When The Fire Doesn't Burn

We said "O fire! be thou cool and (a means of)) safety for Abraham!" (Quran 2:170)

Yahya Abdul Rahman - April 11, 2005

There are many profound yet simple lessons in the Holy Quran which we should reflect upon in order to obtain guidance and understanding from Allah. In our limited capacity to understand the full reality of things we many times assume that events have to unfold along a certain progression. If X happens then Y must happen, we say. The fact that Y usually does happen when X takes place only buttresses our belief further. 

The people of prophet Ibrahim were completely   disgusted with him as he spoke out against their idolatry (see: http://www.iad.org/Islam/abraham.html). In their anger they tossed him into a blazing fire with the view to destroying him and silencing his message once and for all. But Allah granted prophet Ibrahim a miracle and instead of the fire burning him it was actually a source of coolness.

You may look at your own circumstance you currently find yourself in - or fire if you will - and think in your mind that "since I am in this particular situation then this or that is going to take place and there is no way out, the 'fire' is going to definitely burn me and I am destroyed for sure."  

But, my dear readers, sometimes the fire does not burn and sometimes if X happens Y does not necessarily follow.  Although we may be bound by the laws of nature which Allah has put in place and which governs the Universe, Allah is not bound by such laws. Allah will do as He pleases and if He says the fire will not burn then it is not going to burn. In fact - as was the case of prophet Ibrahim - Allah can make the fire do the exact opposite of what we would expect it to do.

For sure, the fire will be intimidating as we always expect it to burn. We would not expect it to do otherwise. No doubt prophet Ibrahim at the time thought he was a goner for sure as he, or anyone else, never saw fire providing coolness, but only blazing heat.

The fire which Ibrahim was tossed into was not only source of coolness but a means of safety for him. Not only did the fire not destroy him, but it protected him for harm. Even so, when we face our own personal "fire" it may seem that it is doing harm to us, but in fact it may actually be a source of our salvation in the hereafter and, in addition, make us stronger and better believers in this life if we are patient.

Yes, my dear readers, sometimes the fire doesn't burn.