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 woodlogs 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 Ibrahim was not burning while he himself was sweating from the heat, he said, “Your Lord is a good Lord, O Ibrahim!” Allah says, “And so they sought to harm him, but We made them inferior,” meaning they intended to burn him, but Allah saved His Prophet from the fire and overturned their plots, so they lost everything they had planned. “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 Al-Anbiya 21:68-70). “They concluded, ‘Burn him up to avenge your gods, if you must act'” (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 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 والأب يتفصد عرقا من شدة لهبها وحرها، قال: نعم الرب ربك يا إبراهيم! 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. قَالُوا ابْنُوا لَهُ بُنْيَانًا فَأَلْقُوهُ فِي الْجَحِيمِ ﴿٦٨﴾ فَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَسْفَلِينَ ﴿٦٩﴾ (سورة الأنبياء: 68-69). قَالُوا حَرِّقُوهُ وَانصُرُوا آلِهَتَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ ﴿٩٧﴾ (سورة الصافات: 97).
1. A Single Word That Made the Difference | كلمة واحدة صنعت الفارق
Scholars point to the precision of Allah’s command: had He only said “be cool” without also saying “safe,” the fire’s extreme cold could have killed Ibrahim just as effectively as its heat. This detail is held up as an example of Allah’s exact, deliberate wording, leaving nothing about the miracle to chance or ambiguity.
يشير العلماء إلى دقة أمر الله: فلو قال فقط “كوني بردا” دون أن يضيف “وسلاما”، لكان بإمكان برودة النار الشديدة أن تقتل إبراهيم بفعالية مماثلة لحرارتها. ويُطرح هذا التفصيل مثالا على دقة صياغة الله المتعمدة، بحيث لا يُترك شيء في المعجزة للصدفة أو الغموض.
2. A Father’s Admission, Even in That Moment | اعتراف الأب حتى في تلك اللحظة
Even Azar, who had rejected and threatened his son, covered in Who Was the First Person Ibrahim Called to the Religion of Allah?, could not help but acknowledge what he witnessed, remarking on the goodness of Ibrahim’s Lord while sweating from the very fire that left his son untouched.
حتى آزر، الذي رفض ابنه وهدده، كما تناولنا في مقال من أول من دعاه إبراهيم إلى دين الله؟، لم يستطع إلا أن يعترف بما شهده، معلقا على صلاح رب إبراهيم بينما كان يتصبب عرقا من النار ذاتها التي لم تمس ابنه.
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”?
Scholars explain that without that word, the extreme cold itself could have harmed Ibrahim.