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What is ‘Millat Ibraheem’?

Research by : A. Muhammad

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What exactly is ‘Millat Ibraheem’ as we read about it in 16:123 and other verses? let us read some of these verses:

"Then we inspired you (Muhammad) to follow ‘millat Ibraheem’ (creed of Abraham), the monotheist; he never was an idol worshiper."   16:123

They said, "You have to be Jewish or Christian, to be guided." Say, "We follow the ‘millat Ibraheem’ creed of Abraham-monotheism-he never was an idol worshiper."   2:135

"Say, "GOD has proclaimed the truth: You shall follow ‘millat Ibraheem’ Abraham's creed-monotheism. He never was an idolater."   3: 95

"Who is better guided in his religion than one who submits totally to GOD, leads a righteous life and followed ‘millat Ibraheem’ (creed of Abraham): monotheism? GOD has chosen Abraham as a beloved friend. never was an idol worshiper."   4:125

"Say, "My Lord has guided me in a straight path-the perfect religion, ‘millat Ibraheem’ the creed of Abraham, monotheism. He never was an idol worshiper."   6:161

Here we note that in all the verses that mention the words ‘millat Ibraheem’ we notice that they are followed by the words ‘he was a monotheist and not idol worship’ …..

It is thus obvious that God is giving us the definition of the words ‘millat Ibraheem’ as being Monotheism (as opposed to idol worship). Consequently, when God commands Muhammad, and all of us, to follow ‘millat Ibrahim’, God is commanding us to follow Monotheism and refrain from idolatry.

When Joseph declared that he follows Millat Ibraheem he quickly added that it dictates him not to commit idol worship nor associating anything with God:

"And I followed the "millat" of my ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We never set up any idols beside GOD. Such is the blessing from GOD upon us and upon the people, but most people are unappreciative." 12:38

Should we accept God’s definition of the word ‘millat’ (creed), or should we devise a looser definition for the word ‘milat’ to mean all the religious rituals, rules and detailed regulations of Islam? The deliberate insertion of the words ‘monotheist, he was not an idol worshiper’ after the words ‘millat Ibraheem’ in all these verses that contain the words ‘millat Ibraheem’, compel us to accept that the words ‘millat Ibraheem’ refer to Abraham’s creed which is Monotheism.

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Are we accountable to what was

decreed for Abraham?

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FIRST

The Quran confirms that the practices of Islam are older than the Quran:

"We made them imams who guided in accordance with our commandments, and we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat). To us, they were devoted worshipers."21:73

According to 21:73 and other verses we are told that the rituals of Islam are older than the Quran and that they were indeed first given to Abraham. However, the words in the verse do NOT say that what we have inherited today, or what was practised at the time of Muhammad, are the pure rituals as given to Abraham without being corrupted.

SECOND

To analyse the truth of whether we are accountable to what was decreed for Abraham and those before us it is necessary to read the following verse:

"Then We revealed to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them. You shall rule among them in accordance with God's revelations, and do not follow their wishes if they differ from the truth that came to you. For each of you, we have decreed different ‘Shira’a wa minhaja’ (laws and rites). Had God willed, He could have made you one congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you. You shall compete in righteousness. To God is your final destiny-all of you-then He will inform you of everything you had disputed."  5:48

Here we note 3 very important messages:

1- 

"We revealed to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them. You shall rule among them in accordance with God's revelations"

These words confirm that we are commanded to follow what was revealed to us (Quran) and NOTHING else ….. In this verse the Quran is given the function of "confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them" ……. This asserts the fact that what was given to those before us has now been replaced by the Quran. We are thus accountable only to what is revealed to us (Quran) …. And not what was given to Abraham or the others. To insist that we are following rituals that we inherited from as far back as Abraham is in violation of the words "superseding them" that describe the Quran in 5:48

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The words "For each of you, we have decreed laws and different rites." tell us that the rituals given to each people (including us) are not identical to the ones given to those before them. As a result, and although we all follow the same creed of Monotheism and submission to God (Islam), yet the specific rituals and practices are different for different people.

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Moreover, the words "He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you." tell us a truly important matter. Here we are told that even though some (or all) of the rituals may have been passed down to us from those who came before us, yet God will test us and hold us accountable by means of the revelation He revealed to us (Quran) and NOT what was given to those before us. According to these words in 5:48, we shall be tested by the laws, regulations and rites that were given to us in the Quran, and NOT what we inherited from those before us.

