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qālū bnū lahū bunyānan fa-ʾalqūhu fī l-jaḥīmi
They said, ‘Build a structure for him and cast him into a huge fire.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
37Aṣ-ṢāffātالصافاتVerse 97 of 182
Those who set the Ranks37. Aṣ-Ṣāffātالصافات
al-Ṣaffāt
The Ranged Ones
MeccanVerse 97 of 182
Surah As-Saffat – Verses 95-98
95. “He said: ‘Do you worship what you (yourselves) hew out?’”
96. “While Allah has created you and what you make.”
97. “They said: ‘Build for him a furnace, then cast him into the burning fire’.”
98. “So they desired a plot against him, but We made them lower ones.”
Everything in the world must be devoted to Monotheism and Monotheistic thought. Imam Hussayn (as) is sacrificed in order that false deity might no dominate over people. All the troubles, and even the souls of the Divine prophets, were devoted for Monotheism. Here Abraham risked and did a dangerous action in order to root out idolatry. At last, after the event of breaking idols, Abraham was taken to the court with the same accusation. Abraham was inquired, and he was ordered to explain who accomplished the horrible event of the idol temple.
The Holy Qur’an has explained this event in Surah Al-Anbiya’, No. 21, and, in the verses under discussion, it suffices to one sensitive point of it which is the last statement of Abraham with them about the falsehood of idolatry. The verse says:
Does any wise man worship his own handicraft? Does any intellectual person knee before his own created thing? Which intellect and logic have given you such a permission? In the next verse, the Qur’an implies that the heavens and the earth all are created by Allah and the entire time and place belong to him. Such a Creator must be worshipped. The verse says:
This is a very strong proof. They had no response to give against it. Oppressors and tyrants have never been familiar with logic and reasoning. It was for the same reason that the evident and strong argumentation of Abraham (as) did not affect on the hearts of the cruel rulers of Babylon, though it awakened a group of the oppressed people of the time. But, the proud tyrants, who found out the advance of this Monotheistic logic as a barrier for their own benefits, came in with the logic of force, weapon, and fire: a logic except which they understood nothing.
They relied on their own power and, the verse says:
It is understood from his meaning that, at first it was ordered that a large place with four walls to be built. Then inside of it some fire was made ready. Perhaps for the purpose that not only they could control the fire from scattering and from probable dangers, but also they might practically prepare a hell fire by which Abraham threatened the idolaters.
It is true that for burning a man like Abraham only a small load of wood was enough, but in order to quench the fire of their hearts resulted by breaking the idols and so to speak, to take their vengeance in utmost level, and, by the way, to give a glory and greatness to the idols in order that their lost honour might be returned, and also to use severity upon all their opponents so that that event would not happen again in the history of Babylon, they prepared that vast, huge fire.
(Be careful that the Arabic word /jahim/ philologically means: ‘Some fires which are heaped up with together.) Some commentators have rendered the Qur’anic word /bunyan/ here into catapult (mangonel), which was a means of throwing heavy things from a distance. But most of the commentators have chosen the first interpretation. The fourth holy verse, in a condensed and interesting conclusion, states the end of this event as follows:
The Arabic word /kayd/ means any ‘thinking of a mean’ whether it is in a correct way or a wrong one, though it is often used for an evil aspect; and regarding to the form of the word here as an indefinite article which indicates to greatness and importance, it refers to the vast plot that they had designed for the annihilation of Abraham and wiping out the effects of his oral and practical propagation. Yes, Allah set them the lower ones, and set Abraham in a ‘high rank’, like his logic which had superiority.
In the event of burning and fire, Allah gave him superiority, too, and caused his powerful enemies to be low. He made the fire cold and safe for him, and without that even his hair burnt, he came out safely from that huge heap of fire. One day He delivers Noah from being drowned, and on the other day He delivers Abraham from being burnt, in order to make it clear that both water and fire obey His command and whatever Allah says to do they do accordingly.