The Prophets — Verse 53
21:53 · al-Anbiya`
Verse display
قَالُوا۟ وَجَدۡنَاۤ ءَابَاۤءَنَا لَهَا عَـٰبِدِینَ ٥٣
qālū wajadnā ābāanā lahā ʿābidīn
The Prophets / al-Anbiya` (21:53)
Connections 2 single-source 2 commentators
Multi-source connections
No verses on this ayah are cited by 2 or more commentators using numeric S:A notation. All extracted references come from a single source's commentary.
Single-source mentions (2) cited by only one commentator
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Q 6:83 (al-An`am)
cited by
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Q 21:48 (al-Anbiya`)
cited by
By commentator who cites how many verses on this ayah
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Ma'arif-ul-Quran 1 verse
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Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) 1 verse
Note: these connections are extracted from numeric S:A references inside the commentary text and are therefore biased toward mufassirun who use that notation. Prose-style references (e.g. "Surat al-Baqarah verse 30") will be added later, which should surface additional multi-source consensus.
They replied, ‘We found our fathers worshipping them.’
qālū wajadnā ābāanā lahā ʿābidīn
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Tafsir Commentary
The Story of Ibrahim and his People
Allah tells us about His close Friend Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and how He bestowed upon him guidance aforetime, i.e., from an early age He inspired him with truth and evidence against his people, as Allah says elsewhere:
وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهَآ إِبْرَهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ
(And that was Our proof which We gave Ibrahim against his people) 6:83. The point here is that Allah is telling us that He gave guidance to Ibrahim aforetime, i.e., He had already guided him at an early age.
وَكُنَّا بِهِ عَـلِمِينَ
(and We were Well-Acquainted with him.) means, and he was worthy of that. Then Allah says:
إِذْ قَالَ لاًّبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ مَا هَـذِهِ التَّمَـثِيلُ الَّتِى أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَـكِفُونَ
(When he said to his father and his people: "What are these images, to which you are devoted") This is the guidance which he had been given during his youth: his denunciation of his people's worship of idols instead of Allah. Ibrahim said:
مَا هَـذِهِ التَّمَـثِيلُ الَّتِى أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَـكِفُونَ
("What are these images, to which you are devoted") meaning, which you worship with such devotion.
قَالُواْ وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا لَهَا عَـبِدِينَ
(They said: "We found our fathers worshipping them.") means, they had no other evidence apart from the misguided actions of their forefathers. Ibrahim said:
لَقَدْ كُنتُمْ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُمْ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ
(Indeed you and your fathers have been in manifest error.) meaning, Speaking to your fathers whose actions you cite as evidence would be the same as speaking to you. Both you and they are misguided and are not following any straight path.' When he called their intelligence into question, and said that their fathers were misguided and belittled their gods,
قَالُواْ أَجِئْتَنَا بِالْحَقِّ أَمْ أَنتَ مِنَ اللَّـعِبِينَ
(They said: "Have you brought us the Truth, or are you one of those who play about") They said: `These words that you are saying, are you speaking in jest or are you telling the truth For we have never heard such a thing before.'
قَالَ بَل رَّبُّكُمْ رَبُّ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ الَّذِى فطَرَهُنَّ
(He said: "Nay, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who created them...") meaning, your Lord, beside Whom there is no other god, is the One Who created the heavens and the earth and all that they contain; He is the One Who initiated their creation; He is the Creator of all things.
وَأَنَاْ عَلَى ذلِكُمْ مِّنَ الشَّـهِدِينَ
(and to that I am one of the witnesses. ) means, and I bear witness that there is no God other than Him and no Lord except Him.
They said ‘We found our fathers worshipping them’ and so we followed their example.
قالوا: وجدنا آباءنا عابدين لها، ونحن نعبدها اقتداء بهم.
" قالوا وجدنا آباءنا لها عابدين " لم يكن لهم حجة سوى صنيع آبائهم الضلال.
وقوله - سبحانه - : ( قَالُواْ وَجَدْنَآ آبَآءَنَا لَهَا عَابِدِينَ ) حكاية لما قالوه فى ردهم على إبراهيم - عليه السلام - وهو رد يدل على تحجر عقولهم ، وانطماس بصائرهم حيث قلدوا فعل آبائهم بدون تدبر أو تفكر .أى : قالوا فى جوابهم على إبراهيم - عليه السلام - وجدنا آباءنا يعبدون هذه التماثيل فسرنا على طريقتهم .
يقول تعالى ذكره: قال أبو إبراهيم وقومه لإبراهيم: وجدنا آباءنا لهذه الأوثان عابدين، فنحن على ملة آبائنا نعبدها كما كانوا يعبدون ، (قال) إبراهيم.
( قالوا وجدنا آباءنا لها عابدين ) فاقتدينا بهم .
قَالُوا وَجَدْنَا آَبَاءَنَا لَهَا عَابِدِينَ (53) وجعْل العكوففِ مسنداً إلى ضميرهم مؤذن بأن إبراهيم لم يكن من قبل مشاركاً لهم في ذلك فيعلم منه أنّه في مقام الرد عليهم ، ذلك أن الإتيان بالجملة الاسمية في قوله تعالى : { أنتم لها عاكفون } فيه معنى دوامهم على ذلك .وضمن { عاكفون } معنى العبادة ، فلذلك عدّي باللام لإفادة ملازمة عبادتها .وجاءوا في جوابه بما توهّموا إقناعه به وهو أن عبادة تلك الأصنام كانت من عادة آبائهم فحسبوه مثلَهم يقدس عمل الآباء ولا ينظر في مصادفته الحق ، ولذلك لم يلبث أن أجابهم : { لقد كنتم أنتم وآباؤكم في ضلال مبين } مؤكداً ذلك بلام القسم .
أي نعبدها تقليدا لأسلافنا .
It is God’s principle to give according to the capability of the receiver. Abraham passed through different trials and tests and proved his mettle: God accordingly gave him guidance and divine knowledge. This is how God deals with His subjects. Abraham was born in Iraq in the ancient city of Ur. At that time polytheism was all-pervasive. In spite of being brought up in this polytheistic atmosphere, Abraham was not influenced by it. He examined things rationally, rising completely above his immediate environment, he was able to discover the truth. He was living in a world where every worldly honour and progress were linked with polytheism. But he did not care for all this. Unmindful of all worldly considerations, he criticised the behaviour of his community and became ready to declare the Truth before it—these are the attributes which make an individual capable of receiving God’s guidance.
Commentary
الْفُرْقَانَ وَضِيَاءً وَذِكْرًا لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ (Criterion and light and an advice for the God-fearing - 21:48) The three attributes which belong to Torah are فُرْقَانَ (criterion) which differentiates between right and wrong second is 4 ' (light) which provides light and manifestation of truth to hearts, and the third is ذِکر (advice) which is a source of guidance for the people. Some explain فُرْقَانَ as help from God which was available to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) all times. It was manifest when he was raised in the Pharaoh's house, then at the time of his contest with the Egyptian magicians which resulted in the Pharaoh's discomfiture, and again when he was pursued by the Pharaoh and his army and Allah saved him by causing dry passageways to appear in the river and, after the Bani Isra'il had crossed over to the other side, by drowning the Pharaoh and his army. Even after this incident Allah's help was available to him at all times. Qurtubi has pointed out that whereas (ضِيَاءً light) and ذِکر (advice) are the attributes of Torah, o4 (criterion) is something else and not an attribute of Torah, because of the use of the conjunctive letter Wa.'o (و) after the word فُرْقَانَ (Allah knows best).
(They said: We found our fathers worshippers of them) and so we worship them.