سورة الأنعام

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I said: "Master! We know that you are the chosen of Allah, on the evidence that Allah says: نَرْفَعُ دَرَجاتٍ مَنْ نَشاءُ [We exalt in dignity whom We please], and this verse: اللهِ أَعْلَمُ حَیْثُ یَجْعَلُ رِسالَتَهُ [Allah knows best where to place His message]." The Imam said: "O Mufaddal! You have spoken the truth."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The intended meaning is that by which Ibrahim (peace be upon him) argued against his father and his people.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Ibrahim's (peace be upon him) purpose in his previous statements was to establish the falsity of the religion and belief of those people, and to prove to them that things such as the sun, the moon and the star are not worthy of worship, and that worship is deserved by the Creator of the moon, the sun, the stars, the heavens and the earth. The argument he presented to his people was something that Allah had inspired in him, and Allah Himself says: تِلْکَ حُجَّتُنا آتَیْناها إِبْراهِیمَ عَلی قَوْمِهِ [And this was Our argument which We gave to Ibrahim against his people].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Azar, the uncle of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), was Nimrod's astrologer and did nothing except by his order. He said to Nimrod, "Last night I saw something strange." He said, "What is it?" Azar said, "A child will be born in this land of ours by whose hand will be our destruction and ruin." [So] men were kept away from women. Tarukh had had relations with the mother of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and she conceived Ibrahim (peace be upon him). [Nimrod sent people] to the midwives of that time to examine the women, and they were so skilled in their work that they could tell whatever was in a woman's womb. They examined the mother of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and Allah the Mighty and Majestic caused the child that was in her womb to cling to her back, and they said, "We see nothing in her belly." When the mother of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) gave birth to that child, she took him to a cave and placed him there and nursed him, and placed a stone at the mouth of the cave. Then Allah placed Ibrahim's (peace be upon him) sustenance in the tip of his thumb, and Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would suck it and milk would flow from it. His growth in one day was equal to the growth of other children in a week, and in one week he would grow as much as others grow in a month. He remained [in the cave] as long as Allah willed him to remain. Then she brought Ibrahim (peace be upon him) out of the cave and he saw the star Venus, which a group were worshipping. In denial he said, "Is this my Lord?!" It was not long before the moon rose, and a group were worshipping it too. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) also said [his words about the moon] in denial, so that it might be a proof against them in establishing tawhid and denying likeness [of Allah to creatures], and that is the statement of Allah the Exalted: وَ تِلْکَ حُجَّتُنا آتَیْناها إِبْراهِیمَ عَلی قَوْمِهِ [And this was Our argument which We gave to Ibrahim against his people].