Tafsir of Maryam 19:47

قال

Ibrahim said: With this, Ibrahim said to his father,

سﻼم عليك

Peace be on you! This is as Allah said concerning the description of the believers,

وإذا خاطبهم الجهلون قالوا سﻼما

and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they say, "Salaman (peace).'' (25:63) Allah also says,

وإذا سمعوا اللغو أعرضوا عنه وقالوا لنا أعملنا ولكم أعملكم سلم عليكم ﻻ نبتغى الجهلين

And when they hear Al-Laghw (false speech), they withdraw from it and say: "To us our deeds, and to you your deeds. Peace be to you. We seek not (the way of) the ignorant.'' (28:55) The meaning of Ibrahim's statement to his father,

سﻼم عليك

(Peace be on you!), "You will not receive any insult or harm from me.'' This is due to the respect and honor of fatherhood.

سٲستغفر لك ربي

I will ask forgiveness of my Lord for you. meaning "But, I will ask Allah to guide you and forgive you for your sin.''

إنه كان بي حفيا

Verily, He is unto me Hafiyya. Ibn Abbas and others said that Hafiyyan means, "Kind.'' Meaning, "since He guided me to worship Him and direct my religious devotion to Him alone.'' As-Suddi said, "Al-Hafi is One Who is concerned with his (Ibrahim's) affair.'' Thus, Ibrahim sought forgiveness for his father for a very long time, even after he migrated to Ash-Sham. He continued to seek forgiveness for him even after building the Sacred Masjid (in Makkah) and after the birth of his two sons, Ismail and Ishaq. This can be seen in his statement,

ربنا اغفر لى ولوالدى وللمومنين يوم يقوم الحساب

Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and (all) the believers on the Day when the reckoning will be established. (14:41) From this tradition, during the beginning stages of Islam, the Muslims used to seek forgiveness for their relatives and their family members who were polytheists. They did this following the way of Ibrahim, the Khalil (Friend) of Allah, until Allah revealed,

قد كانت لكم أسوة حسنة في إبراهيم والذين معه

إذ قالوا لقومهم إنا براء منكم ومما تعبدون من دون الله

كفرنا بكم وبدا بيننا وبينكم العداوة والبغضاء أبدا حتى تومنوا بالله وحده

إﻻ قول إبراهيم ﻻبيه ﻻستغفرن لك وما أملك لك من الله من شيء

Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him, when they said to their people: "Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone,'' -- except the saying of Ibrahim to his father: "Verily, I will ask forgiveness for you, but I have no power to do anything for you before Allah.'' (60:4) meaning, except for this statement, so do not follow it. Then Allah explains that Ibrahim abandoned this statement and retracted it. Allah, the Exalted, says,

ما كان للنبي والذين آمنوا أن يستغفروا للمشركين ولو كانوا أولي قربى من بعد ما تبين لهم أنهم أصحاب الجحيم

وما كان استغفار إبراهيم ﻻبيه إﻻ عن موعدة وعدها إياه فلما تبين له أنه عدو لله تبرأ منه إن إبراهيم ﻻواه حليم

It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah's forgiveness for the Mushrikin, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state of disbelief). And Ibrahim's invoking (of Allah) for his father's forgiveness was only because of a promise he (Ibrahim) had made to him (his father). But when it became clear to him (Ibrahim) that he (his father) is an enemy of Allah, he dissociated himself from him. Verily, Ibrahim was Awwah and forbearing. (9:113-114) Concerning Allah's statement,