- 5/25/2025
In today’s video, we delve into one of the most powerful stories in Islamic tradition — the dramatic confrontation between Prophet Ibrahim (Alayhis Salaam) and the tyrant King Nimrod, along with the miraculous trial by fire and its astonishing divine outcome.
🌟 Main Topics Covered in This Video:
🔹 Who was Nimrod (Namrud) — the arrogant king who ruled a vast empire
🔹 The rise of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) as a prophet and monotheist in a land of idol worship
🔹 Ibrahim (AS)’s courageous invitation to Tawheed (Oneness of Allah)
🔹 The famous debate between Ibrahim (AS) and Nimrod
🔹 Nimrod’s false claim of divinity and his flawed logic
🔹 The miraculous fire incident and how Allah saved His prophet
🔹 Nimrod’s ultimate downfall through the weakest of Allah’s creation — a mosquito
🔹 Authentic references from the Qur'an, Hadith, and Islamic historians
📖 Qur’anic Reference:
This story is beautifully mentioned in the Qur’an:
“Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord [merely] because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death,’ he said, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.”
— Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:258
This Ayah captures the core of the debate — a display of divine wisdom versus earthly arrogance.
📚 Historical & Hadith Sources:
This story is further detailed in classical Islamic works including:
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
Musnad Ahmad
Sahih Bukhari (regarding the lizard and the fire)
Ibn Asakir’s Tariqh Dimashq
Qasas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets)
According to narration, when Ibrahim (AS) was thrown into a massive fire built by Nimrod’s order, Allah commanded:
"O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrahim!"
(Surah Al-Anbiya 21:69)
Not only did the fire not harm him, but his time in it was described as the most peaceful of his life.
🐜 Nimrod’s Humiliation & Death:
To end Nimrod's arrogance, Allah didn’t send a mighty army or a great calamity. Instead, a tiny mosquito entered Nimrod’s nostril and tormented him for years, highlighting Allah’s ability to use even the smallest of His creations to humble the mightiest tyrants.
🔥 Lessons from the Story of Ibrahim (AS) and Nimrod:
✔️ The power of Tawheed and unwavering faith in Allah
✔️ The futility of arrogance and disbelief
✔️ Allah’s ability to protect His servants in miraculous ways
✔️ The importance of clear and logical dawah (inviting to Islam)
✔️ How truth always triumphs over falsehood
🧠 Who Should Watch This Video?
This video is perfect for:
✅ Students of Islamic knowledge
✅ Teachers and parents looking for Islamic stories for children
✅ Seekers of historical context behind Qur'anic
🌟 Main Topics Covered in This Video:
🔹 Who was Nimrod (Namrud) — the arrogant king who ruled a vast empire
🔹 The rise of Prophet Ibrahim (AS) as a prophet and monotheist in a land of idol worship
🔹 Ibrahim (AS)’s courageous invitation to Tawheed (Oneness of Allah)
🔹 The famous debate between Ibrahim (AS) and Nimrod
🔹 Nimrod’s false claim of divinity and his flawed logic
🔹 The miraculous fire incident and how Allah saved His prophet
🔹 Nimrod’s ultimate downfall through the weakest of Allah’s creation — a mosquito
🔹 Authentic references from the Qur'an, Hadith, and Islamic historians
📖 Qur’anic Reference:
This story is beautifully mentioned in the Qur’an:
“Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord [merely] because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death,’ he said, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west.’ So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment], and Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.”
— Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:258
This Ayah captures the core of the debate — a display of divine wisdom versus earthly arrogance.
📚 Historical & Hadith Sources:
This story is further detailed in classical Islamic works including:
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
Musnad Ahmad
Sahih Bukhari (regarding the lizard and the fire)
Ibn Asakir’s Tariqh Dimashq
Qasas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets)
According to narration, when Ibrahim (AS) was thrown into a massive fire built by Nimrod’s order, Allah commanded:
"O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrahim!"
(Surah Al-Anbiya 21:69)
Not only did the fire not harm him, but his time in it was described as the most peaceful of his life.
🐜 Nimrod’s Humiliation & Death:
To end Nimrod's arrogance, Allah didn’t send a mighty army or a great calamity. Instead, a tiny mosquito entered Nimrod’s nostril and tormented him for years, highlighting Allah’s ability to use even the smallest of His creations to humble the mightiest tyrants.
