إِذْ قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِۦ مَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلتَّمَاثِيلُ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنتُمْ لَهَا عَـٰكِفُونَ 52
Translations
When he said to his father and his people, "What are these statues to which you are devoted?"
Transliteration
Idh qala li-abīhi wa-qawmihi mā hādhihi al-tamāthīlu allatī antum lahā ʿākifūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah records Prophet Ibrahim's (Abraham's) powerful challenge to his father and people regarding their worship of idols and statues. Ibrahim questions them directly about their devotion to these lifeless objects, employing a rhetorical device to awaken their conscience and reason. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir emphasize that Ibrahim's approach demonstrates intellectual argumentation combined with sincere admonition—he uses the word 'ākifūn' (devoted/clinging) to highlight the irrationality of their attachment to mere carved objects.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within Surah Al-Anbiya' (a Meccan surah) and depicts Ibrahim's confrontation with idolatry in his community. The context is thematic rather than tied to a specific revelation event; it illustrates how the early prophets challenged polytheism and idolatry among their people, serving as encouragement to Prophet Muhammad and the believers during the Meccan period when they faced similar resistance to monotheism.
Related Hadiths
The hadith in Sahih Bukhari where the Prophet Muhammad said about Ibrahim: 'Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true believer in Allah's Oneness' (Hadith of Al-Bukhari 3370) reflects the theme of Ibrahim's unwavering monotheism. Additionally, various hadiths about destroying idols and rejecting shirk (polytheism) resonate with Ibrahim's stance in this ayah.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to use reason and sincere questioning to guide others away from falsehood, rather than mere condemnation, while demonstrating that true faith in Allah requires abandoning all false deities—whether material idols or metaphorical attachments that distance us from God's worship.
Related Ayahs
مَا ٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ مِن وَلَدٍ وَمَا كَانَ مَعَهُۥ مِنْ إِلَـٰهٍ ۚ إِذًا لَّذَهَبَ كُلُّ إِلَـٰهٍۭ بِمَا خَلَقَ وَلَعَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
Allāh has not taken any son, nor has there ever been with Him any deity. [If there had been], then each deity would have taken what it created, and some of them would have [sought to] overcome others. Exalted is Allāh above what they describe [concerning Him].
وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهُ حَفِيظٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَآ أَنتَ عَلَيْهِم بِوَكِيلٍ
And those who take as allies other than Him - Allāh is [yet] Guardian over them; and you, [O Muḥammad], are not over them a manager.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَآءُ ۚ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
It is He who forms you in the wombs however He wills. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
إِن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
If You should punish them - indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise."