The narrative now turns to Ibrahim (Abraham) — the patriarch claimed by all the People of the Book and revered by the Quraysh themselves as their ancestor. Maududi notes this is a deliberate rhetorical move: the very forefather whom the Makkans claim as their own began his prophetic life by smashing the logic of idol-worship in his own home. "Atattakhidhu aṣnāman ālihah?" — "Do you take idols for gods?" — is asked of his own father. Ibrahim does not soften the indictment: he tells his father and the people that they are in ḍalāl mubīn — manifest error.
Maududi locates Ibrahim's youth in the lower Mesopotamian region (the area of Ur of the Chaldees, c. 21st century BCE), where idol-worship was the civic religion and his father Azar was, according to many reports, an idol-carver or temple-functionary. The Qur'an names the father "Azar" while Genesis names him "Terah" — Maududi explains "Azar" may have been a title or a second name. The point of the narrative is not chronology but principle: even kinship and family economy do not override the duty of Tawhid.