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Land of Israel and Jewish heritage
A series from the book written by Naveed Anjum
Isaac was the blessed one, cont’d
The Story of Sacrifice: Isaac or Ishmael?
Now, we will scrutinize the Holy Qur’an to determine who was the blessed one and chosen for sacrifice. The Qur’an does not reveal the name of the sacrificed son. Instead, it uses the pronouns “he” and “him.” Under Arab influence, Muslims generally assert that the “he” was Ishmael. However, we must look into the full context of the Qur’an to determine who that child is. Following are the verses that mention the story of the human sacrifice:
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“100 (Abraham, Ibrahim said) ‘My Lord, Grant me a righteous (son).’
“101 So We (God through His angles) gave him the good news a forbearing (meaning patient, not complaining, long suffering, tolerant, merciful, forgiving) boy
“102 And, when he was old enough to work with him, he (Abraham, Ibrahim) said, ‘O my dear son! I see in a dream that I am slaughtering (sacrificing) you, (my son) what do you think?’ He said, ‘O my father, do as you are commanded, God willing you shall find me patience (not complaining).’
“103 Then when they had both submitted (to God’s will) and he (Abraham, Ibrahim) had laid him (his son) on his forehead (for sacrifice),
“104 We (God through His angles) called out to him, ‘O Abraham (Ibrahim’,
“105 You have already fulfilled the (orders you received in your) dream.’ This is how We reward the good doers (by canceling the order to sacrifice the son and returning the son to Abraham, Ibrahim).
“106 This was clearly a test (of Abraham’s, Ibrahim’s faith and love of God).
“107 Then We (God through His angles) exchanged him (Abraham’s, Ibrahim’s son) with a great sacrifice (meaning God gave Abraham, Ibrahim an animal to be sacrificed instead of ordering Abraham, Ibrahim to sacrifice his son).
“108 And We (God) left (this blessing) for him (Abraham, Ibrahim) among generations to come in later times.
“109 ‘Peace be to Abraham (Ibrahim).’
“110 This is how We (God) reward the good doers (with grace from God).
“111 He (Abraham, Ibrahim) is one of Our believing servants.
“112 And We (God through His angles) gave him (Abraham, Ibrahim) the good news of the birth of Isaac (Ishaq), a prophet of the righteous.
“113 We blessed him (Abraham, Ibrahim) and Isaac (Ishaq) but of their offspring (generations of children) are (some) that do right (do good to their own souls) and (some) that do wrong to themselves (do wrong to their own souls).
“114 And We gave (our) grace to Moses (Musa, Moosa) and Aaron (Harun, Haroun, Haroon).” (Qur’an 37:100-114)
(To be continued…)