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Prophets

Episode 6: When Abraham Prayed for His Descendants

July 27, 2020Dr. Omar Suleiman

Ibrahim (pbuh) first prayed for children who would inherit the message of monotheism. Then, he asked Allah for something that would make his children the coolness of his eyes—something that our ummah has inherited today.

What is Hajj? Why is it important? Learn more in What Islam says about Hajj and Umrah

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
One of the things that's so beautiful about Ibrahim A'islam's du'a here, if you notice is that he always starts with himself, even when he's praying for his children. He doesn't feel safe from idol worship, even though he has a lifetime of fighting against idol worship and being persecuted because of that. And he also, as he is establishing the prayer for his children and emphasizing that he wants generations that will establish the salah, establish the prayer, he starts off with himself. Oh Allah, let me be amongst those that establish the prayer. And from my offspring. And this is something constant throughout the Qur'an. I did all of this, Oh Allah, so that my children can establish the prayer. I want them to establish the prayer. That is something that Ibrahim A'islam looks for. And it's not just establish the prayer in a physical sense, but to really establish the salah in the way that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has gifted it to us. Now you see with Ibrahim A'islam that he's doing this with Ismail A'islam, right? And I want you to think about, especially those parents who try to get their children to pray and you start off and you know, when they're young and their prayers are just, you know, pretty symbolic. It's just that they come and they pray, you know, they're doing all sorts of stuff while they're praying. But Hey, at least five times a day, you know, you're seven year old, you're eight year old, you're a nine year old, you're a 10 year old. They're starting to stand next to you and starting to do something that resembles salah, right? And you're trying to teach them the meanings of salah. Now your biggest worry, obviously is that what happens when you can't see them anymore? What happens when you're not there to call them to the prayer? What happens when they get old enough to where they can say that we prayed and they can really just be sitting in their room and they can see you, what happens when they're no longer even under your roof?
And that's something that a lot of parents are pained by is that, you know, I wonder if my kids even pray anymore. And you'll see sometimes when you go to a masjid and something that we have to change, that you'll see the elders who, you know, have come back to prayer or prayer was a part of their lives. And then you might see really young children, but there's a missing demographic, right? Where people have to learn the value of prayer themselves. Now, most of the Quran moves on to the stories of the offspring of Ishaq, of Isaac, right? Ishaq to Yaqub, to the children of Yaqub, Yusuf Alayhi Salaam and so on and so forth. Not much is said about Ismail Alayhi Salaam. And we know that Ismail Alayhi Salaam, if you're looking at a chart of the prophets, you see the line of Isaac and you see all of these prophets and nations. Ismail, you see this line that goes all the way down and then it's Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, right? And that is greater than any chain that could be attributed to a prophet, right? That's his Sanad, Ismail all the way down to Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But what is described of Ismail Alayhi Salaam and what he did as he was in that barren desert in Mecca, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la praises Ismail Alayhi Salaam by saying, Wa kana ya'muru ahlahu bis-salat. He was establishing the prayer with his children. How sweet is that, right? That that is the description that Sadiq Al-Wa'id, he was truthful to the promise that he made when he said to his father that you will find me amongst the patient. I will not refuse the command of God. And here you have that he is also maintaining the promise of Salat. Wa kana ya'muru ahlahu bis-salat. He used to enjoy the prayer amongst his family. Ismail did not have a huge family. He didn't have huge nations around him. The way that Ishaq did, but those that were around him, Wa kana ya'muru ahlahu bis-salat. He commanded them with prayer. And one of the beautiful things about Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam and his children is you see the emphasis in life and in death.
Are you going to stay upon this covenant with God? Right? So Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam, as he's dying and he's speaking to his son, Ishaq and his grandson Ya'qub, and he's affirming once again, are you going to worship that one God and stay upon the worship of that one God? And them affirming to Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam that they will. And then Ya'qub Alayhi Salaam, Jacob, when he's dying and he's saying to his children, Ma ta'buduna min ba'di. What are you going to worship after me? And they say, Na'budu ilaaha ka wa ilaaha abaika Ibrahim. Wa Ismail wa Ishaq. We worship your Lord and the Lord of Ibrahim, the Lord of Ismail, the Lord of Ishaq. And it's like, I'm comforted. I'm comforted that, you know, my children are upon that Tawheed. They're upon that oneness of God. That's the most important thing to me is that they're worshiping Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And there's something here about when you ask Allah to let your spouses and your children be Qurratu Aynan Lak, right? That, Oh Allah, make them Qurratu A'yun. Let them be the coolness of our eyes. And what is the coolness of your eyes? The coolness of your eyes, how beautiful your children are, is the coolness of your eyes, I mean, that's part of it, certainly. It's good to have beautiful children and your children are all beautiful, by the way. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la bless all of you and your children. It's good to have beautiful children. It's good to have sweet children that they have a Rahmah and a mercy towards their parents that we see with the prophets and their children that Allah describes. All of that is beautiful. Their accomplishments are beautiful. You love to walk your child across the stage, maybe not so much down the aisle for their wedding, but those are all beautiful, worldly accomplishments and they're things to indeed find joy in. But what's the greatest Qurratu A'yun? What's the greatest coolness of your eyes? It should be when you see your children worshipping Allah, when you see them as righteous, when you see them as embracing the faith, maybe even greater than you did sincerely. When you see them read Qur'an for the first time or say they want to go to the masjid
and it's not just because you forced them to go to the masjid, right? Or you told them, Hey, let's go to the masjid. But they wanted to go to Salah, they wanted to be a part of something that was faith oriented. That's where you really find Qurratu A'yun, like it's the coolness of your eyes. You see them in righteousness. And SubhanAllah, I think about the Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And you know, he said about us that Innama ana lakum bimanzilatil abu u'allimukum That I am to you like a father and that I teach you. Right? So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam is to us like a father figure and that he teaches us. And you look at the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and when the Ummah was his Qurratu A'yun When it was the coolness of his eyes, right? And it's that last moment, those last moments of his life SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam where he draws the curtain from his room and he's too sick to even get up at that point. But he looks out at his Ummah praying Salah. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, Tabassama dhahika And he smiles and he laughs and it's a beautiful thing. He smiles and he laughs and his face was like the page of a Mus'haf So bright, so happy, so pleased. Why? Because he saw his children in Salah, in prayer. And he knew that this message would last beyond him and would continue beyond him SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam And so when we pray, we are maintaining the prayer of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam Who was an answer to the prayer of Ibrahim Alayhi Salam And we send our prayers upon them both Allahumma Salli Ala Muhammadin Wa Ala Ali Muhammad Kama Sallayta Ala Ibrahim Wa Ala Ali Ibrahim
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