Surah Al-Anbya, Ayah 72

The Migration of Ibrahim to Ash-Sham (Greater Syria), accompanied by Lut

Allah tells us that He saved Ibrahim from the fire lit by his people, and brought him out from among them, migrating to the land of Ash-Sham, to the sacred regions thereof.

وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَـقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ نَافِلَةً

(And We bestowed upon him Ishaq, and Ya`qub Nafilatan.) `Ata' and Mujahid said, "Nafilatan means as a gift." Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and Al-Hakam bin `Uyaynah said, "The gift of a son who has a son," meaning that Ya`qub was the son of Ishaq, as Allah says:

فَبَشَّرْنَـهَا بِإِسْحَـقَ وَمِن وَرَآءِ إِسْحَـقَ يَعْقُوبَ

(But We gave her glad tidings of Ishaq, and after Ishaq, of Ya`qub) 11:71. `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said, "He asked for one son, and said,

وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ نَافِلَةً (And We blessed him with Ishaq and Ya` qub as gift - 21:72) That is, Allah Ta` la had bestowed upon him the son Ishaq (علیہ السلام) as per his supplication and in addition to that a grandson Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) as a gift. This is why he is referred to as نَافِلَةً nafilah which originally means 'extra'.

Those who enjoy power always resort to oppressive methods when they fail in the field of reasoned argument. This happened likewise in the case of the Prophet Abraham. After the incident of the demolition of the deities, when the leaders of the community felt that they could not counter Abraham’s arguments, they started persecuting him. Finally, one day, intoxicated with power, they threw him in a pit of fire. But, a prophet is God’s representative on earth. Therefore, on this exceptional basis, God grants extraordinary help to prophets. So, in this case also, at God’ behest, the fire cooled down for him. Help of this kind can be available to a non-prophet also, provided he completely identifies himself with God’s plan to the same extent as a prophet does.