﴿ إِذْ قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِۦ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ ﴾

“[how it was] when he asked his father and his people, “What is it that you worship?””

Abraham’s community went on doing whatever they saw their forefathers doing. But Abraham thought things over independently. He tried to discover the Truth by rising above his environment. This is the quality which particularly leads a man to realisation-based knowledge of God (ma‘rifah), and one who reaches perfection in this quality is chosen by God as a messenger, or prophet, for His religion.