From the Book, Introduction to the Tafseer of the Quran, by the Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the eminent jurist and statesman, Sheikh Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah:

وَإِذْ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِي قَالَ لاَ يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ

“When his Lord put Ibrāhīm to a test with certain Words, and he fulfilled them, He said, ‘I am going to make you an Imām for the people.’ He said, ‘And from among my progeny?” He replied, “My promise does not extend to the unjust.’”

(al-Baqarah: 124)

1. Allah, the Exated, informs us that he tested Ibrahim (as) with words that He revealed to him, commanding and prohibiting him with certain matters, which he fulfilled in the best way possible. Allah bears witness to this in His saying, ﴿وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّىٰ﴾ “and of Ibrāhīm who fulfilled his duties…” (al-Najm: 37)
2. Following this Allah blessed Ibrahim (as) with a reward for fulfilling the test, which was to make him an imam for people. The “imam” is the model that is followed, hence the construction thread and the road as also called “imam” in Arabic. Similarly, everyone who is followed, whether in good or bad, is called an imam. An example of the good is this verse, قَالَ إِنِّي جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا﴾ ﴿ “I am going to make you an Imām for the people.” (al-Baqara: 124) An example of the bad is the verse (about Fir’awn and his people), ﴾ ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ ۖ “We made them imams calling to the Fire.” (al-Qasas: 41)
3. Ibrahim (as) was a prophet at the time Allah tested him, by the indication of “with certain Words” which means that these were revealed to him. So he was a prophet and the test came after his prophethood.
4. Given that the word imam in this verse means model in good in deen and dunya, as we have shown, this indicates that after the trial of Ibrahim (as) Allah did not leave him as a prophet alone by added to this messengership, making him a messenger and imam for the people, that is, his people, such that they would follow him and take him as a model in both deen and dunya.
5. After this, Ibrahim (as) asked Allah سبحانه وتعالى about his progeny and whether they too would be given what he was given. Allah informed him that His promise [ahd] – giving messengership – does not cover the unjust. This indicates that there would be in the progency of Ibrahim unjust people to whom the promise would not extend – ﴿وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَىٰ إِسْحَاقَ ۚ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ﴾ “And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves” (al-Saffaat: 113). Injustice [dhulm] is to place a thing in other than its rightful place, so the one who places a thing in other than its rightful place is a unjust person. ﴿إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾ “Indeed, associating partners with Allah is a great injustice” (Luqman: 13) so it is injustice in creed, and ﴿وَلَا تُمْسِكُوهُنَّ ضِرَارًا لِّتَعْتَدُوا ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَقَدْ ظَلَمَ نَفْسَهُ﴾ “Do not retain them with wrongful intent, resulting in cruelty on your part, and whoever does this, actually wrongs [dhalama] himself” (al-Baqarah: 231) is injustice with respect to a hukm shar’i. That is, injustice occurs in creed and in the shar’i ahkam, and the promise of Allah of messengership does not include the unjust from the progeny of Ibrahim (as) – “My promise does not extend to the unjust.”