Recommending Religion, Advising Intellect

Before the prophets and divine guardians, God Himself recommended religion to everyone:

“He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus_—_to establish the religion and not be divided therein”(316). The expression of recommendation appears in other verses as well, such as: “And, [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous”(317), “And We have instructed those who were given the Scripture before you and yourselves to fear God”(318).

The spirit of recommending Islam and the religion of Abraham is recommending intellect; that is, Abraham, the Friend of the Most Merciful, in fact said to his children(319): Be intelligent, not foolish, because the way of that exalted one is the criterion of growth and intellect, and just as turning away from it is a sign of foolishness and ignorance: “And who would be averse to the religion of Abraham except one who makes a fool of himself”(320). Recommending it is recommending intellect. The same point is true according to the well-known reading where Jacob is in conjunction with Abraham.

Note: The recommendation of religion is general, not specific to a particular tribe or family; and the mention of children is due to compassion for them, as the specific Qur’anic instruction is also on this: “O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire”(321).

The specific mention of Jacob in the verse under discussion is to encourage the Jews and Christians.

The secret of separating the two sentences from each other: “And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying]…” is to avoid the illusion of limiting the recommendation to Abraham’s children from Jacob’s lineage, although Jacob’s lineage is recommended from two perspectives.