🔥 Lessons from the Story of Ibrahim (AS) and Nimrod:
✔️ The power of Tawheed and unwavering faith in Allah
✔️ The futility of arrogance and disbelief
✔️ Allah’s ability to protect His servants in miraculous ways
✔️ The importance of clear and logical dawah (inviting to Islam)
✔️ How truth always triumphs over falsehood
🧠 Who Should Watch This Video?
This video is perfect for:
✅ Students of Islamic knowledge
✅ Teachers and parents looking for Islamic stories for children
✅ Seekers of historical context behind Qur'anic
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Peace and blessings be upon you. Welcome to our channel HistoryTube.
00:06Today we will discuss the debate between Nimrod and Prophet Ibrahim,
00:11peace be upon him, his trial by fire, and its astonishing outcome,
00:16all in light of the Quran, Hadith, and well-known Islamic history.
00:21The Lineage of Nimrud. According to scholars of tafsir,
00:26Quranic exegesis, historians and genealogists, this king was from Babylon.
00:33Mujahid Ramatullah Ali mentioned that his name was Namrud, Ibn Kinnan, Ibn Kush, Ibn Sam,
00:41Ibn Na. Others have traced his lineage as Namrud, Ibn Fali, Ibn Abir, Ibn Sali, Ibn Arfakshad,
00:50Ibn Sam, Ibn Na. The incident of Prophet Ibrahim, Alayhi Salaam, breaking the idols.
00:59For the wise, even a hint is enough. But when people blindly cling to something,
01:05even a hundred logical arguments prove useless. So Ibrahim thought that he must do something that
01:12would shake the entire society and awaken their senses. Along with that, the spirit of tawhid,
01:19belief in the oneness of Allah, might emerge among them. With this intention,
01:25he decided to go to the community's central temple and break the idols.
01:30The community of Ibrahim, Alayhi Salaam, used to celebrate a particular festival annually,
01:36which was full of wastefulness and indecent acts, just like the way materialistic and
01:41desire-driven people act today under the guise of culture.
01:45Naturally, no prophet could participate in such a gathering. When the people invited him to join
01:53the festival, he made an excuse of being ill and declined. Then he thought,
01:59Today is the perfect opportunity. I will go to their temple and smash all the idols to pieces,
02:05so that when they return, they witness with their own eyes the helplessness of their false gods.
02:11Perhaps then, some of them will come to their senses, believe in Allah, and repent from Shirk,
02:18associating partners with Allah. After that, he entered the temple and looking at the idols said,
02:25There's so much food and offerings placed in front of you, why don't you eat? What's the matter?
02:32Why don't you speak? Then with the axe in his right hand, he struck them all violently and shattered
02:39them. However, he left the biggest idol intact so that the people might turn to it for answers.
02:47After the festival, when the people returned and visited the temple, they were shocked to see the
02:53condition of their idols. They began to say, This must be the work of Ibrahim. We always hear him
03:00speaking against idol worship. So they brought Ibrahim and asked him, O Ibrahim,
03:07Is it you who has done this to our gods? Ibrahim replied, Rather, this biggest idol did it.
03:16Ask them if they can speak. Hearing this, the leaders of the community felt ashamed and lowered
03:24their heads. They said, You know very well that these idols cannot speak. He said, Do you then worship
03:32things other than Allah that can neither benefit nor harm you? Do you worship things you yourselves
03:38have crafted with your own hands? Yet it is Allah who created you and your actions. Woe to you and to
03:47what you worship besides Allah. Do you not understand? Then what was bound to happen happened.
03:54Driven by rage and arrogance, the leaders of the community planned to punish Ibrahim severely.
04:02They decided that he must not be allowed to live. Not only that, but he must be given a punishment so
04:09exemplary that no one would dare to follow in his path. They proposed burning him alive, and this plan
04:16was presented to King Namrud. Since Ibrahim was the son of the chief priest and an advisor of the king,
04:23he was brought directly to the royal court of the emperor.
04:29Debate with King Namrud and the trial by fire. Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him,
04:36took this opportunity as a chance to deliver the highest level of invitation to Tawheed,
04:41belief in the oneness of Allah. Namrud, who had ruled for 400 years, had grown arrogant and prideful,
04:50considering himself the only deity. So he asked Ibrahim, Tell me, who is your lord?
04:58Namrud thought that Ibrahim would acknowledge him as a deity. But Ibrahim fearlessly replied,
05:05My lord is the one who gives life and causes death.
05:08The dull-minded Namrud said, I too give life and cause death, meaning that he could save a person
05:16sentenced to death and execute one who is acquitted, thus claiming authority over life and death.
