In describing the relationship between Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la and prophet Abraham peace be upon him,
Allah states in the Quran:
"And Allah took for Himself Ibrahim as his own Khaleel."
What does the word Khaleel mean?
It's very difficult to find an exact word in English that gives you the proper meaning.
But I can say that Khaleel is the highest form of love
that anyone can experience.
It's a type of love and connection that you have with someone after a long standing friendship.
This friendship has to be a type where you've gone through thick and thin together.
The meaning of Khaleel in Arabic also means
– to oppose everything that is against a beloved one of yours.
And that you are always standing by them in absolute loyalty.
We see in the story of Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam)
all of these things developing over time
until he reached this level of a relationship with Allah.
But before I go on,
this specific relationship was also shared by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The final and last Prophet
and also his great grandson.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said to his companions once the same thing, he said:
"If I were to take anyone as that person at that high level of friendship and love,
I would have chosen Abu Bakr."
He said:
"The most Merciful has taken your companion, (meaning Muhammad ﷺ) as his own Khaleel."
Meaning he only turns to Allah at time of need the ups and downs.
How did prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) become the Khaleel of Allah at that enormous and tremendous rank?
Well, now we can understand the entire life of prophet Ibrahim peace be upon him
and his connection with Allah, developing into this.
When we look back at the time when his father abandoned him, he lost that one,
but who was there for him?
Allah.
When he said:
"I will call upon Allah to forgive you father,
he never rejects a request that I make."
When we see prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) facing his people,
they all bully him, they call him names and they threaten him,
he turns to Allah and knows that Allah is there for him.
When he sees the star, the sun and the moon
and he wants to teach his people a lesson about God being above all of them,
he said to his people:
"I am innocent from everything you worship and everything that you follow,
other than Allah and my loyalty is to Allah."
When we see him being thrown into the fire and everyone has abandoned him,
his family, his close relatives, his own father and mother, everyone.
He turns and says:
"Allah is sufficient for me and how best is He one to rely on."
When we see prophet Ibrahim facing the king and he is exiled from the land, he is in the middle of a barren desert,
losing his home and his family, he says:
When we see prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) losing his own spouse, his wife,
not knowing if she will come back alive or dead
or whether he'll ever see her again.
He relies on Allah and even Sarah his wife says:
"Allah looked after us."
When prophet Ibrahim has commanded to put his own son Ismaeel to slaughter,
which is something that is almost inconceivable to the mind,
we can't understand it unless we had foresight and wisdom of a higher order,
a special command from Allah to tell him to slaughter his own son.
Why? He was preparing him for an enormous mission
which is not upon us and now we can understand
it's just like when you train or governments train elite forces,
and the way they train them is almost looks like torture
from a person who is sitting back in their peaceful home
but if they're going to defend the country and they're going to be loyal to their country
and they're going to stand up with no emotions or mental challenges
coming in their way and they don't lose their focus,
they have to take away all those weaknesses,
so Allah did the same with prophet Ibrahim.
Also we see prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam)
turning to Allah and relying on Him,
even in that most emotional and mentally tormenting situation.
He passed and Allah was there for him.
You see, Allah says in the Quran:
Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la He says: "And so this is how Allah chooses you."
He said this to all the prophets,
what is this choice of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la based on?
Everyone that Allah chooses for a high ranking purpose in life,
he puts them through intense trials and tests
and when they pass that test,
they become chosen
and you my dear brother and sister, can also become chosen through your trials and tests.
So be patient and only think well of Allah as Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) thought
and perhaps Allah is choosing you for an enormous purpose above all.
Brothers and sisters,
prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) in him were all the traits
of what makes him at that high rank of enormous love to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la,
he was an "Uswa" which means the greatest or among the greatest of role models for all people to come to the end of time.
He was the epitome of an example of reliance upon Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la,
his true trust and Tawakkul in Allah was everything,
prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) was the one who teaches us
how patience and and endurance through hardships and struggles
is attained for the highest form of true meaning of Sabr.
Prophet Ibrahim (Alaihi Assalam) is the example of great wisdom,
great knowledge and the one of obedience
and true submission of what the word Islam really means.
Through all these trials and never abandoning his Lord or his Lord abandoning him,
came about this enormous relationship called the Khaleel
and Muhammad ﷺ being the seal of the prophethood,
shared this same relationship with Allah.
And they taught us to work towards getting closer to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la,
whereas if we were to lose any of our loved ones around us,
whether we were to lose anything that was dear to our hearts in our life,
no matter what hardships we go through,
what excitement and happiness or sadness and grief we go to,
He told us – I am always there for you.
I end up with the words of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la where He says:
"There has come to you a great example and a guide in Ibrahim."