The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 224
PT. 1 CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH 129. Our Lord, make us submissive to Thee and make of رَبَّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِنَا اُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ وَاَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ -our offspring a people sub missive to Thee. And show us our ways of worship, and turn to us with mercy; for Thou art Oft-Returning with compassion and Merciful. 135 عَلَيْنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُوا And, our Lord, raise up. 130 عَلَيْهِمُ ايْتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الكتب among them "a Messenger from among themselves, who may 135. Important Words: "2:152; 3:165; 62:3. Cl (our ways of worship). The word is the plural of which is derived from which means, he devoted himself to religious worship; he performed acts of worship for God; he slaughtered animals of sacrifice to win God's pleasure. Ellis the religious rites or ceremonies of Pilgrimage; and also the places where these ceremonies are performed (Aqrab & Lane). Commentary: ,means الحج Having built the House, Abraham and his son Ishmael turn towards God with the supplication that He may afford them the power to lead a life of devotion and submissiveness and show them the ways of such worship as may be performed in the Ka'bah. This prayer of Abraham and Ishmael also brings out the very important point that even such righteous persons who stand high in the estimation of God need constant prayer for the further purification of 224 their souls and for the consecration of their good deeds by God, because, however noble and righteous the deeds of man may outwardly appear to be, they sometimes lack the true inner spirit and lead to evil consequences. Abraham and Ishmael here use the words (Muslim) for themselves and also pray that from among their posterity too there may be born m (Muslim) people who may be sub- missive and resigned to the will of God. This helps to explain another verse of the Quran which says of Abraham that it was he who first gave the name "Muslim" to the believers in the Holy Prophet (22:79). It is not of course meant that Abraham used the word in the above quoted verse as a proper name, but his using that word in his prayer certainly suggests that from among his progeny would be born a people who would not only bear that name but would also possess submission to the will of God. اسلام the spirit of i. e.