And when He reprimanded them for that due to their ignorance, glorified and exalted is He, He denied from Ibrahim, blessings and peace be upon him, what each of them claimed against him, according to what the first verse has proven. He also denied all polytheism from him and affirmed that he was inclined away from all falsehood, submissive with evidence to all truth by His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Ibrahim was not a Jew﴾, meaning as the Jews claimed, ﴿nor a Christian﴾, as the Christians claimed - for the evidence that has preceded. ﴿But he was a hanif, a Muslim﴾. And He clarified the meaning of hanif in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Say, rather the religion of Ibrahim was hanif﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 135], which applies to the Muslim. The knowledgeable Imam, the guardian of religion, Al-Malwi, stated in his book, 'The Fortress of Souls', regarding the questioning in the grave: The Jew is originally one who believes in Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, and adheres to the rulings of the Torah. The Christian is one who believes in Isa, blessings and peace be upon him, and adheres to the rulings of the Gospel. Then the Jew becomes one who disbelieves in what was revealed after Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, and the Christian becomes one who disbelieves in what was revealed after Isa, blessings and peace be upon him. The hanif is the one who is inclined away from all false religions, and the Muslim is the one who obeys the commands of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, in any book that was revealed with any messenger that was sent. If you wish, you could say: He is the one who submits to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, alone with his heart, tongue, and all his limbs, sincere in his actions for Allah, the Almighty. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to the one who asked him: 'Tell me in Islam a saying that I will not ask anyone else about.' He said: 'Say: I have believed in Allah, then remain steadfast.'" Then He specifically negated those known for polytheism along with the righteousness of anyone who has polytheism among them, like the one who associated with Uzair and the Messiah, blessings be upon them both, saying: ﴿And he was not of the polytheists﴾. In mentioning the descriptions of Islam and hanif, there is an allusion to them that they are in utmost stubbornness, coarseness, and rigidity in clinging to what is familiar, and abandoning what has come to them from clear evidence and decisive, manifest proofs.