Topic: Merodach (Madruk)
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أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِى حَآجَّ إِبْرَٰهِۦمَ فِى رَبِّهِۦٓ أَنْ ءَاتَىٰهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَٰهِۦمُ رَبِّىَ ٱلَّذِى يُحْىِۦ وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا۠ أُحْىِۦ وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَٰهِۦمُ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْتِى بِٱلشَّمْسِ مِنَ ٱلْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ ٱلْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ ٱلَّذِى كَفَرَ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
3:157; 9:116; 40:69; 57:3.
اَنْ اٰ تَاہُ اللّٰہُ الْمُلْکَ میں ہ کی ضمیر کو ترجمہ میں بحث کرنے والے کی طرف پھیرا گیا ہے۔ لیکن جائز ہے کہ یہ ضمیر ابراہیمؑ کی طرف پھرتی ہو۔ اس صورت میں یہ معنے ہوں گے کہ وہ ابراہیم ؑ سے اس حسد کی وجہ سے بحث کرنے لگ گیا کہ ابراہیم ؑ کو کیوں اللہ نے روحانی بادشاہت عطا فرمائی ہے۔
حَآجَّہٗ: خَاصَمَہٗ (اقرب) اس سے بحث کرنے لگ گیا۔ اصل معنے حُجَّۃٌ کے اس دلیل کے ہیں جس سے انسان دوسرے پر غالب آجائے۔ لیکن باب مفاعلہ میں آکر اس کے معنے خالص بحث کرنے کے بھی ہو جاتے ہیں۔
مفسرین کہتے ہیں کہ حضرت ابراہیم علیہ السلام نے اپنی کمزوری دیکھ کر بحث کا پہلو بدلا۔ لیکن یہ بات درست نہیں۔ اصل بات یہ ہے کہ حضرت ابراہیم علیہ السلام کی قوم ستارہ پرست تھی اور وہ سمجھتے تھے کہ تمام مخلوق کی زندگی اور موت سورج کے ساتھ تعلق رکھتی ہے۔ جب مباحثین نے ضد اختیار کی تو حضرت ابراہیم علیہ السلام نے کہا کہ تیرے اختیار والی موت اور زندگی میری دلیل میں مرادنہ تھی‘ میری مراد یہ تھی کہ دنیا میں حیات و ممات کا جو سلسلہ جاری ہے یہ خدا کے اختیار میں ہے جس کے متعلق تیرا یہ عقیدہ ہے کہ وہ سورج کے اختیار میں ہے۔ پس اگر واقعہ میں تو وہی خدا ہے جس کے ہاتھ میں موت و حیات کا
3:157; 9:116; 40:69; 57:3.
Abraham was a great iconoclast. His people worshipped the sun and the stars, their chief god being Merodach (Madruk), originally the god of the morning and the spring sun (Enc. Bib. & Enc. Rel. Eth.ii.p.296). They believed that all life depended on the sun. Abraham very wisely asked the infidel that if he, as he claimed, controlled life and death, then let him reverse the course of the sun on which all life depended. He was in a fix. He could not say that he could not accept Abraham’s challenge to bring the sun from the West to the East, for that would have demolished his claim of being the controller of life and death, and if he had said that he could do so, it meant that he claimed to exercise control over the sun which would have been a great blasphemy in the eyes of his people who worshipped the sun. Thus he was completely confounded and did not know what to say.
3:157; 9:116; 40:69; 57:3.
Commentary:
The preceding verses spoke of the great rise and success in store for Muslims—their being brought out of darkness into light. Now the Quran proceeds to illustrate the promised rise and advancement. It takes us back to the days of Abraham.
An incident in the life of the great Patriarch has been cited to illustrate the truth of the statement made in the previous verse, viz. that God is the friend of believers; He helps them against their enemies and shows them the way of success, leading them out of darkness into light.
Abraham was a native of Ur of the Chaldees. His people worshipped the stars and their chief god was the Sun. Their greatest god was Merodach (or Madruk), who was originally the god of the morning and the spring sun. He was also called Bel, i.e. Lord (Enc. Bib. and Enc. Rel. Eth. ii. 296).
Abraham was hostile to the worship of idols and false deities and vehemently preached against them. He once set fire to a house which contained wooden images. On another occasion, be broke certain idols to pieces and burned them, whereupon he was produced before the king, whose name is recorded as Nimrod (Gen. 10:8, 9 and Jew. Enc. under Abraham) and who was also worshipped by the people as a representative of their deities. The king, it appears, threatened Abraham with ruin and death, to which Abraham firmly and boldly replied that he could do him no harm, for it was His Lord God Who granted life and caused death. As the king laid claim to godhead, he wrathfully rejoined that it was he who exercised these powers. Now Abraham knew that Nimrod and his people believed that all life depended on the sun, so if it was true that it was the king who controlled life and death, it meant that even the sun was under the control of the king and that the final power of life and death attributed by Nimrod and his men to the sun was a mere farce. So he pertinently asked the king to send back the sun from the west to the east (i.e. put it aside), for in such case the sun could not be recognized as the final controlling power. The king was in a fix. He could not say that he did not possess the power to send back the sun, for that would have exposed him. At the same time he could not say that it was he who caused the sun to rise from the east and set in the west, for his people looked upon the sun as the supreme deity, superior to the king himself, and if he had claimed any power over the sun, he would have surely roused the ire of his people against him. So he was dumbfounded and knew not what reply to make.
e
3:157; 9:116; 40:69; 57:3.
