Quranic Sciences

43. " O' my father! There has come unto me of knowledge which has not come unto you, so follow me, I will guide you on a right path."

44. " O' my father! Serve not Satan. Verily Satan is disobedient unto the Beneficent (Allah)."

Commentary

After that, Abraham (a.s.) invites 'A-zar, with a clear logic in order that he follows him (a.s.) in that matter. He (a.s.) says:

" O my father! There has come unto me of knowledge which has not come unto you, so follow me, I will guide you on a right path."

That is, I have got a lot of knowledge by means of revelation, and I can say with certainty that I will not go on a wrong way, so I will never invite you unto a wrong way. I desire your felicity and your happiness, then accept my invitation to become prosperous, and, by paving this straight path, to reach the ideal destination.

Then, in the next verse, Abraham combines this positive aspect with the negative aspect, and the consequences that the opposition with this invitation produces, and says:

" O' my father! Serve not Satan. Verily Satan is disobedient unto the Beneficent (Allah)."

The objective meaning of "Serve not Satan" is the same as obeying and following Satan which causes man to become its servant and slave.

Of course, it is evident that the purpose of service, here, is not a service in the sense of prostration, prayer, and fasting performed for Satan, but it is in the sense of obeying and following the command of Satan which itself is counted a kind of service.

The meaning of 'worship, or service' is so vast that it encompasses even the listening to the sayings of a person with the intention of acting accordingly, and also putting the rule of a person to order, is counted a kind of worshipping him.

It has been narrated from the Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.) who said:

"He who listens to a speaker (willingly), he has worshipped him. Then, if the speaker speaks from the side of Allah, the one has worshipped Allah, and if the speaker speaks from the side of Iblis, the one has worshipped Iblis." 27

However, Abraham wants to teach this fact to his father (uncle) that no one can live without having a path, a policy. It may be either the path of Allah and the straight way, or the path of Satan, the disobedient, the astray. In this course, man should think correctly, take a decision for himself, and, far from bigotries and blindly followings, choose his good and benefit.

Notes:

27. Safinat-ul-Bihar, vol. 2, p. 115

Adopted from the book : "The Light of the Holy Qur'an; Interpretation of Surah Maryam" by : "Sayyid Kamal Faghih Imani and a Group of Muslim Scholars"