THIRD

Not only did God inform us that each people were given a different set of ‘Shira’a wa minhaja’ (laws), but also that every people were given different RITUALS:

"For each congregation, we have decreed 'Mansakan' (set of rituals/rites) that they must uphold. Therefore, they should not dispute with you. You shall continue to invite everyone to your Lord. Most assuredly, you are on the right path." 22:67 (also 22:34).

We note that the word 'Mansakan', which is used in this verse, is different from the words which are used in 5:48. While as the words ‘Shira’a wa minhaja’ may be related to the laws explaining the methodology of performing the rituals, the word 'Mansakan' is speaking of the RITUALS themselves. We are told that these are not the same for different people. Consequently to claim that we are to follow the exact rituals that were given to Abraham is in violation with 22:67.

Now let us take a closer a look at verses 67 to 72 of Sura 22:

"For each 'ummah' (nation), we have decreed 'Mansakan' (set of rituals/rites) that they must uphold. Therefore, they should not dispute with you. You shall continue to invite everyone to your Lord. Most assuredly, you are on the right path.

If they argue with you, then say, "God is fully aware of everything you do."

God will judge among you on the Day of Resurrection regarding all your disputes.

Do you not realize that God knows everything in the heavens and everything on earth? All this is recorded in a record. This is easy for God to do.

Yet, they idolize beside God idols wherein He placed no power, and they know nothing about them.  The transgressors have no helper.

When our revelations are recited to them, clearly, you recognize wickedness on the faces of those who disbelieve.  They almost attack those who recite our revelations to them. Say, "Shall I inform you of something much worse? Hell is promised by God for those who disbelieve; what a miserable destiny."

We Note from these glorious verses a number of important messages:

1-  As mentioned the word 'Mansakan' speaks of rituals and how they are not the same for every people.

2-  The words "If they argue with you, then say, "God is fully aware of everything you do" are indeed very significant.  The question is 'why would the disbelievers argue with the believers in this context?'  ..... the reply is that they will argue with them because the believers choose to follow the rites given in the Quran and NOTHING else? .... the believers are NOT interested in rites that are inherited to them and labelled (came from Abraham)! ...... the believers believe God .... they are content that the Quran contains ALL the religion they must follow.

3- These words are then followed by yet equally potent words, these are:

"Yet, they idolize beside God idols wherein He placed no power, and they know nothing about them.  The transgressors have no helper.."

With these words God is stamping His seal on those people that they are idolising others beside God.  All those who do not believe God when He confirms that the Quran contains all our religion with ALL the details, regardless of what was decreed for those before us or what we inherited, they are indeed transgressors.  They are following rules and rites from outside the Quran, thus they have set up other gods to follow besides God.

4-  God's words of truth continue:

"When our revelations are recited to them, clearly, you recognize wickedness on the faces of those who disbelieve.  They almost attack those who recite our revelations to them."

FOURTH

If we take a look at the verses leading to 5:48 we note that God holds each receivers of a Scripture accountable only to what they were given in their Scripture, and not to what was given to those before them:

In 5:44 we read that God gave the prophets of Israel the Torah and commanded them to rule with it (Yahkum biha) ..... the last words in the verse give this warning : (those who do not rule with God's revelations are the disbelievers) ....

Then in verse 46 God says that He gave Jesus the Injeel and once again (in verse 47) God repeats the warning He gave to the receivers of the Injeel, the warning about those who do not rule in accordance with the revelation given to them .....

Then (in verses 48 and 49) God tells Muhammad that He gave him the Quran and that he should rule (Bima Anzal Allah) ..... the very first words in verse 48 confirm that (ma Anzal Allah) means the Quran (Kitaab) and nothing else .....

This time the warning of ruling with God's revelations is repeated for us TWICE .... in verse 48 and once again in the first words of verse 49 .......

This warning, together with the confirmation that the Quran supersedes the older Scripture (5:48), confirm that we are not required to follow the previous Scripture which are the source of previous rituals, nor any accounts of what we have inherited, we are only to follow the Quran.