1
اَنْ اٰ تَاہُ اللّٰہُ الْمُلْکَ میں ہ کی ضمیر کو ترجمہ میں بحث کرنے والے کی طرف پھیرا گیا ہے۔ لیکن جائز ہے کہ یہ ضمیر ابراہیمؑ کی طرف پھرتی ہو۔ اس صورت میں یہ معنے ہوں گے کہ وہ ابراہیم ؑ سے اس حسد کی وجہ سے بحث کرنے لگ گیا کہ ابراہیم ؑ کو کیوں اللہ نے روحانی بادشاہت عطا فرمائی ہے۔
2
حَآجَّہٗ: خَاصَمَہٗ (اقرب) اس سے بحث کرنے لگ گیا۔ اصل معنے حُجَّۃٌ کے اس دلیل کے ہیں جس سے انسان دوسرے پر غالب آجائے۔ لیکن باب مفاعلہ میں آکر اس کے معنے خالص بحث کرنے کے بھی ہو جاتے ہیں۔
3
مفسرین کہتے ہیں کہ حضرت ابراہیم علیہ السلام نے اپنی کمزوری دیکھ کر بحث کا پہلو بدلا۔ لیکن یہ بات درست نہیں۔ اصل بات یہ ہے کہ حضرت ابراہیم علیہ السلام کی قوم ستارہ پرست تھی اور وہ سمجھتے تھے کہ تمام مخلوق کی زندگی اور موت سورج کے ساتھ تعلق رکھتی ہے۔ جب مباحثین نے ضد اختیار کی تو حضرت ابراہیم علیہ السلام نے کہا کہ تیرے اختیار والی موت اور زندگی میری دلیل میں مرادنہ تھی‘ میری مراد یہ تھی کہ دنیا میں حیات و ممات کا جو سلسلہ جاری ہے یہ خدا کے اختیار میں ہے جس کے متعلق تیرا یہ عقیدہ ہے کہ وہ سورج کے اختیار میں ہے۔ پس اگر واقعہ میں تو وہی خدا ہے جس کے ہاتھ میں موت و حیات کا
d
3:157; 9:116; 40:69; 57:3.
265
Commentary:
The preceding verses spoke of the great rise and success in store for Muslims—their being brought out of darkness into light. Now the Quran proceeds to illustrate the promised rise and advancement. It takes us back to the days of Abraham.
An incident in the life of the great Patriarch has been cited to illustrate the truth of the statement made in the previous verse, viz. that God is the friend of believers; He helps them against their enemies and shows them the way of success, leading them out of darkness into light.
Abraham was a native of Ur of the Chaldees. His people worshipped the stars and their chief god was the Sun. Their greatest god was Merodach (or Madruk), who was originally the god of the morning and the spring sun. He was also called Bel, i.e. Lord (Enc. Bib. and Enc. Rel. Eth. ii. 296).
Abraham was hostile to the worship of idols and false deities and vehemently preached against them. He once set fire to a house which contained wooden images. On another occasion, be broke certain idols to pieces and burned them, whereupon he was produced before the king, whose name is recorded as Nimrod (Gen. 10:8, 9 and Jew. Enc. under Abraham) and who was also worshipped by the people as a representative of their deities. The king, it appears, threatened Abraham with ruin and death, to which Abraham firmly and boldly replied that he could do him no harm, for it was His Lord God Who granted life and caused death. As the king laid claim to godhead, he wrathfully rejoined that it was he who exercised these powers. Now Abraham knew that Nimrod and his people believed that all life depended on the sun, so if it was true that it was the king who controlled life and death, it meant that even the sun was under the control of the king and that the final power of life and death attributed by Nimrod and his men to the sun was a mere farce. So he pertinently asked the king to send back the sun from the west to the east (i.e. put it aside), for in such case the sun could not be recognized as the final controlling power. The king was in a fix. He could not say that he did not possess the power to send back the sun, for that would have exposed him. At the same time he could not say that it was he who caused the sun to rise from the east and set in the west, for his people looked upon the sun as the supreme deity, superior to the king himself, and if he had claimed any power over the sun, he would have surely roused the ire of his people against him. So he was dumbfounded and knew not what reply to make.
a
3:157; 9:116; 40:69; 57:3.
321
Abraham was a great iconoclast. His people worshipped the sun and the stars, their chief god being Merodach (Madruk), originally the god of the morning and the spring sun (Enc. Bib. & Enc. Rel. Eth.ii.p.296). They believed that all life depended on the sun. Abraham very wisely asked the infidel that if he, as he claimed, controlled life and death, then let him reverse the course of the sun on which all life depended. He was in a fix. He could not say that he could not accept Abraham’s challenge to bring the sun from the West to the East, for that would have demolished his claim of being the controller of life and death, and if he had said that he could do so, it meant that he claimed to exercise control over the sun which would have been a great blasphemy in the eyes of his people who worshipped the sun. Thus he was completely confounded and did not know what to say.