From Vicegerency to Leadership: The Trials of Abraham

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered in Woodbridge on 23 July 2026 Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The Doctor opened with prayers and peace upon our master and Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and Companions, with abundant peace. Then he made supplication: O Allah, we ask You for all good, its immediate and its delayed; and we seek refuge in You from all evil, its immediate and its delayed. We ask You for the things that necessitate Your mercy and the firm resolves of Your forgiveness, for a share of every righteous deed, and safety from every sin, and for the winning of Paradise and deliverance from the Fire. Our Lord, we ask You for the good of this night, the good of what is in it, and the good of what comes after it; and we seek refuge in You, our Lord, from the evil of this night, the evil of what is in it, and the evil of what comes after it. O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds.

Then he entered into Sūrat al-Baqarah, and prayed for good for those present.

Vicegerency: Adam

He began from the verse of vicegerency: ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً﴾ [البقرة: 30] (And [mention] when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a vicegerent"), and he mentioned Adam, peace be upon him, and repeated the word "vicegerent" (khalīfah).

Leadership: Abraham

Then he moved on to Abraham, peace be upon him: «إني جاعلك للناس إماماً» ("I will make you a leader for the people"), thus joining the two words: the one made a vicegerent, and the leader (imām); vicegerency and leadership.^[1] And he recited: ﴿وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ …﴾ [البقرة] (And [mention] when Abraham was tried by his Lord with words [of command] and he fulfilled them …).^[10] He repeated "tried" (ibtalā), and said: leader, vicegerent, and repeated the name of Abraham, peace be upon him.

Milestones in the Trials of Abraham

Then he went through milestones of his life. He mentioned Ishmael, peace be upon him, and he mentioned the desert and Makkah, and in his speech came an expression about "the womb of the mother" and "the womb of the desert" whose meaning was not fully clear.^[2]

Then he recited: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِي حَاجَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي رَبِّهِ أَنْ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ إِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ قَالَ أَنَا أُحْيِي وَأُمِيتُ ۖ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ فَبُهِتَ الَّذِي كَفَرَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾ [البقرة: 258] (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).

Then he spoke in English about one of the trials of his life, that he went to Egypt, and that someone there tried to take Sarah from him.^[3]

Then he mentioned the sacrifice, and recited: ﴿يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَىٰ فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَىٰ﴾ [الصافات: 102] ("O my son, indeed I see in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think"), and at this point he spoke in English, with words cut off in the transcript.^[4] Then he recited: ﴿إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ ﴿إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾ [الصافات] ("Indeed, he was of Our believing servants"; "Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good"),^[11] and after that he mentioned the trial.

Trial Is a General Divine Way

Then he moved to Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt, sought refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed, and recited: ﴿الم * أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ﴾ [العنكبوت: 1-2] (Alif, Lām, Mīm. Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe," and they will not be tried?). Then he recited from Sūrat al-Mulk: ﴿تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ * الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ * الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ طِبَاقًا ۖ مَا تَرَىٰ فِي خَلْقِ … مِن تَفَاوُتٍ ۖ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ …﴾,^[12] (Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent; [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed; and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving; [He] who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation … any disparity; so return your vision [to the sky]; do you see any …), and he repeated the word "to test you" (liyabluwakum) and mentioned along with it the trial of Abraham.

What Is Inherited and What Passes Away

After that he spoke in English words that the transcript rendered in fragments, apparently about brief glimpses of the life of one person here and another there, and that those people's lives have passed; they were trying to gather wealth, and through position, and through everything. Then he spoke about the inheritance we receive from our fathers: where did they themselves get it? Perhaps from their fathers, and those, where did they get it from? Perhaps from others. The land is the land, the building is the building, the money is the money, and the bank account is the bank account.^[5]

Trial in Our Lives, and the List of Prophets

Then he said in English that, when facing any suffering in his life, with people, or in money, or at home and in the family, he asks himself "one question," and then he enumerated prophets: Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joseph, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, Jesus, David, Solomon, Zechariah, Elias, John, Jonah, peace be upon them.^[6] After that came cut-off English words: "You can go to any country… do not think that you can get out of…".^[7]

The Message of Allah and the Way of Replacement

Then he recited: ﴿اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ﴾ (Allah is most knowing of where [i.e., with whom] He places His message), and he recited: ﴿وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُم﴾ (And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you),^[13] and after the two, the transcript mentions "the All-Powerful" and "Allah, Exalted and Majestic, alone" without context. The link between the two verses and what preceded them did not become clear.