FIFTH

Furthermore, the Quran gives us the the message of our accountability to the Quran (and nothing else) on Judgement in very clear words in the following verse:

"This (Quran) is a message for you and your people which you shall all be accountable to"  43:44

SIXTH

"Such is a community from the past.  They are responsible for what they earned, and you are responsible for what you earned.  You are not answerable for anything they have done."  2:134

"That was a community from the past. They are responsible for what thay earned, and you are responsible for what you earned.  You are not answerable for anything they did." 2:141

The message of these two verses is once again loud and clear. We are not answerable to anything done by those before us, they had their rules and rites and we have ours. 

SEVENTH

The Quran also states a very important matter in the following verse:

"O you who believe, do not ask about matters which, if revealed to you prematurely, would hurt you. If you ask about them in light of the Quran, they will become obvious to you. God has deliberately overlooked them. God is Forgiver, Clement." 5:101

God confirms to us here that there are some matters that He has deliberately overlooked, and thus they are not required by us (they may have been required from those before us). God also tells us that if we inquire of them IN THE LIGHT OF THE QURAN, that they will be obvious to us.

This Quranic verse assures us yet again that what is NOT IN THE QURAN has been overlooked by God and thus is NOT REQUIRED OF US.

Besides all the above verses, this glorious verse also renders such phrases as 'details of rituals as given to Abraham’ as irrelevant.  This as well as God's assurance that NOTHING HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF THE BOOK (6:38), compels us to accept only the details of the rituals that are given in the Quran.  If they are not in the Quran, it is either because God has overlooked them, or because they are a corruption that was never authorised by God.

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Were the religious practices given to Abraham

preserved, and practised at the time of Muhammad?

Are they preserved until today?

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Some believe that the practices that were given to Abraham, were preserved and were practised at the time of Muhammad. They say that God would not ask Muhammad to follow the religion of Abraham if the latter was not known. They say that it must have been known and practised for Muhammad to be able to follow them.

As mentioned before, and since God is deliberate to always follow the words ‘millat Ibraheem’ with the words Monotheism and not idol worship, it is more sensible to accept that ‘millat Ibraheem’ simply means Monotheism as opposed to idolatry.  Consequently, the question of (God would not ask Muhammad to follow the religion of Abraham if it was not known) would not be applicable.  With the correct understanding of the phrase ‘millat Ibraheem’ it becomes obvious that all God asked of Muhammad and all of us in 16:123 is to follow monotheism from idol worship. The details of our religion are then given in the Quran

Now we come to the issue of whether there were in fact a group of people who were practising the same religious practices as given to Abraham, at the time of the revelation of the Quran.

If we stick to Quranic evidence we would quickly realise that this claim is totally unfounded.

1-   We are told in the Quran of various groups of people at the time of the revelation of the Quran. God mentions the Jews, also the Nasara (Christians) in various verses.  God also mentions the idol worshippers who worshipped stone idols (e.g. Allaat and Al-Uzzah …. See 53:19).  In all the Quran, there is never a mention of ANY group of believers at the time of Muhammad who followed the pure practices as given to Abraham. To claim that the practices given to Abraham were practiced in their purity at the time of Muhammad is thus an unfounded claim that has no Quranic support whatsoever.

2-  We are told in the Quran repeatedly, how the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) have corrupted the scripture given to them (see 4:46, 3:78, 2:75, 5:41). In that light it is hard to see how they could have had a preserved scripture to represent the pure practices and laws that God decreed.

3-  We are also told that the rituals, and specifically the prayer, were lost by generations that followed one another …. The claim that the rituals, and specifically the salat, were preserved and passed down generation to generation contradicts the Quranic evidence:

"After them (the prophets of Israel), He substituted generations who lost the Contact Prayers (Salat), and pursued their lusts. They will suffer the consequences." 19:59

Thus the claim that the rituals were preserved and practised at the time of Muhammad is totally without Quranic evidence.

4-   We are told in the Quran that although there was some kind of prayer observed by various factions at the kaba (at the time of Muhammad) yet that prayer was totally corrupt:

"Their Contact Prayers (Salat) at the shrine (Ka`bah) were no more than a mockery and a means of repelling the people (by crowding them out). Therefore, suffer the retribution for your disbelief." 8:35

Obviously , a prayer that is described by God as being full of mockery and a means of repelling the people, could hardly be the same Prayer that was given to Abraham.  This prayer could not be regarded in any sense as a testimony to the preservation of the salat since Abraham.

