Ibrahim Al-Khalil was an Imam for the People

Allah is informing us of the honor of Ibrahim Al-Khalil, who He made an Imam for the people, and a model to be imitated, because of the way he conducted himself and adhered to Tawhid. This honor was given to Prophet Ibrahim when he adhered to Allah's decisions and prohibitions. This is why Allah said,

وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَـتٍ

(34.) So far a whole section of this Surah has been dealing directly with the conduct of the Jews in the course of their history, and their present hostility to Islam, delineating the inner motives and mainsprings of this rabid opposition. As we have seen, they were proud of being the children of Jacob and of Abraham (Sayyidna Ya` qub and Sayyidna Ibrahim علیہما السلام), and believed that, being the chosen people of God, they had the exclusive privilege of being the leaders of humanity, and hence the station of prophethood could not be conferred on anyone who did not belong to their race. Now, the Holy Qur'an proceeds, in the present section of the Surah, to refute this line of thought in an indirect manner, by telling the story of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and of his elder son Sayyidna Isma'il (Ishmael علیہ السلام). This section is going to suggest some essential considerations in answer to the denial of the Holy Prophet on the part of the Jews:- (1) He alone can be a guide to humanity who is not unjust and not a transgressor, and has successfully gone through the trial imposed on him by Allah -- and these qualifications the Jews do not fulfill. (2) The Ka'bah کعبہ ، towards which the Muslims turn in Salah and which is not acceptable to the Jews, had actually been built by Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and hence the orientation (Qiblah) of the Muslims is the same as was his.(3) The way of Islam is the Way of Ibrahim , علیہ السلام , and the Muslims alone are his real followers. (4) It was Sayyidna Ibrahim himself who had prayed for the Last Prophet to be sent down to humanity, and hence one who at all wishes to follow his way cannot but affirm the Holy Prophet ﷺ and accept Islam. (5) It is wrong of the Jews to deny the Holy Prophet ﷺ merely on account of his not belonging to their race, for Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) had two sons, Sayyidna Isma'il and Sayyidna Ishaq (علیہما السلام) (Ishmael and Isaac ), and he had prayed for divine grace to descend on both of them (Genesis, ch. 17), so that the superiority enjoyed by the children of Isaac (علیہ السلام) in their own time had now been transferred to the children of Isma'il (علیہ السلام) . What these indications aim at is to show the Jews that if they wish to have a share in the grace of Allah, they had better acknowledge the Holy Prophet g and accept Islam, the last and now the only valid form of the Abrahamic Way --Translator.

The great trials put to Ibrahim (علیہ السلام)