Abraham the Close, Intimate Friend of God (4:125)

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Allah, holy and exalted, says

وَاتَّخَذَ اللّٰہُ اِبۡرٰہِیۡمَ خَلِیۡلًا

And Allah took Abraham as a very close intimate friend

(Surah 4, Ayah 125)

The Arabic word khalil means “a very close intimate friend” (Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p.284).

We Muslims often refer to the great Patriarch Abraham, peace be upon him, as Khalilullah and Khalil-ur-Rahman, the very close and intimate friend of Allah, the very close and intimate friend of the Rahman.

The Prophet Muhammad, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, said:

إِنَّ الْكَرِيمَ ابْنَ الْكَرِيمِ ابْنِ الْكَرِيمِ ابْنِ الْكَرِيمِ يُوسُفُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ بْنِ إِسْحَاقَ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلِ الرَّحْمَنِ

“Indeed, the honorable, son of the honorable, son of the honorable, son of the honorable is Joseph, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, Khalil-ir-Rahman.”

The Holy Prophet Muhammad, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, said about himself:

إِنَّ صَاحِبَكُمْ خَلِيلُ اللَّهِ

“Verily, your Companion is the very close intimate friend of Allah.” (Sahih Muslim)

So this title “Khalilullah” belongs especially to the Patriarch Abraham, but also to the one who resembles him fully, his descendant the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them both.

In the prophetic Scripture of Isaiah, the Patriarch Abraham is likewise singled out as the beloved friend of God:

הַחֲרִ֤ישׁוּ אֵלַי֙ אִיִּ֔ים וּלְאֻמִּ֖ים יַחֲלִ֣יפוּ כֹ֑חַ יִגְּשׁוּ֙ אָ֣ז יְדַבֵּ֔רוּ יַחְדָּ֖ו לַמִּשְׁפָּ֥ט נִקְרָֽבָה

“But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.” (Isaiah 41:8, KJV)

It is apparent to me that Surah 4, Ayah 125 of the Holy Quran is a confirmation of Isaiah 41:8, indicating further that the Scripture of Isaiah is truly a divinely inspired text to the ancient Prophet Isaiah. Although this Prophet is not mentioned by name in the Holy Quran or the Sunnah, he is surely in the category of من لم نقصص عليك  “the one We did not relate about to you, O Muhammad”.

According to the Talmud, the Prophet Isaiah suffered martyrdom by the hand of the wicked King Manasseh of Judah:

The Gemara expands on the events surrounding Isaiah’s death: Rava said: Manasseh judged him as a false witness for issuing statements contradicting the Torah and only then killed him. Manasseh said to Isaiah: Moses your master said in the Torah: “And He said: You cannot see My face, for man cannot see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20), and yet you said: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne” (Isaiah 6:1). Moses your master said: “For which great nation is there, that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is, whenever we call upon Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7), and yet you said: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6), which implies that God is not always near. Moses your master said: “I will fulfill the number of your days” (Exodus 23:26), which implies that each individual has a preordained allotted lifespan that he cannot outlive, and yet you said in a prophecy to King Hezekiah: “And I will add to your days, fifteen years” (II Kings 20:6). Isaiah said to himself: I know him, i.e., Manasseh, that he will not accept whatever explanation that I will say to him to resolve my prophecies with the words of the Torah. And even if I say it to him, I will make him into an intentional transgressor since he will kill me anyway. Therefore, in order to escape, he uttered a divine name and was swallowed within a cedar tree. Manasseh’s servants brought the cedar tree and sawed through it in order to kill him. When the saw reached to where his mouth was, Isaiah died. He died specifically as this point due to that which he said: “In the midst of a people of unclean lips, I dwell” (Isaiah 6:5). He was punished for referring to the Jewish people in a derogatory manner. (Yevamot 49b)

This story of the Prophet Isaiah being sawed to death while hiding inside a tree is also mentioned in the pseudepigraphical text called the Ascension of Isaiah.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, mentioned a man from history who was martyred by being sawed in half from the top of the head down:

وَيُوضَعُ الْمِنْشَارُ عَلَى مَفْرِقِ رَأْسِهِ فَيُشَقُّ بِاثْنَيْنِ مَا يَصْرِفُهُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ دِينِهِ

“A saw might be put over the parting of his head which would be split into two parts, yet all that would never make him abandon his Religion.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

It is quite possible that the Holy Prophet, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, was referring to the martyrdom of Isaiah, as he referred to the martyrdom of Rabbi Akiva, whom the Romans killed by scraping him with iron combs in 135 CE.

But Allah and His Apostle know best!