05:22Ibrahim then presented a second argument, Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east.
05:29So bring it from the west.
05:31At this, the disbeliever Namrud was dumbfounded.
05:37Sura al-Bakara, Ayah 2 58.
05:40When they failed to defeat Ibrahim, peace be upon him in debate and had no evidence to present in
05:46their favor, they abandoned reason and turned to force and power, so they could preserve their
05:52ignorance and arrogance. From the king down to the common people, all agreed on one verdict,
05:58As punishment for insulting the gods and opposing the religion of their forefathers,
06:03Ibrahim should be thrown into a blazing fire and burned alive. Such a grievous offense,
06:10they believed, deserved this punishment, and it was the only way to avenge the insult to their
06:15deities. But Allah Almighty devised a plan to foil their plot. Allah says.
06:22They said, Burn him and support your gods, if you are going to act.
06:28We said, O fire! Be coolness and safety for Ibrahim.
06:34They wanted to harm him, but we made them the worst losers.
06:39Sura al-Anbaya, Ayah 68-70.
06:44The people began collecting firewood from all possible places.
06:48For a long time, they remained engaged in this task. Among them, if a woman was ill,
06:56she would vow that if she recovered, she would collect firewood for burning Ibrahim,
07:01peace be upon him. Eventually, they dug a massive pit, filled it with wood, and set it ablaze.
07:09The fire became so intense that its flames reached heights never seen before.
07:14Then they placed Ibrahim into a large catapult-like device called a manjanic to throw him into the
07:21fire. This device was built by a man named Hazan from the Kurdish tribe. He was the first to invent
07:29the manjanic. Allah caused him to be swallowed by the earth, and he will continue to sink until the
07:36day of judgment. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was tightly bound and dragged toward the device.
07:43While being taken, he repeatedly said, There is no deity except you, you are the most pure.
07:52Sovereignty belongs only to you. You have no partners.
07:57Bound hand and foot, Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was placed in the manjanic and thrown into the fire.
08:05At that moment, he said, Allah is sufficient for me, and he is the best disposer of affairs.
08:12The resemblance between Prophet Ibrahim, alaihi salam, and the messenger Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
08:23In Sahih Bukhari, it is narrated from Abdullah ibn Abbas radiallahu on who that when Prophet Ibrahim,
08:30peace be upon him, was thrown into the blazing fire, he said, Allah is sufficient for me,
08:36and he is the best disposer of affairs.
08:40Bukhari, Hadith 4563. The same supplication was made by the final Prophet Muhammad,
08:48peace and blessings be upon him.
08:51During the Battle of Uhud, when the wounded Mujahideen heard that Abu Sufyan had not returned
08:57to Makkah but was coming back to Medina to annihilate the Muslims, and they reached a place
09:02called Hamra al-Assad, a small group of seventy wounded companions who followed the Prophet sallallahu
09:08alaihi wa sallam cried out in unison, Allah is sufficient for us, and he is the best disposer
09:15of affairs. This incident is also mentioned in the Quran. Those to whom hypocrites said,
09:23Indeed the people have gathered against you, so fear them. But it only increased them in faith,
09:29and they said, Sufficient for us is Allah, and he is the best disposer of affairs.
09:36So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the
09:43pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.
09:48Surah Al-Imran, Ayahs 173-174.
09:54Abu Yillah, Ramatullah alayh, narrated from Abu Huraira radiyallahu on who that the Messenger
10:01of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said. When Ibrahim alayhi sallam was thrown into the fire,
10:08he said, O Allah, you are the only one worshipped in the heavens, and I am the only one worshipping
10:16you on earth. Some scholars have said that Jibril alayhi sallam came to Prophet Ibrahim
10:22alayhi sallam adair, and asked, Do you need any help? To which Ibrahim alayhi sallam replied,
10:31I do need help, but not from you. According to Ibn Abbas radiyallahu on who and Sa'id ibn Juba'r
10:39radiyallahu on who, at that time, the Angel in charge of rain, Mikael alayhi sallam said.
10:47If I am commanded, I will immediately send down rain. However, Allah's command arrived before that.
10:56Allah said. We said, O fire! Be coolness and peace upon Ibrahim.
