What Punishment Did the People Rule on Ibrahim?
ما العقوبة التي حكم بها القوم على إبراهيم عليه السلام؟
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 في مشهد 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. فجمعوا الحطب وأوقدوا نارا عظيمة، وألقوا إبراهيم فيها بالمنجنيق 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، قال الله تعالى: 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)، وقال تعالى: 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 جاء في الجواب، قال العلماء: لو قال الله: (كُونِي بَرْدًا) ولم يقل: (وَسَلَامًا) (الأنبياء 21: 69)، لجاز أن يضرّ بردُ النار إبراهيمَ عليه السلام كما يضرّه حرّها. ونقل ابن كثير رواية عن علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه، بإسناد فيه راوٍ لم يُسمَّ، أنها بردت عليه حتى كادت تقتله، حتى قيل: (وَسَلَامًا) (الأنبياء 21: 69).
2. A Father’s Reported Admission | اعترافٌ يُروى عن أبيه
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.
وحتى آزر، الذي ردّ دعوة ابنه وتوعّده، كما بيّنا في جواب: مَن أول من دعاه إبراهيم عليه السلام إلى دين الله؟، يُروى في كتب التفسير أنه أقرّ بما رأى، فأثنى على رب إبراهيم حين وجد ابنه لم تمسّه النار، وجبينه يرشح عرقًا.
3. A Plot That Backfired Completely | كيدٌ ارتدّ على أصحابه
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.
ووصف الله تعالى عاقبة كيدهم بقوله: (فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَسْفَلِينَ) (الصافات 37: 98)، فصار ما أرادوه إهلاكًا لإبراهيم عليه السلام دليلًا ظاهرًا على عجز قومه أمام الله. وبدل أن تُسكته هذه المحاولة، صارت من أوضح المعجزات التي اقترنت 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.