129 Preface رَبَّنا وَابعَث فيهِم رَسولًا مِنهُم يَتلو عَلَيهِم آياتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الكِتابَ وَالحِكمَةَ وَيُزَكّيهِم ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ العَزيزُ الحَكيمُYusuf Ali“Our Lord! send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall rehearse Thy Signs to them and instruct them in scripture and wisdom, and sanctify them: For Thou art the Exalted in Might, the Wise1.”How beautiful this prayer is, and how aptly it conies in here in the argument! Such Paganism or star-worship or planet-worship as there was in Abraham’s time was first cleared out of Mecca by Abraham, This is the chief meaning of “sanctification” or “purification” in 2:125, although of course physical cleanliness is (in physical conditions) a necessary element of purification in the higher sense. Abraham and his elder son Isma'il then built the Ka‘ba and established the rites and usages of the sacred city. He was thus the founder of the original Islam (which is as old as mankind) in Arabia. As becomes a devout man, he offers and dedicates the work to God in humble supplication, addressing Him as the All-Hearing and the All-Knowing. He then asks for a blessing on himself and progeny generally, both the children of his eldest-born Ism a' il and his younger son Isaac. With prophetic vision he foresees that there will be corruption and backsliding in both branches of his family: Mecca will house 360 idols, Jerusalem will become a harlot city (Ezekiel 16:15), a city of abomination. But the light of Islam will shine, and reclaim the lost people in both branches and indeed in all the world. So he prays for God’s mercy, addressing Him as the Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. And finally he foresees in Mecca a Prophet teaching the people as one “of their own.” and in their own beautiful Arabic language: he asks for a blessing on Muḥammad’s ministry, appealing to the Power and Wisdom of God.