Ash-Shu‘arā’ 26:83

The issue

Here, Abraham asks God to give him judgment. The meaning of “judgment” is not clear in the verse. Islamic commentaries suggest three interpretations: (1) “wisdom,” (2) “to judge among people fairly,” or (3) “the prophethood” because a prophet enjoys two matters—that he “has wisdom and has judgment among the worshippers of Allah.” Al-Ṭabarī is satisfied to state that Abraham asked God to grant him prophethood.

Al-Rāzī rejects the interpretation of the word “judgment” as “prophethood” because prophethood was already achieved by Abraham. He states that “what is intended by judgment is the full power of insight, in order to comprehend the truth.”

The divergent interpretations among the commentaries, added to the ambiguity of the meaning of “judgment” in the verse, leaves the reader without any conclusive understanding of the word’s intended meaning here.