'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, said: "Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true Muslim, and he was not of the polytheists." "Indeed, the people most worthy of Ibrahim are those who followed him, and this Prophet, and those who believed. And Allah is the Protector of the believers." Allah, the Exalted, informed in this verse about the reality of Ibrahim's matter. He denied for him Judaism, Christianity, and polytheism, which is the worship of idols. This includes the polytheism that is encompassed by Judaism and Christianity. The arrangement of the denial is of utmost eloquence: He denied the essence of the sects and established the good state, then He denied clearly that those sects contain this corruption, which is polytheism. This is like saying: I did not take money for you, but I preserved it, and I was not a thief, thus you denied the worst that can be in taking. Then He informed, with a confirmed statement, that the people most worthy of Ibrahim, the Friend of Allah, may peace be upon him, are those who followed him in his true religion; and here enters everyone who followed the true religion throughout the ages. And this Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, because he was sent with the easy true religion. And 'the Prophet' in grammar is an adjective, or an appositive, or a substitute, and in being a substitute there is consideration. 'And those who believed' means in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the other prophets in what is required without the distorters and changers. Then He informed that Allah, the Exalted, is 'the Protector of the believers,' a promise from Him to them of victory in this world and bliss in the Hereafter.

The term 'Hanif' is derived from 'hanif', which means uprightness. It is said to mean inclination, and from this, a person whose leg is bent is called 'ahnaf'. So, 'Hanif' in terms of uprightness means the one who is straight, and in terms of inclination, it means the one who deviates from the crooked religions to the path of truth. The interpretations of the scholars regarding the term 'Hanif' differ, to the extent that some of them said: 'Hanif' refers to the pilgrim. All of these expressions relate to 'hanif' in a manner such as pilgrimage and others. Al-Tabari narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar from his father that Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail went to Sham asking about the religion and following it. He met a scholar from the Jews and asked him about his religion, saying: 'I want to be on your religion.' The Jew said: 'You will not be on our religion until you take your share of the wrath of Allah.' Zayd said: 'I flee only from the wrath of Allah, and I will never carry anything of the wrath of Allah as long as I am able. So, can you guide me to a religion that does not have this?' He said: 'I do not know it except to be Hanif.' Zayd asked: 'What is Hanif?' He said: 'The religion of Ibrahim, he was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and he worshipped only Allah.' Zayd left him and met a scholar from the Christians and spoke to him similarly to how he spoke to the Jew, except that the Christian said: 'With your share of the curse of Allah.' Zayd left him, and they both agreed on the religion of Ibrahim. He kept raising his hands to Allah, saying: 'O Allah, I bear witness that I am on the religion of Ibrahim.' Abdullah ibn Mas'ud narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'Every prophet has guardians from the prophets, and my guardian among them is my father and my friend, my Lord Ibrahim.' Then he recited: 'Indeed, the people most worthy of Ibrahim.'