Moreover, verse 35 and the verses before it speak specifically about the idol worshippers. Hence the reference to their prayer could not be used to imply that the correct prayer was practised at the time of Muhammad. How could the prayer of idol worshippers be a correct prayer?  Yes, it can be said that the Quran informs us that there was some kind of prayer being practiced by the idol worshippers, but in no way does this Salat constitute evidence to justify the notion that Muhammad had access to the uncorrupted Salat as given to Abraham from those around him.

One last comment on 8:35. This verse has always been interpreted to be referring to the time of Muhammad fourteen centuries ago.  However, with some analysis, it can be seen that this verse applies as much today as it did fourteen centuries ago.  It is a fact that the salat today at the kaba is full of idol worship and glorification of Muhammad, but more important the words in the previous verse (8:34) give us some important clues:

"Have they not deserved God's retribution, by repelling others from the Sacred Masjid ......" 8:34

We can see how these words apply today to the authorities who prohibit the believers from observing their Hajj during the four months decreed by God for Hajj (2:197), and instead they restrict the time allowed for Hajj to the first ten days of the month of Zhu Al-Hijjah

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Does the Quran only detail laws that have

been changed and/or corrupted? Is the

Quran merely an ‘Amendment book’ ?

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This is another claim made by some believers. They say that the Quran does not detail everything, but only what has been changed or corrupted. Once again the Quranic evidence indicates contrary to this claim.

Nowhere in the Quran do we read ANY indication that the Quran only deals with the changes and corruption. As a matter of fact the words ‘fully detailed’ in 6:114, the words ‘nothing has been left out of the book’ in 6:38 and the words that describes the Quran as giving ‘explanation to everything’ in 16:89 all indicate that the Quran contains a complete and comprehensive law, and not just the changes.

If the Quran only deals with the changes as they claim, then God’s command in 6:114 to accept no laws from outside the Quran would necessarily mean that the religion we are following is incomplete, since it would be no more than a collection of amendments and corrections!

To conclude, the attempt by some to reduce God’s assurance that the Quran contains 'all the details' and that ‘nothing has been left out of the book’ to mean (the Quran only deals with the changes/corruption) is indeed a great error.

When God says EVERYTHING He means EVERYTHING …..

The word EVERYTHING indicates that the Quran contains all what we need for salvation, and not just the changes.

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Does the Quran outline only the main

concepts while the details are passed

down to us since Abraham?

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This is one more claim echoed by some believers.  Strange as it seems, the same believers who echo these ideas are the ones who spent years correcting the Sunni when they claim that the Quran only deals with the highlights and that the details are to be found in the Hadith/Sunna!

The only change is that the phrase 'Quran only gives the highlights' used by the Sunni's has been substituted by the phrase 'Quran only details the corrections' by the new hadith followers.  

Sunni's say  =  Quran does not have the details, Quran deals only with the highlights (details in hadith/sunna)

New Hadith followers's say  =  Quran does not have the details, Quran deals only with the corrections (details inherited and passed down from the time of Abraham).

God Says =  The Quran is FULLY DETAILED (6:114), the Quran deals with EVERYTHING (16:89) and NOTHING has been left out of the book (6:38).

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Does the Quran authorise us to take

the inherited rituals as a second source

of law besides the Quran?

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Once again, this is the claim of some believers. They say that the Quran alone is not sufficient for a believer to practice his/her religion but one must also uphold the inherited rituals. But still they claim that they follow the Quran alone!

They justify this by saying that all the practices of Islam (Salat, Zakat …etc) were first given to Abraham ….

This is quite true, no one will dispute this fact. However, there is a massive difference between God telling us that Islam is as old as Abraham, and between God telling us to accept what we inherited of rituals as a second source of law besides the Quran!

The first issue that Islam is as old as Abraham is a Quranic fact, it is not disputed. The second issue, which is the legality of us accepting our inherited rituals as a second source of laws besides the Quran is totally unsupported by any Quranic evidence.

For a start, the claim that the rituals have been preserved and passed down to us from the time of Abraham is absolutely without ANY Quranic support.  Nowhere in the Quran do we read of such preservation.  If anything, we are (and still are everyday) discovering how the rituals we inherited are full of corruption! The only thing guaranteed preservation is the Quran itself (15:9).

