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.