Abraham the Great Prophet 3

Abraham and His Nation

(((9(9(21-69)(29-16-21)(6-76-83)(37-83-95)(21-58)

Abraham was a keen observer of natural phenomena. His nation worshipped stars, so he thought of a clever way to show the nation the defects of star-worship. He went to the temple, where in the evening, his nation was waiting for the star to worship. Suddenly a shining star appeared in the blue sky; the priest and his choir started singing and worshipping it. Abraham quietly asked, “Is this God?” “Yes,” said the priest. After a limited time it disappeared.

 “How could a being present for a short time claim to be an omnipotent God?” asked Abraham. No answer was given to this question.

The night came after the evening; the full moon appeared. It was brighter than the star; the priest and the singers started their songs and worshipped it. Abraham again asked, “Is this God?” After a short while it disappeared. Abraham declared that if God had not shown him the true nature of these phenomena he might have belonged to the group of misled people

The night ended; the sun rose, and it was brighter than the star and the moon. The priest and singers started the songs in praise of the rising sun. However, it also disappeared after shining a while. Abraham declared that he could not accept this phenomenon of nature as an all-mighty God.

 “You do not believe in our gods; then who is your God?” asked one worshipper.

 “My God is one who brought the entire universe into existence from nothing and gave it guiding principles to obey. All the stars, moon, and sun follow these laws obediently. This truth is so clear to me that I have directed all my energies according to his laws, and I do not think anyone else has the capacity to be God.”

“We have seen our ancestors worshipping idols and stars; we are following in their footsteps,” was the answer given to Abraham.

“You are sticking to your ways only because your ancestors did so. You do not want to revise your decision about idol worship. You think that these gods are so powerful as to inflict pain and suffering upon you if you disobey them. I am going to devise a way to break this myth of powerful gods when all of you are absent,” declared Abraham.

Reason is a great gift from God; it guides the thinking powers into right directions. However, fallacious reasoning can be very harmful; an ordinary person usually finds it very difficult to distinguish between correct and fallacious reasoning. In order to prevent the confusion, Abraham employed a unique method to illustrate the truth. His method was to give irrefutable concrete examples to illustrate the abstract facts.

One day, the entire nation had gone to a festival. Abraham entered the temple. He saw a lot of delicious eatables presented to the idols.

“Why are you not eating these delicious niceties? Moreover, why don’t you talk?” he asked them ironically. After that he broke all the small idols, and put the hammer in the hand of the big idol. When the people returned and saw the idols were smashed into small pieces, their anger and grief knew no bounds. They asked the priests about the culprit. The priests were well aware of the declaration of Abraham but disinclined to admit it. They were afraid that people would hold them responsible for deliberately neglecting the care of the gods.

          Someone pointed out that a youth known as Abraham used to talk against the idols, so perhaps he had done it. The priests saw an opportunity to avoid the blame of neglect. So, Abraham was called into a common assembly and questioned.

He replied, “Why are you asking me? Ask the big idol; it will tell you. Perhaps they had an argument and the big one smashed the small ones in anger.”

The priests of the temple had been telling the common man that their gods were very powerful; they could talk, see, predict the future, and save them from danger and harm. A lot of stories about the moon god, the sun god, and his chariot with fiery black horses were floating in the society. These gods were always interfering with human beings. Sometimes, they were tempted to enter into romantic relationships with the glamorous maidens on earth and have children by them. Another manner of interference was to inflict punishments upon human beings for their sins. For the atonement of their sins, common men had to seek the help of priests. They brought rich presents and materials for the sacrifices to get rid of the sins. This was a lucrative business for the priests. They did no hard work but enjoyed the best of everything.   

The courageous action of Abraham broke the myth of the powerful gods, and the visible fact was that they were so weak that they could not save themselves from destruction. The broken idols presented a picture contrary to what was said about them. They were unable to point out their destroyer; he was standing hale and hearty before the assembly. Abraham’s response was so unexpected that all the priests were answer less. In shame they went to Abraham and said, “You are the son of the chief priest and you definitely know that these idols cannot speak. Why are you putting us in an awkward position in front of the public?”

Abraham realized that these priests were keenly alive to their own interest, which was to keep the common man away from critical thinking. They wanted the common man to know the universe as they had painted it, with the help of numerous stories and mysteries, and not as it is. The priests wanted the ordinary people to feel happy about the false promises which they were continually providing them, and not to know the facts.

The religious authorities of the country took Abraham as a challenge against their idols. They had no answer to his arguments, so they diverted their energies in brewing storms of conspiracies and intrigues against him.