WajaAAalaha kalimatan baqiyatan fee AAaqibihi laAAallahum yarjiAAoon (surah Zukhruf: 28)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(43:28) And Abraham left behind this word *26 to endure among his posterity so that they may return to it. *27

Wa ja`alahaa Kalimatam baaqiyatan fee `aqibihee la`al lahum yarji`oon

*26) "The same word" : the word that none but the Creator is worthy of worship in the world.
*27) That is, "Whenever they swerve from the right path, this word should be there to guide them so that they return to it again. " This event has been mentioned here in order to expose the foolishness of the disbelieving Quraish and to put them to shame, as if to say: "When you have adopted obedience of your ancestors, ,you have selected the most depraved of them for the purpose instead of the most righteous and illustrious, who were the Prophets Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them). " The basis of the leadership of the Quraish in Arabia was that they were the descendants of the Prophets Abraham and Ishmael and were the attendants of the Ka'bah built by them. Therefore, they should have followed them and not their ignorant forefathers who had given up the way of the Prophets and adopted polytheism from the neighboring idol-worshippers. Furthermore, by mentioning this event another error of those people has been pointed out. That is, if the blind imitation of the fore-fathers, without the distinction of good and evil, had been the right thing, the Prophet Abraham should have done so in the first instance. But he had plainly told his father and his people that he could not follow their creed of ignorance in which they had abandoned the Creator and made those imaginary beings their deities, who were not the creator. This shows that the Prophet Abraham did not believe in following the forefathers, but his creed was that before one followed the forefathers one should see whether they were following the right way or not, and if it became known by reason that they were following the wrong way, one should give up their way and adopt the way that was proved right.