Re: Quranic verses in praise of Imam Ali (as)
[2:127] And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower.
[2:128] Our Lord! and make us both submissive to Thee **and (raise) from our offspring a group submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou art the Oft-returning (with mercy), the Merciful
When Ibrahim (as) and Ismail (as) raised the foundations of the holy Kabah, they prayed to Allah to accept their service, make them both Muslims (submissive to Allah), and also make their descendants Muslims, and raise up in them a messenger who would recite to them Allah's revelation, teach them the book and the wisdom and purify them.
This prayer shows that there had always been some men and women in the progeny of Ibrahim (as) who were true Muslims, through whom the divine light of Prophet Muhammad (saww) and Ali (as) passed till it reached Abdul Muttalib. Then his two sons Abdullah and Abu Talib carried it separately. Abdullah transferred it to Muhammad (saww). and Abu Talib transferred it to Ali, the vicegerent and the successor of the Holy Prophet the first of the twelve Imams the divinely commissioned rightly guided guides for mankind. "I and Ali are from one and the same light", said the Holy Prophet
The word ummat does not always means a community or a nation. In verse 120 of al Nahl it refers to a single individual.
This prayer also shows how difficult it is to be a true Muslim. Even a distinguished prophet of Allah like Ibrahim (as) makes a request to Allah to let him remain a Muslim.
Tafseer Al Mizan on Al Baqarah, verse 128
The words translated here as submissive and submitting are muslim and its feminine muslimah respectively. Obviously, the definition of Islam, with which we are familiar, and which comes to our minds as soon as we hear the word, Islam, is just the elementary grade of servitude; it distinguishes a professed convert from the one who openly rejects the faith. This elementary Islam means professing the matters of faith and doing necessary deeds, no matter whether it is done with true belief or hypocritically. Now, Ibrahim (a.s.) was a prophet, a messenger and one of the five ulu 'l-'azm apostles, who gave us the upright faith. It is unthinkable that such a great prophet had not attained, at the time when he was praying, this most elementary grade of Islam. Likewise, his son, Ismail (a.s.), was a messenger of Allah and had been offered as sacrifice in His way. Can it be said that they had got that much Islam but were unaware of it? Or that, although they were aware of having attained to that Islam but wanted to continue on it? Just look at the context of the prayer: Those who prayed were so near to Alton; they were praying while building His Sacred House; they knew whom they were praying to, and who He was and how great His splendor is. Could they, in that position, ask for such a trivial grade from the Lord Almighty? Moreover, this grade of Islam is among those things which are within the power of man himself; and that is why man can be ordered to accept it; as Allah says: When his Lord said to him: "Be a Muslim", he said: "I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds" (2:131). Obviously, such a quality or action cannot be attributed to Allah; likewise, it is meaningless to ask from Allah to do a work which has been placed within the power of the man himself. (Of course, it may be done if there is some special condition which makes Divine interference justifiable.)
Therefore, the Islam they had asked for was not that Islam whose definition we are familiar with. Islam has many grades, as may be see in the verse quoted above: When his Lord said to him (i.e., Ibrahim): "Be a Muslim" ' he said: "I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds" (2:131). Ibrahim (a. s.) was ordered to be a Muslim at a time when he was already a Muslim. Clearly, the Islam which he was told to attain was other than the Islam he had already attained. There are many such examples in the Qur'an
This sublime grade of Islam - which we shall explain in detail later on, means total servitude, unconditional surrender of all a servant has got to his Master. No doubt it is within a man's power to prepare the conditions facilitating its attainment. Yet, when we look at an average man and the usual condition of his heart and mind, such a high standard seems beyond his power to attain. In other words, it is not possible for him - in the conditions surrounding him - to get to that sublime Islam. From this point of view that Islam is not different from other positions of al-wilayah (= friendship of Allah) and its lofty stages, or from other grades of perfection -all of them are beyond the reach of an average man, because he cannot fulfill their necessary conditions. In this sense, it is possible to count that Islam as a Divine gift, which is beyond a man's power to attain by himself. Consequently, it is perfectly right for a man to pray to Allah to bestow on him that sublime quality and make him a Muslim of that high rank.
Moreover, there is another deeper connotations: It is only actions which are attributed to man and emanate from his free will and power; as for his attributes and deep-rooted traits (which are etched on his psyche by repeated actions), they are in fact beyond his power. Therefore, they may be - or let us say, should be attributed to Allah, especially if they are good and virtuous attributes, which should better be attributed to Allah rather than to man. This observation is based on the style used in the Qur'an. For example:
"My Lord! make me keep up prayer, and from my offspring (too) " (14:40);
" . . . and join me with the good ones" (26:83);
"My Lord! grant me that I should be grateful for Thy bounty which Thou has bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I should do good such as Thou art pleased with, and make me enter, by Thy mercy, into Thy servants, the good ones" (27:19);
"Our Lord! and make us both submissive to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a group submitting to Thee" (2:128).
It is now clear that the Islam, which Ibrahim and Ismail had asked for, was something different from the Islam to which the verse 49:14 refers: The dwellers of the desert say: "We believe. " Say: "You do not believe but say: 'We submit (we accept Islam)'; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts.”
The Islam they prayed for was of a high rank and sublime grade, which we shall explain later on.