# Episode 1: When Abraham was Catapulted Into a Fire

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** A Voice in the Desert
**Published:** 2020-07-22
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/PEi0jmL0-tE
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/when-abraham-was-catapulted-into-a-fire
**Topics:** Faith, Prophets

## Description
Abandoned and shunned by his society with his own father leading the charge, Ibrahim (pbuh) was buried under the depths of loneliness. But his voice in that moment reached the One who never left him. Episode Transcript (Note: the transcript has been edited for clarity) 0:00 – 0:25 Loneliness around...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Loneliness is of two types. You have the loneliness when you are physically away from people and you have another type of loneliness, which is a lot harder to cope with, which is when you are surrounded by people, but you really are alone. And I want you to imagine what Ibrahim A.S. felt like as his people, his own

**[0:33]** people, not an external enemy, his own people have kindled a fire for days and days and days and days that none of them could even come close to, and they were prepared to throw him into that fire. Not only that, but his own family was complicit and not only his own family,

**[0:49]** but his father in particular, who Ibrahim A.S. loved so much and had called to Allah with the most beautiful of manners for so many years. Now the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam experienced something like this in Ta'if. When he went out to Ta'if and he said it was the worst day of his life. When he was made to walk through this narrow line where people threw things

**[1:10]** at him, cursed him, spit at him, punched him, insulted him, and he only has Zayd Ibn Haritha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu in front of him as far as human support in those moments, and it was the worst day of his life Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But Ta'if was a town outside of Mecca.

**[1:27]** These were not his people. And he had Zayd Ibn Haritha with him Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Ibrahim A.S. the scholars say, imagine the pain where it's his own people, his own family, his own father, and as Ibrahim looks out to the crowd, as he is stripped and put

**[1:44]** into this catapult to be thrown into this fire, he doesn't even see a sympathizer. He doesn't see someone who has told him privately that I've got your back. He doesn't see anyone that really supports him or that loves him or believes in him. He sees complete abandonment, complete humiliation.

**[2:00]** In those moments, some of the books of Tafsir, they narrate that Jibreel A.S. went to Ibrahim A.S. and asked him if he wanted help. And Ibrahim A.S. said, if it's from you, then no. But if it is from Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, then yes. And though those narrations are not in any book of hadith

**[2:19]** or found with any certain authenticity, there's a powerful narration from Ibn Abbas Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He says, Hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel Allah is sufficient for us and he is the best disposer of our affairs. He said it was a word, a phrase that Ibrahim A.S.

**[2:36]** said, when he was thrown into the fire. And it was the word that Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said when the disbelievers in Medina surrounded the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and his companions as they were about to be massacred in the Battle of Al-Khandaq.

**[2:53]** And they said to them, Inna an-naasa qad jam'u lakum fakhshawhum These armies are coming from all over Arabia to eat you. They will consume you. You should fear them. And it increased the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the companions in faith.

**[3:08]** Wa qalu hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel They said the same thing that Ibrahim A.S. said as he was thrown into the fire. And the fire did not hurt Ibrahim A.S. because Allah removed the heat of the fire. And the army did not hurt the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam

**[3:23]** and the companions because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala removed the strength of that army. All it came down to was hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel Allah is the best. Allah is sufficient for me. And he is the best protector. He's the best one to dispose of my affairs.

**[3:40]** Imam Malik Rahimahullah Ta'ala He actually had these words inscribed on his ring. Hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel Some of the companions of Imam Malik Rahimahullah They asked him, he said, how come you only have hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel He said, because what follows hasbuna Allah wa ni'ma alwakeel is

**[3:56]** fanqalabu bini'matin min Allahi wa fadlin lam yamsas hum sooq That they returned with the favor from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and his bounty, having no harm touched them. No harm had touched them. And so not only did Allah protect them, Allah gave them more. Allah increased them as he did with Ibrahim Alayhi Salam,

**[4:14]** as he did with Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, as he did with the companions, as he does with anyone who really calls out to him and who affirms that Allah is the best protector and Allah is sufficient for them. And Allah is the best disposer of our affairs. And a lot of times we don't really realize this until we're in a situation

**[4:33]** where we feel like we've hit our lowest point, where we feel like we have no choice, but to turn back to Allah when all of the asbab, when all of the means of this world are taken away from us. And we have no choice, but to turn to Allah Al-Ahad, Allah the one.

