ভূমিকা

They said ‘Peace!’ He answered ‘Peace!’ and he did not delay to bring a roasted calf.” Now is time to focus on one of the highlights of the life of Abraham, the iconoclastic champion. Of course, only that part of his story, which deals with the story of the people of Lot and punishment of this unruly people is being discussed here. The Qur’an says that Allah’s messengers (angels) came to Abraham, bearing good tidings, though they had come to deliver a message to Abraham (as) before.

The verse says: “And certainly Our messengers (the angels) came to Abraham with glad tidings...” There are two hypotheses incompatible with each other, as to what message those angels were carrying: First; the message relates to tidings regarding the birth of Ismail and Isaac which were great good tidings for him. Secondly, Abraham, who was tired of the unruliness and corruption of the people of Lot, became happy on hearing of the mission of the angels to destroy them.

When the messengers arrived they gave him the greetings of ‘Peace’ and he answered them likewise. Before long he had brought them a roasted calf. The verse says: “…They said ‘Peace!’ He answered ‘Peace!’ and he did not delay to bring a roasted calf.” The inference drawn from the sentence is that one of the rules of hosting a guest is that a meal should be prepared for him at the earliest possible time, after his arrival, for he can be both tired and hungry, especially when he is a traveler.

They said: ‘Fear not; we have been sent against the people of Lot’.” Abraham’s (as) fear is different from the kind of fear and weakness found in ordinary men when facing problematic situations, for he was the archetypical iconoclast in history who was never afraid of anything. Nevertheless focusing one’s attention on possible dangers and on being a possible target is another matter.