11:02Ibn Abbas radiyallahu on who and Abul aliyah said, If Allah had not said peace after commanding the fire
11:10to be cool, then Ibrahim alayhi sallam would have suffered from a cold. Kab al-Abar, Ramatullah
11:17alayhi said, No person on earth could benefit from fire that day. The only thing that burned was the
11:24rope with which Ibrahim alayhi sallam was bound. Zuhak, Ramatullah alayhi, reported that Jibril
11:32alayhi sallam was with Ibrahim alayhi sallam inside the fire and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
11:39Other than this slight perspiration, the fire had no effect at all.
11:44Sudi, Ramatullah alayhi said, The angel who provides shade was also present with Ibrahim
11:50alayhi sallam. While he was in the deep pit surrounded by high walls, flames of fire were blazing all around.
11:58Yet Ibrahim alayhi sallam remained in a lush green garden, safe and at peace. People witnessed this
12:05with their own eyes. Yet, no one could approach Ibrahim alayhi sallam, and he could not come out
12:13to them either. Abu Hurera radiyallahu on who said, Upon witnessing the miraculous state of his son in
12:20the fire, Ibrahim's father said, O Ibrahim, what a wonderful lord you have.
12:28A Mother's Love for Prophet Ibrahim alayhi sallam
12:32Ibn Asakir, Rahamahullah, narrates from Ikrima radiyallahu on who,
12:39When Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was in the fire, his mother witnessed the scene and said,
12:45O my beloved son, I want to come near you. Please ask Allah to protect me from the fire surrounding you.
12:55Ibrahim alayhi sallam replied, Yes, I will ask.
13:01Then his mother approached him. The fire did not harm her. She went near her son, embraced him, kissed him,
13:10and then returned without any injury or harm. Minhal ibn Amar radiyallahu on who narrates.
13:18Prophet Ibrahim alayhi sallam remained in the fire for forty or fifty days. During this time,
13:25Ibrahim alayhi sallam later said, During the days I spent in the fire,
13:31I experienced such peace and comfort as I had never felt in my entire life.
13:36He further said, If my entire life had passed in that state, it would have been the most blissful
13:43life imaginable. Thus, though his community tried to harm him out of enmity and to take revenge,
13:51they utterly failed. They wanted to gain glory, but they were disgraced. They wanted to be victorious,
13:58but they were defeated, Allah says. They planned to harm him, but we made them the worst losers.
14:07Quran In another verse, Allah says, We made them the lowest.
14:14In this way, they faced loss and humiliation in this worldly life, and the hereafter will be even
14:21more disgraceful for them, Allah says. Hell is the worst abode and final destination for them.
14:29The Command to Kill the Lizard
14:32Imam Bukhari narrates from Amsharik, Rahamahallah, that the Messenger of Allah,
14:38Peace and blessings be upon him, commanded to kill lizards. He said,
14:43It blew air into the fire against Ibrahim, Peace be upon him.
14:50Imam Ahmad narrates from Sumama, a freed slave of Faki ibn al-Mugairah, who said,
14:56One day I visited the house of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, and I saw a stick or small
15:03spear there. I asked, O mother of the believers, what do you do with this stick?
15:09She replied, I use it to kill lizards. Because the Messenger of Allah, Peace be upon him,
15:18told us. When Ibrahim, Peace be upon him, was thrown into the fire, there was no creature on
15:25the earth that did not try to extinguish the fire, except the lizard. It blew into the fire to
15:31increase its flames against Ibrahim alayhi salam. That is why the Prophet, Peace be upon him,
15:38commanded us to kill them. This hadith has also been narrated by Ibn Majah.
15:46Nimrod's debate with Prophet Ibrahim alayhi salam, Mujahid, Rahamahallah, and others have said that
15:54among the kings who ruled the entire world, Nimrod was one of them. According to historians,
16:00there are four such kings in total, two believers and two disbelievers. The two believing kings were,
16:081. Dulkarnain, and 2. Suleiman, Solomon, Peace be upon him. The two disbelieving kings were,
16:203. Nimrod, and 4. Bukhti Nasser, Nebuchadnezzar. Historians mention that Nimrod ruled for 400 years.
16:32Over time, he reached the peak of oppression, arrogance, and transgression, and he chose worldly
16:40life as his ultimate goal. When Ibrahim, peace be upon him, called him to worship the one and only
16:47God with no partners, his ignorance, misguidance, and arrogance led him to deny the existence of the
16:54Creator. He entered into a debate with Ibrahim alayhi salam and claimed to be a god himself.
17:00When Ibrahim alayhi salam said, My lord is the one who gives life and causes death.
17:08Nimrod replied, I too give life and cause death.
