Abraham on fire

Abraham on fire

Prophet Abraham was arrested and imprisoned. Then Namrud ordered that wood be collected to make a huge bonfire. Soon after a heap of firewood was prepared they set it on fire and made a huge fire out of it in the middle of the desert. The fire burnt fiercely and widely for days and
days. It had generated so much heat that no bird dared to fly nearby. The dancing flames of fire were so outstretched and hot that nobody could even get close. The people of Babylon retreated so that the fire would not burn them. Abraham’s hands were tied. The fortune tellers thought that he would be afraid of the fire, and that he would apologize to them for destroying their Gods. However, Abraham was waiting calmly for his fate, for he believed in God and was not afraid of anybody or anything except Him. It is related that when Prophet Abraham was being thrown into the fire, the angels in the heaven and the birds in the air cried in protest.
At the appointed day on which Prophet Abraham was to be put in the fire and burnt, Namrud with his large army and followers came out to that place to watch. On seeing the huge fire and the intense heat, he began to ponder as to how it would be possible to convey Prophet Abraham into the fire. In the mean time a lizard slithered as close to the fire as he could get. With water in his little mouth he spit it at the fire trying to douse it. The other animals around him seeing him said, “What difference will it make?” The lizard replied: “On the day of Judgment (Qiyama), when I will come before my Creator, I will say that I tried my best.” Namrud decided to build a large catapult and Prophet Abraham was thrown into the fire using this catapult. So they used a large catapult to throw Abraham into fire to console themselves and decrease their rage. When Prophet Abraham was flying in the air towards the fire, the angel Gabriel (Jibraeel) came to ask him if he needed his help. Prophet Abraham replied, “It is a matter between my Lord and me I do not want any one to intervene.” As God the Glorified, created fire and gave it the ability to bum, He was able to take that ability away from it. At first, Abraham was disappeared in the fire and people thinking that he was burnt, started to shout happily. But it was through God’s will that the flames of fire got cold for Abraham and did not harm him. The area on which Abraham fell became a beautiful garden of flowers, but the fire surrounded the garden. Namrud and his followers were amazed to see Prophet Abraham sitting calmly and comfortably in the middle of the burning fire, realized that fire had done no harm to Abraham. While they were all gazing admiringly of this heavenly miracle and sign of God, they understood the righteousness of Abraham’s invitation and the truthfulness of his words and claims. But even then they did not learn any lesson and had something up their sleeves, especially Namrud, remained proud and stubborn.