Ibrahim (Abraham)

Ibrahim (peace be upon him) reasoned against the worship of idols and heavenly bodies, turning his face sincerely to the One who created the heavens and the earth (6:76-79). He pleaded with his father to abandon idols that could neither hear nor see nor benefit him (19:42-45).

He confronted his people and broke their idols, leaving the largest one, so that when they questioned him he turned their attention to the helplessness of the idols themselves (21:57-67). Enraged, they built a fire and cast him into it, but Allah commanded, "O fire, be coolness and safety upon Ibrahim," and he emerged unharmed (21:68-70).

Allah honoured Ibrahim as His khalil (intimate friend) (4:125). He was tested with the command, seen in a dream, to sacrifice his son; both father and son submitted, and as Ibrahim laid him down, Allah called out that he had fulfilled the vision and ransomed the son with a great sacrifice (37:102-107). He prayed for righteous offspring, and was given glad tidings (37:100-101).

With his son Isma'il, Ibrahim raised the foundations of the Ka'bah, praying, "Our Lord, accept this from us; indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing" (2:127). He asked Allah to make it a place of security and to raise among their descendants a messenger reciting Allah's verses (2:126, 2:129).

Ibrahim was neither Jew nor Christian, but a hanif, a devoted monotheist, submitting wholly to Allah (3:67). He is a model and leader for humankind (16:120-123).

Beyond the Quranic account, the Sunnah preserves the origin of Zamzam and the running between Safa and Marwah — born from the trust of Ibrahim's family — and a lesson on truthfulness.

Two women belong to the household of Ibrahim in the authentic sources: Sarah (سَارَة), his wife, and Hajar (هَاجَر), the mother of Isma'il. Sarah is not named in the Quran — there she is called only "his wife" when the angels bring her the glad tidings of Ishaq (11:71-73) — yet she is named explicitly in the authentic Sunnah, in the very hadith about the three words Ibrahim spoke with a double meaning (Sahih al-Bukhari 3358). Her marriage to Ibrahim is therefore established fact, not folklore.

Sarah then gave Hajar to Ibrahim, and through Hajar Allah granted him Isma'il (إِسْمَاعِيل); through Sarah, in her old age, Allah granted him Ishaq (إِسْحَاق) (11:71-73). From Ibrahim thus run two prophetic lines: Isma'il through Hajar — whose trust by the bare House and the springing of Zamzam is recorded above (Sahih al-Bukhari 3364) — and Ishaq through Sarah. Both mothers and both sons are named and confirmed in the authentic texts.