instead of
persisting with this point, he changed the subject and chose another example,
one with which Nimrod would not be able to argue. Abraham did not consider
Nimrod his enemy. Rather, he had compassion for him and earnestly wished to
communicate to him the message of true faith. It was this compassion which
showed Abraham the correct method to be adopted in addressing the Iraqi king.