"Our Lord! And raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite
unto them Your revelations, and shall instruct them in the Scripture and in wisdom
and shall make them grow. Lo! You, only You, are the Mighty, the Wise." [Qur'aan
2:127-29]The prayer sent up by Ibrahim (u) included the request that the House he was construct-
ing might become a sanctuary of peace and God might keep his progeny away from idol
worship. Ibrahim held nothing more in abomination than idolatrousness, nor deemed any-
thing more fraught with danger for his progeny, for he knew the fate of earlier idolatrous
nations. He was aware how the great Prophets of God had earlier struggled and fought this
evil throughout their lives, but in no long time after their departure from the world their
people were again misled into fetishism by devil's advocates disguised as promoters of faith.
Ibrahim (u) had implored the Lord to bless his descendants with his own spirit of struggle
against the evil of pantheism and iconolatry. He wanted his heirs to carry into their thoughts
how he had to strive all his life for the sake of Truth and Faith; how he had to bid farewell to
his hearth and home; realize why he had incurred the wrath of his idolatrous father; and
appreciate the wisdom behind his making a selection of that valley, unbelievably bare with
no scrap of soil, sheer from top to bottom and jagged and sharp for their habitation. He
wanted them to understand why he had preferred that wilderness, holding no prospects of
progress and civilization, over verdant lands and flourishing towns and centers of trade, arts
and commerce where one could easily meet one's wishes.
Ibrahim had invoked the blessings of God on his sons so that they might be esteemed and
adored by all the nations of the world; that the people of every nation and country might
become attached to his children; that they should come from every nook and corner of the
world to pay homage to his posterity and thus become a means of satisfying their needs in
that barren country. Allah says:
"And when Ibrahim said: My Lord! Make safe this territory, and preserve me and my
sons from serving idols.
"My Lord! Lo! They have led many of mankind astray. But whoso followeth me, he ve-
rily is of me. And whoso disobeyeth me still You art Forgiving, Merciful. "Our Lord! Lo!
I have settled some of my posterity in an uncultivable valley near unto Your holy
House, our Lord! that they may establish proper worship; so incline some hearts of
men that they may yearn toward them, and provide You them with fruits in order that
they may be thankful." [Qur'aan 14:35-37]