How Ibrahim broke the Idols

Then Ibrahim swore an oath, which some of his people heard, to plot against their idols, i.e., to break them and destroy them after they had gone away and turned their backs, when they went out to their festival. They had a festival which they would go out to celebrate. Abu Ishaq reported from Abu Al-Ahwas from `Abdullah Ibn Mas`ud, "When the people of Ibrahim went out to celebrate their festival, they passed by him and said, `O Ibrahim, are you not coming out with us' He said, `I am sick.' " It was only the day before that he had said,

وَتَاللَّهِ لأَكِيدَنَّ أَصْنَـمَكُمْ بَعْدَ أَن تُوَلُّواْ مُدْبِرِينَ

Commentary

وَتَاللَّـهِ لَأَكِيدَنَّ أَصْنَامَكُم (And I swear by Allah that I will do something to your idols - 21:57) The wording of the verse indicates that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) spoke these words before his community. But this explanation leaves a little doubt in one's mind because Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) had excused himself from going to the Eid festival by pleading illness إِنِّي سَقِيمٌ - I am sick - 37:89). And when they found their idols broken, they started a search for the culprit. If they already knew what he had said about their idols and that he had stayed behind alone when they had gone to attend the Eid function, then it was fairly obvious that he had broken the idols. Then where was the need for them to go looking for the offender? There are more than one explanations to this situation. One, that since Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was the only one holding these views and enjoyed no standing in the community, people might have ignored and even forgotten what he had said as something of no consequence. (Bayan ul-Qur'an). Two, that those who were looking for the culprit were a different lot of people and were not aware of what he (Sayyidna Ibrahim علیہ السلام) had said about their idols. While in a third version Mujahid and Qatadah are of the view that Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) did not speak these words before other people, but only pictured the situation in his mind, or had said that only at heart, or he might have spoken them before one or two old persons after the people had left for the festival. Later, when the idols were found broken and the people started looking for the one who did it, these old men revealed the secret to them. (Qurtubi)