**[4:48]** And it's really poetic because a lot of times you don't realize what Allah has given you in himself until everything else has been taken away. And that's why a lot of times it takes time for us to really appreciate the power of a dua. HasbunAllah means you have no one, but Allah, even if you have others,

**[5:07]** Allah is sufficient for you. Allah is sufficient for you. Ni'mal wakil, Allah is the best disposer of our affairs. What that means is that even if you have others to support you in your affairs, even if you had no one to dispose of your affairs, even if you had no one to advocate for you, even if you had no one, but Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la

**[5:25]** wa kafa billahi wakila, He is sufficient Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la as a disposer of your affairs. You have to affirm with certainty that Allah is the best and Allah is sufficient. Even if you are distracted by the plentiful means around you, or you

**[5:42]** are desperate because you have no means around you, Allah is sufficient for me. Allah is enough. And this is particularly powerful, by the way, when you are al-madhloom, when you are the oppressed one. Da'watul-madhloom, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the cry of the oppressed, there is no hijab, there is no veil between it and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.

**[6:00]** Even if that person was a disbeliever, if they were calling upon Allah alone without attributing any partners to him, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la responds, I will support you, la ansurannaki, I will support you, walaw ba'daheen, even if it comes after some time.

**[6:17]** But that's usually when we find ourselves falling into a situation into a place where we get to discover Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in a powerful way. And this is something we train ourselves with so that when we feel the hardship

**[6:33]** of this world, whether it is the crushing power of an oppressor or the crushing tongue of a slanderer, we go right back to hasbiAllahu wa ni'ma al-wakeel. Aisha radiAllahu anha, we see when she was slandered in Madinah and she looked around and she didn't find anyone to support her, she didn't find anyone

**[6:50]** advocating for her, instinctively she said, hasbiAllahu wa ni'ma al-wakeel. She immediately remembered this remembrance, hasbiAllahu wa ni'ma al-wakeel. Allah is sufficient for me and he's the best disposer of my affairs. And just as Allah did not let Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam down, did not let

**[7:05]** Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam down, he didn't let Aisha radiAllahu anha down either, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la revealed ayat, ayat in her support and elevated her as a result of that slander. Dear brothers and sisters, there's a narration that's mawqoof, that stops at Abu Darda radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

**[7:22]** It's very powerful about making this part of our daily lives. And that's probably one of the things that we can interrogate ourselves with, with these duas, with these remembrances is that sometimes we wait for an extraordinary situation to make these extraordinary duas that could transform

**[7:38]** our ordinary lives if we do them on a daily basis. Abu Darda radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, whoever says seven times in the morning and in the evening, Hasbi Allah la ilaha illa hu, alayhi tawakkaltu wa huwa rabbu al-arsh al-azim, Hasbi Allah, Allah is sufficient for me.

**[7:56]** La ilaha illa hu, there is no God but Him, alayhi tawakkaltu, upon Him, I have placed my trust, wa huwa rabbu al-arsh al-azim, and He is the Lord of the mighty throne, that if a person says this seven times in the morning, seven times in the evening, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will remove all that distresses them.

**[8:12]** And you'll find in mental health books and classes that to deal with anxiety, they tell you to repeat certain phrases. SubhanAllah, here you have this guidance to repeat this phrase seven times in the morning, seven times in the evening, Hasbi Allah, la ilaha illa hu,

**[8:27]** alayhi tawakkaltu, wa huwa rabbu al-arsh al-azim.

## Other Episodes in "A Voice in the Desert"
- [Episode 10: When We Live Abraham's Legacy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-10-when-we-live-abrahams-legacy.md)
- [Episode 9: When Abraham Sent Us a Message](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-9-when-abraham-sent-us-a-message.md)
- [Episode 8: When Abraham Met Muhammad ﷺ](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-8-when-abraham-met-muhammad.md)
- [Episode 7: When the House of Allah Was Built](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-7-when-the-house-of-allah-was-built.md)
- [Episode 6: When Abraham Prayed for His Descendants](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-6-when-abraham-prayed-for-his-descendants.md)
- [Episode 5: When Abraham Prayed Against Idols](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-5-when-abraham-prayed-against-idols.md)
- [Episode 4: When Mecca Was Established](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-4-when-mecca-was-established.md)
- [Episode 3: When Abraham Became the Father of Nations](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-3-when-abraham-became-the-father-of-nations.md)
- [Episode 2: When Abraham Asked for Redress](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/a-voice-in-the-desert/episode-2-when-abraham-asked-for-redress.md)