17:14Katada, Sati, and Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Rahimahallah wrote. Nimrod, at that moment, called for two men who
17:23were sentenced to death. He executed one and pardoned the other, trying to imply that he had
17:29given life to one and death to the other. However, this was no valid counterargument to Ibrahim's
17:37alayhi salam reasoning. It was nothing more than an irrational act inconsistent with the actual point
17:44debate. The control over creation, bringing beings into existence, causing them to perish, regulating
17:51the stars, winds, clouds, and rain, requires a true supreme controller. Hence, Ibrahim alayhi salam
18:01clearly said, My lord is the one who gives life and causes death. Therefore, Nimrod's claim,
18:08I too give life and cause death, if he meant it in the absolute cosmic sense, was nothing but arrogant
18:15nonsense and a denial of reality. Then, Ibrahim alayhi salam presented another proof, which made
18:23the existence of the Creator clear and exposed Nimrod's falsehood. Indeed, Allah brings the sun
18:30from the east, so bring it from the west. Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah 2 58. That is, this sun rises daily
18:41from the east under Allah's command, and it follows a fixed orbit. This is proof that Allah is one,
18:48there is no other deity, and he alone is the creator of all things. So, if Nimrod truly had the power to
18:55give life and cause death, then he should have been able to make the sun rise from the west.
19:01Because the one who controls life and death can surely control the sun. No one can prevent his will
19:08or render him powerless. Everything is under his command and submits to his will. Thus, if Nimrod was
19:16truly a lord as he claimed, he should have been able to do this. But if he could not, his claim was false.
19:24And indeed, not only could Nimrod not do this, he couldn't even create a simple mosquito.
19:32After this argument, Nimrod's ignorance, falsehood and arrogance were exposed,
19:38even to his own ignorant followers. He was unable to answer and stood silent and dumbfounded.
19:45As Allah says in the Quran. So the disbeliever was dumbfounded.
19:50And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.
19:55Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah 2 58.
19:59Sudi, Raha Mahalla, wrote that this debate between Nimrod and Ibrahim alaihi salam took place after
20:06Ibrahim alaihi salam came out of the fire unharmed. There was no public gathering. Only the two of them
20:13were present during the debate. Abdur Razak, narrating from Hazret ibn Aslam
20:21radiyallahu anhu, reported. Nimrod had stored vast quantities of food supplies. People used to go to
20:29him in groups to receive food. Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, also went with one such group to collect
20:37provisions. During this time, a debate took place between him and Nimrod. As a result, Nimrod denied
20:46him food and sent him away empty-handed. Ibrahim alaihi salam came back with empty containers.
20:54Near his home, he filled two of the vessels with earth and thought to himself that when he reached
20:59home, he would get involved in household matters and avoid any embarrassment. Upon arriving,
21:06he left his animal and entered the house, leaning against the wall and sitting down. Soon he fell
21:13asleep. Meanwhile, his wife Sarah went to the vessels and saw that they were now filled with fine
21:20food ingredients. She prepared food from them. When Ibrahim alaihi salam woke up, he saw the cooked food and
21:29asked. Where did you get this from? Sarah replied. From what you brought.
21:37At that moment, Ibrahim alaihi salam understood that Allah had provided them with special sustenance,
21:44risk, through divine means. Nimrod's arrogance and his destruction by a mosquito.
21:50Zayd ibn alaihi salam r.a. on who reported. Allah sent an angel to that arrogant king,
21:58Nimrod. The angel invited him to believe in Allah, but he refused. The angel called him a second time,
22:07then a third time, each time Nimrod refused and arrogantly declared. Gather your army,
22:13and I will gather mine. The next day at sunrise, Nimrod assembled his army,
22:20while Allah sent an army of countless mosquitoes. The number of mosquitoes was so vast that the sun
22:27was obscured from sight. Then Allah unleashed the mosquitoes upon Nimrod's army, and the mosquitoes
22:34drank their blood and devoured them. One mosquito entered Nimrod's nostril and remained lodged inside
22:41for four hundred years, continuously biting and tormenting him. During this time, he used to
22:48strike his own head with a hammer in a desperate attempt to relieve the pain. Eventually, this is how
22:55Allah destroyed him. Ibrahim alaihi salam, on the other hand, passed the trial by fire when he was
23:03thrown into the flames, and Allah nullified all the plots of the disbelievers. After this event,
23:09a new chapter began in the life of Prophet Ibrahim alaihi salam.
23:16If you enjoyed this journey through history, like, comment, and share with fellow history lovers.
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