وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ هَذَا الْبَلَدَ آمِنًا وَاجْنُبْنِي وَبَنِيَّ أَنْ نَعْبُدَ الْأَصْنَامَ ﴿۳۵﴾ رَبِّ إِنَّهُنَّ أَضْلَلْنَ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ فَمَنْ تَبِعَنِي فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَإِنَّكَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ﴿۳۶﴾ رَبَّنَا إِنِّي أَسْكَنْتُ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ عِنْدَ بَيْتِكَ الْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِي إِلَيْهِمْ وَارْزُقْهُمْ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ ﴿۳۷﴾

﴾35﴿ Wa iz qaala Ibraaheemu Rabbij 'al haazal balada aaminanw wajnubnee wa baniyya an na'budal asnaam
﴾36﴿ Rabbi innahunna adlalna kaseeram minan naasi faman tabi'anee fa innahoo minnee wa man 'asaanee fa innaka Ghafoorur Raheem
﴾37﴿ Rabbanaaa inneee askantu min zurriyyatee biwaadin ghairi zee zar'in 'inda Baitikal Muharrami Rabbanaa liyuqeemus Salaata faj'al af'idatam minan naasi tahweee ilaihim warzuqhum minas samaraati la'allahum yashkuroon

﴾35﴿ And when Abraham said, My Lord, make this city a place of security, and keep me and my descendants away from worshiping idols
﴾36﴿ My Lord, indeed they have led many people astray. So whoever follows me, he is of me, and whoever disobeys me, then surely You are Forgiving and Merciful
﴾37﴿ My Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in a barren valley near Your Sacred House, our Lord, so that they may establish prayer. So make the hearts of some people incline toward them and provide them with fruits so that they may be grateful

[35] This verse presents a narrative (naqlī) proof through the example of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), as a reminder. The essence of this reference is that Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) showed gratitude for Allah’s blessings by: Avoiding every form of shirk, Settling part of his family in the center of Tawḥīd (i.e., Makkah) to spread monotheism.
This directly relates to the central message of the surah—to bring people out of darkness into light, ensure the city’s safety, and protect against shirk. He also made supplication for his children.
(آمِنًا)—“secure” may refer to the city itself, meaning no one can uproot it until near the Day of Judgment, after which it will be destroyed. Or it could mean that its inhabitants would remain safe.
(وَاجْنُبْنِي وَبَنِيَّ)—“Keep me and my children away [from shirk].” Banī here refers specifically to his biological sons present at that time, not all descendants until the Day of Judgment, because many polytheists later arose from his lineage.
This verse records Ibrāhīm’s prayer to be saved from shirk.
(الْأَصْنَامَ) is the plural of ṣanam, and according to Imam Rāghib’s “Mufradāt” (p. 504), it carries three meanings:
1. A physical idol made of wood, stone, etc., that is worshipped.
2. Anything worshipped besides Allah, whether living or dead—this includes all false deities.
3. Anything that distracts a person from Allah, even if it is not worshipped in the formal sense.
In this verse, the third meaning is intended, which is most appropriate to the spiritual level of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him).
[36] In this verse, the attribution of misguidance to the idols (أَصْنَام) is in the manner of causation (سببیت)—meaning that the worship of idols is a cause for people’s deviation from the truth.
(وَمَنْ عَصَانِي)—"And whoever disobeys me": This refers to sins other than shirk, because shirk is not forgiven, while other forms of disobedience may be pardoned by Allah.
[37] This verse describes the test of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him)—his trial of leaving Ismā‘īl (peace be upon him) and his mother in the barren desert for the purpose of establishing ṣalāh (prayer). The meaning of establishing prayer here is to establish the religion of Tawḥīd (monotheism).
(مِنَ النَّاسِ)—The "min" here is partial (min ba‘ḍiyyah), meaning that only some people will have love for the Ka‘bah, not all.
(لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ)—Here, gratitude refers to accepting Tawḥīd and calling others to it.
The prayers of Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) were accepted, as evidenced by history.
Note (1): Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) did this by Allah’s command, as stated in authentic hadith. Therefore, the objection made by the Jews, that he did it to please Sārah, is false. Also, this act is not permissible for others—i.e., a person cannot abandon their family in the desert claiming to follow Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him). Some Sufis have mistakenly done this and called it "tawakkul" (trust in Allah). This is refuted in Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī.
Note (2): The phrase (لِيُقِيمُوا) hints that this place (Makkah) was meant to become the center of Tawḥīd.
Establishing a spiritual center requires two things:
1. Attracting people's hearts to it.
2. Providing sustenance for its inhabitants.
This is why Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) prayed for both in this verse—love for Makkah and provision for its people.