What Punishment Did the People Rule on Ibrahim?
ما العقوبة التي حكم بها القوم على إبراهيم؟
They brought him to trial publicly, and when he was able to argue with them and the people witnessed their weak case, they sentenced him to be burned. “Burn him up to avenge your gods, if you must act,” meaning if they wanted to avenge their gods, they had to burn Ibrahim because it was he who insulted and broke them. They gathered wood logs and started a great fire, and they threw Ibrahim into it using a catapult because the fire was too fierce to approach. So Allah said, “We ordered, ‘O fire! Be cool and safe for Abraham!'” and it was cool and did not burn him, and he survived it, though the rope with which they had tied him burned away, freeing him. Scholars said that if Allah had not said “safe,” the fire could have turned into a mountain of ice and Ibrahim would have died from the cold instead. It was mentioned that when Ibrahim’s father saw that the fire had not burned Ibrahim, and that Ibrahim’s forehead was beaded with sweat, he said, “Your Lord is a good Lord, O Ibrahim!” (Note: the original answer said it was the father who was pouring with sweat from the fire’s heat; in the report as related by al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir under Al-Anbiya 21:69, it was Ibrahim’s forehead that was sweating, so this has been corrected.) Allah says, “They had sought to harm him, but We made them the worst losers,” meaning they intended to burn him, but Allah saved His Prophet from the fire and overturned their plots, so they lost in everything they had done to destroy Ibrahim. “They concluded, ‘Burn him up to avenge your gods, if you must act.’ We ordered, ‘O fire! Be cool and safe for Abraham!’ They had sought to harm him, but We made them the worst losers” (Surah Al-Anbiya 21:68-70). “They said to one another, ‘Build him a furnace and cast him into the blazing fire.’ And so they sought to harm him, but We made them inferior” (Surah As-Saffat 37:97-98).
أتوا بإبراهيم بمشهد عام ليحاكموه، فلما حاججهم في محكمتهم ورأى الناس ضعف حجتهم، أصدروا عليه الحكم بالحرق. قالوا: حرّقوه وانصروا آلهتكم إن كنتم فاعلين، أي أحرقوا إبراهيم بالنار إن أردتم نصر آلهتكم من إبراهيم الذي أهانها وكسرها. وقاموا بجمع الحطب وأوقدوا نارا عظيمة، وألقوا إبراهيم فيها بواسطة المنجنيق لقوة لهبها وشدة حرها. فقال الله للنار: يا نار كوني بردا وسلاما على إبراهيم، فكانت باردة عليه فلم تحرقه وسلم منها، وإنما أحرقت وثاقه الذي وثقوه به، الحبل الذي رُبط به. فائدة: قال العلماء إنه لو لم يقل الله وسلاما لكان من الجائز أن تنقلب النار جبلا من ثلج ويهلك به إبراهيم عليه السلام، وقد ذُكر أن والد إبراهيم لما رأى إبراهيم لم تحرقه النار وجبينه يرشح عرقا، قال: نعم الرب ربك يا إبراهيم! (ملاحظة: ورد في الجواب الأصلي أن الأب هو الذي كان يتفصد عرقا من شدة لهبها وحرها، والذي في الرواية عند الطبري وابن كثير في تفسير الآية 69 من سورة الأنبياء أن أبا إبراهيم وجد جبين إبراهيم يرشح عرقا، فصُحّح.) قال تعالى: وأرادوا به كيدا فجعلناهم الأخسرين، أي أرادوا بإبراهيم مكرا وهو إحراقه بالنار، فخيّب الله مسعاهم، وأنجى عبده وخليله من النار، وأحبط عليهم ما كانوا يأملون، فخسروا في كل أعمالهم التي أرادوا بها إهلاك إبراهيم. قَالُوا حَرِّقُوهُ وَانصُرُوا آلِهَتَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ ﴿٦٨﴾ قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ﴿٦٩﴾ وَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَخْسَرِينَ ﴿٧٠﴾ (سورة الأنبياء: 68-70). قَالُوا ابْنُوا لَهُ بُنْيَانًا فَأَلْقُوهُ فِي الْجَحِيمِ ﴿٩٧﴾ فَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَسْفَلِينَ ﴿٩٨﴾ (سورة الصافات: 97-98).
1. A Single Word That Made the Difference | كلمة واحدة صنعت الفارق
As the answer notes, scholars said that had Allah only said “be cool” without also saying “safe,” the fire’s cold could have harmed Ibrahim (peace be upon him) just as its heat would have. Ibn Kathir cites a report from Ali ibn Abi Talib, through an unnamed narrator, that the fire grew so cold it nearly killed him, until “and safe” was said.
وكما تذكر الإجابة، قال العلماء إنه لو قال الله “كوني بردا” دون أن يضيف “وسلاما” لكان من الجائز أن تضر برودة النار إبراهيم كما كانت ستضره حرارتها. ونقل ابن كثير رواية عن علي بن أبي طالب، عن شيخ لم يُسمَّ، أنها بردت عليه حتى كادت تقتله، حتى قيل: وسلاما.
2. A Father’s Reported Admission | اعتراف يُروى عن الأب
Even Azar, who had rejected and threatened his son, covered in Who Was the First Person Ibrahim Called to the Religion of Allah?, is reported in the tafsir narratives to have acknowledged what he witnessed, remarking on the goodness of Ibrahim’s Lord when he found his son untouched by the fire, his forehead beaded with sweat.
حتى آزر، الذي رفض ابنه وهدده، كما تناولنا في مقال من أول من دعاه إبراهيم إلى دين الله؟، يُروى في روايات التفسير أنه اعترف بما شهده، معلقا على صلاح رب إبراهيم حين وجد ابنه لم تمسه النار وجبينه يرشح عرقا.
3. A Plot That Backfired Completely | مؤامرة انقلبت على أصحابها
The Quran describes this episode with the phrase “We made them inferior,” turning what was meant to be Ibrahim’s execution into public proof of his people’s powerlessness against Allah. Rather than silencing him, the attempted execution became one of the clearest miracles associated with his mission.
يصف القرآن هذه الحادثة بعبارة “فجعلناهم الأسفلين”، محولا ما كان يُقصد به إعدام إبراهيم إلى دليل علني على عجز قومه أمام الله. وبدلا من إسكاته، أصبحت محاولة الإعدام واحدة من أوضح المعجزات المرتبطة برسالته.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
What punishment did Ibrahim’s people rule on him?
To be burned alive in a great fire, as recorded in Surah As-Saffat 37:97.
How did Ibrahim survive the fire?
Allah commanded the fire to be cool and safe for him, and it left him completely unharmed.
Why did Allah say the fire should be “safe,” not just “cool”?
As the scholar’s answer notes, without that word the cold itself could have harmed Ibrahim; Ibn Kathir cites a report from Ali ibn Abi Talib to this effect.