To those who say we must also uphold what was authorised by God’s messenger (even if it is not found in the Quran) fall into the realm of 42:21. Moreover, the glaring fact is that the personal teachings of any messenger will also be corrupted and changed with the passing of time. What should the believers in 100 years time do? will the personal teachings of the messenger be preserved then (15:9)?  Are the personal teachings of the messenger a scripture (42:21)?  Is the messenger authorised to have his own personal teachings (69:44)?

To claim that God has preserved our rituals and passed them down from generation to generation since Abraham raises the question of why then did God allow some of these practices to be corrupted? Is God only able to preserve some of our inherited rituals and not others? The mere suggestion of this false doctrine is an insult to God. The truth of the matter is that God NEVER promised to preserve anything but the Quran. Any claim otherwise is no more than a human innovation.

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Should we rely on

‘Universal Acceptance’?

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One further argument put forward by those who uphold rules and practices not authorised in the Quran such as the Stoning during Hajj, the 5 salat or the 2.5% for Zakat, is their reference to the fact that the greatest number of Muslims all over the world agree on these practices and figures. Consequently, they claim that this must be a sign that these practices have been preserved.

Once again, and by consulting Quranic evidence, we realise that this argument is quite contrary to the Quranic truth.

"If you obey THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE ON EARTH, they will divert you from the path of God. They follow only conjecture; they only guess." 6:116

From these Quranic words, we are ascertained that what the majority do or say is always astray from the path of God and that what they follow is no more than conjecture. This means that if we apply the concept of universal acceptance with regards to 24434 and others, that we must indeed REJECT these rules.  Indeed, absolute truth is only in God’s Scripture, anything from other than the Quran is pure guesswork.

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If the Quran contains everything why can’t

I find in it the recipe for cooking a curry?

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Believe it or not, some sceptics have asked this type of question!

The answer to this question is quite straightforward. The reason why the Quran does not contain information about how to cook a curry or how to drive our cars … etc, is given in the Quran. The function of the Quran is defined very clearly. The purpose of the Quran, or any scripture, is to provide us with the means for salvation. And therefore, since the way we cook a curry or the way we drive our cars does not affect our fate on judgement day, then their details are not included in the scripture.  We must always remember that the Quran is all we need FOR SALVATION .....

The Quran, like any other Scripture is a manual of how to get to heaven and how to correct our initial mistake ... the Quran contains all the details we need for this specific purpose.

To understand the meaning of 6:38 (the Quran contains everything) we must read a number of other verses as well:

First:

We are told in 2:38 that God's offer to redeem mankind involved sending us ‘Hoda’ (guidance), and that the ones who will accept this guidance, which in verse 2:39 is connected to ‘Ayat Allah’ (God’s revelations) will be redeemed while those who reject it will end up in hell ......

Second:

We are told that God sent us the ‘Hoda’ (guidance) through the Quran (27:2 , 31:3). We are also told that the guidance was given to the previous people in the previous Scripture (3:4) ......

Third :

After God has given us the exact duty of the Quran (and all the other scripture) , that being to give us the means for salvation, God tells us that the Quran contains everything ....... it is only logical to undesrtand the completeness of the Quran in relationship to its function, which is to give us the guidance and means for salvation.

Let us compare with the following situation:

If you are studying in school for a physics exam, and your teacher gives you a book and tells you it contains everything you need to pass the exam ..... you cannot one day tell him I did not find in the book how to cook a pizza !!!

The teacher never claimed that the book contains how to cook a pizza, he only said it contains everything to pass the exam .......

Moreover, you cannot go and borrow a physics book from the class of the year before you and follow it, since the questions you will get in your exam will be based on the book the teacher gave you and not the book given to them ........ you have your MINHAJ (rules) and they have theirs (see minhaj in 5:48) .......

Similarly, since God defined for us the function of the Quran (or any Scripture) as being the complete rules to attain salvation (2:38-39) (and to pass the test) then we must understand the completeness of the Quran according to the function ascribed to it and not in any other sense.

Once again, what all this confirms is the fact that to attain salvation and redeem our souls in God's heaven (In Sha Allah) we only need the (menhaj) (rules and laws) that are set for us, and NOT the menhaj that was given to those before us ........ in 5:48, we are told that our menhaj is the Quran and not the rituals or Scripture given to Abraham or the others.

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