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thumma ʾawḥaynā ʾilayka ʾani ttabiʿ millata ʾibrāhīma ḥanīfan wa-mā kāna mina l-mushrikīna
Thereafter We revealed to you [saying], ‘Follow the creed of Abraham, a Hanif, who was not a polytheist.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
16An-NaḥlالنحلVerse 123 of 128
The Bee16. An-Naḥlالنحل
Al Naḥl
The Bee
MeccanVerse 123 of 128
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 123
123. “So We revealed to you that you follow the creed of Abraham, the upright one, and he was not of the polytheists.”
Certainly the methods and the conditions of the prophets have not been identical, yet the path of the prophets has been similar and they were commissioned to follow the foregoing prophets and to preach monotheism. The frequent praising and eulogizing with the same interpretations alongside verses aligned with one another, reflect the utmost sincerity and the position of ‘Ibrahim. Thus, in this last verse, the latest privilege which was accorded to ‘Ibrahim by Allah because of those prominent attributes, was the fact that his school was not only to be set up and flourishing during his own time but also it was destined to be for people at all times, especially for the nation of Islam as an inspiring school, as the Qur’an says:
“So We revealed to you that you follow the creed of Abraham, the upright one…”
In this noble verse, He again reemphasizes that: ‘Ibrahim was not from among the polytheists.
“…and he was not of the polytheists.”
This refutation sentence is meant mostly for the ‘Quraysh polytheists’ who used to trace back their ancestral line to ‘Ibrahim despite their paganism and worshipping of the idols.