Al-Anbya 68: They said, “if you are going to do something, burn him and help our deities.”

We have come to Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 68. Some of them said: If you are going to act, burn him and help our gods, they said. Some of them: Burn him and help our gods. Look, God, the Creator, needs help, according to their minds. God needs help. God has no hand against the one who torments Him, (?) Who will do it? Senseless fools. Who will do it? Those who, with selfish feelings, bear a grudge against Allah. Who will do it? Eternal life in Hell, the place of eternal torment, of which He says, what an evil return, what a resting place, of which He says, what an evil abode — those who buy that place.

They are the ones who will do this. Yes. Thereupon the wrongdoers who persisted in denial and rebellion, swimming in the darkness of shirk, associating partners with Allah, said: If you are going to act, that is, if you love your gods, then to help them, burn the one who broke our gods and betrayed them. What kind of reason, what kind of understanding is this, that they believe what they made with their own hands to be a god? Things that cannot protect themselves, cannot speak, that are given into people's service, lifeless and soulless matter, they worship as a god. They are obeyed. While the creatures in the universe other than man do not associate partners with Allah, and fulfil without fail the duties they were created for, the things created to serve man, people, to the things created to serve people, people worship them by serving them.

Could there be any greater ignorance than this? Those who, out of hatred and arrogance toward Allah, forsake Allah and worship Allah's creatures are ignorant people who think they are taking revenge on Allah. Those who spend their lifetime, given to them for a fixed time, in ignorant shirk and rebellion, when their life finally ends and they pass to the hereafter, have their record books brought before them and are called to account for what they did. They themselves realize that they were wrongdoers. When they see Hell, the (?) of eternal torment, through what their two hands did in the world they will have bought the torment in return.

According to the narrations, the one who made this proposal was Nimrod bin Kenan. When he threw Abraham (peace be upon him) into the fire, according to one narration he stayed 7 days in the middle of the fire in coolness and safety. During this time Gabriel and angels came to him in human form. When Nimrod watched this event from his palace, he admired the state of Abraham (peace be upon him). I swear that Abraham's god is very powerful. I will sacrifice four thousand cattle to Abraham's god, he said. He had Abraham brought out from where he was and said to him: For your god four thousand cattle I will sacrifice. Abraham said to Nimrod: Unless you believe in that one Allah, your sacrifices are of no use.

This event is said to have happened when Abraham was 16 years old. Yes, that is why it says We gave him his maturity beforehand, his maturity.

When Abraham (peace be upon him) was being thrown into the fire, everything except humans and jinn pleaded with Allah Almighty: They are throwing Your friend into the fire.

Yes, they are throwing Your friend into the fire, O Allah.

No one but him is left on earth to remember You.

Allow us to help him, they said. The creatures are saying this, the creatures. Not humans.

Thereupon Allah Almighty said: I will protect him.

And Abraham (peace be upon him) asked no one but Allah for help and said: Hasbünallahü ve ni'me'l-vekîl. What an excellent guardian He is, he said. Yes.