The Human Being Between Honor and Humiliation

Then he mentioned the trial again, and recited: ﴿فَأَمَّا الْإِنسَانُ إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَأَكْرَمَهُ وَنَعَّمَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَكْرَمَنِ * وَأَمَّا إِذَا مَا ابْتَلَاهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّي أَهَانَنِ * كَلَّا ۖ بَل لَّا تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ﴾ (As for man, when his Lord tries him and honors him and favors him, he says, "My Lord has honored me." But when He tries him and restricts his provision, he says, "My Lord has humiliated me." No! Rather, you do not honor the orphan).^[8]

Raising the House, and Vicegerency and Leadership

Then he mentioned Ishmael, peace and blessings be upon him, and Abraham as he "raises from the House," as the transcript has it, and he mentioned the trial. In an English comment he mentioned that some people come to him and say such-and-such to him, and it is cut off.^[9]

He concluded by returning to the central theme: vicegerent, vicegerency, and he mentioned Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ﷺ, and Adam, peace be upon him, and Abraham, peace be upon him, then: vicegerency, and leader (imām), and he repeated "praise be to Allah" and mentioned the Qur'an, and the lecture ended with "O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds."

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: In the transcript it is «إني جاعلك للناس خليفة» ("I will make you a vicegerent for the people"), whereas the verse in Sūrat al-Baqarah (124) has «إماماً» ("a leader"); «إماماً» has been set down according to the text of the verse, which is the editor's correction of what is in the transcript, and the lecturer afterwards pronounced the word "imām." ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The phrase in the transcript is «ابراهيم رحمك الصحراء رحم الام الى رحم الصحراء مكه» and it is garbled; nothing of it was retained except what was mentioned, and the name of Hājar does not appear in the transcript. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The transcript's wording: "ordered one of the trials of his life and he faced it … he went to Egypt … and he tried to take Sarah from him." The words "the ruler there" are the editor's, to clarify the subject of "he," and the lecturer did not name him. The phrase "someone there" is the editor's because the subject of "he" is unnamed in the transcript. The verse recited before it is al-Baqarah: 258 (the editor's attribution), and the lecturer did not state its connection to what follows. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The English sentence here is cut off (… "asking if agree to make it easy not to make he will never let him go follow…") and was not transferred, because no meaning can be extracted from it. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: The English passage is fragmented in the transcript; it has been transferred to the extent it was understood, and the sentence "we gonna have it" remained without context, so it was not transferred. It is not clear whether the speech is the lecturer's alone or a report of others. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: The sentence in the transcript: "asking myself when facing any kind of struggle … whenever trying one question give …" then the names of the prophets; it was not clear what the one question is. The names appeared in the transcript without "peace be upon him" except some of them. ^[7]: Editor's documentation: The phrase: "back and so him back to this … you can go any country nobody guys don’t think you can get out of the board get out of the out of…", cut off. ^[8]: Editor's documentation: The verses are from Sūrat al-Fajr: 15-17 (the editor's attribution; the lecturer did not name the sūrah). In the transcript it is «كلا بل تكرمون اليتيم», whereas the correct reading in the verse is «لا تكرمون», which is what has been set down. The lecturer's comment on the verse did not become clear. ^[9]: Editor's documentation: The transcript contains a garbled number (1500000 number of year) and the phrase «يرفع إبراهيم من البيت إسماعيل ابتلاح»; the number was not retained. Perhaps what is meant is the raising of the foundations of the House, which is mentioned in al-Baqarah: 127 (the editor's attribution, not something the lecturer uttered). ^[10]: Editor's documentation: The completion of the verse (al-Baqarah: 124): ﴿قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا﴾ ("He said, 'Indeed, I will make you a leader for the people'"), and the lecturer had mentioned its meaning before it, using the words "khalīfah" and "imām" as in the transcript. ^[11]: Editor's documentation: The lecturer uttered the two verses in this order in the transcript, whereas their order in the muṣḥaf, al-Ṣāffāt: 110 is «إنا كذلك نجزي المحسنين» and then 111 «إنه من عبادنا المؤمنين». ^[12]: Editor's documentation: The verses are from Sūrat al-Mulk: 1-3 (the editor's attribution). In the transcript it is «ما ترى في خلق من تفاوت», and its completion in the verse is «ما ترى في خلق الرحمن من تفاوت». ^[13]: Editor's documentation: The two verses: al-Anʿām: 124, and Muḥammad: 38 (the editor's attribution; the lecturer did not name the two sūrahs).