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wa-man ʾaḥsanu dīnan mimman ʾaslama wajhahū li-llāhi wa-huwa muḥsinun wa-ttabaʿa millata ʾibrāhīma ḥanīfan wa-ttakhadha llāhu ʾibrāhīma khalīlan
Who has a better religion than him who submits his will to Allah, being virtuous, and follows the creed of Abraham, a Hanif? And Allah took Abraham for a dedicated friend.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah An-Nisa', Verse 125
125. "And who is better in religion than the one who surrenders himself entirely to Allah while he is righteous and follows the creed of Abraham, the upright one? And Allah took Abraham as a Friend."
In the verse before this verse, the word was upon the fruit of Faith and deed and it implied that merely belonging to a doctrine or a school of thought has no effect. Yet, in order that no misunderstanding arises from the former discussion, in this verse, the preference of the religion of Islam over all religions has been stated by the following sense:
In this verse, three things have been considered as the criterion of the best creed: The first thing is the absolute submission before Allah (s.w.t.). The verse says:
The second thing is righteousness. The purpose of that, here, is doing any righteousness by the heart, the tongue, and action.
The third thing is to follow the creed of Abraham, the upright. The verse continues saying:
Then, at the end of the verse, it reasons its emphasis on the creed of Abraham as follows:
According to the Islamic literature, this rank of Abraham, being chosen as a friend by Allah, was because of his abundant prostrations, feeding the indigent, his midnight prayers, accepting the problems, and his hospitality. 2
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