120إِنَّ إِبراهيمَ كانَ أُمَّةً قانِتًا لِلَّهِ حَنيفًا وَلَم يَكُ مِنَ المُشرِكينَMuhammad AsadVERILY, Abraham was a man who combined within himself all virtues,1 devoutly obeying God's will, turning away from all that is false,2 and not being of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God:This is one of the many meanings of the term ummah and, to my mind, the one most appropriate in the above context. - The mention of Abraham at this place contains a subtle allusion to verse 118, where the Jews are spoken of: for, the latter claim to be "the chosen people" on account of their descent from Abraham, whereas the Qur'an consistently rejects all claims to a special status by virtue of one's descent. Moreover, the Qur'an states in many places that whereas this particular ancestor of the Hebrews - and, by the way, of most of the Arab tribes as well - was a personification of all that is good and upright, so that "God exalted him with His love" (4:125), his Jewish descendants always tended to rebel against God and, thus, "persistently wronged themselves".For an explanation of this rendering of the term han1f, see surah 2, note 110.