The Devotion of Life — Page 67
67 that remarkable servant of God, that progenitor of the Prophets, replied without hesitation: “I have submitted to the Lord of the worlds. ” (2:132) That is, ‘I have already become subservient to the Will of the Creator of the Universe. I have placed everything at His disposal. My life, my possessions, my honour and my dignity belong to me no more. On the contrary, all those things have been dedicated to God. Not only myself, but also my progeny is at His disposal. ’ This was not an empty boast on the part of Hadrat Ibrahim as. Indeed, when the Command came from God, to take his beloved wife along with his son Ishmael as and leave them alone and undefended in a barren and uninhabited valley, without any hesitation and without any reluctance, displaying his true obedience and total submission, he took them and left them in the place he was directed to without any apparent support as if he had left them in a valley of death. Again, when Hadrat Ibrahim as saw in a dream that he was sacrificing his son, he prepared himself to fulfil that dream by sacrificing his son in reality, because at that time human sacrifice was not forbidden. Not only did he make himself ready, but his obedient son Ishmael as who was also replete with the spirit of submission, told his father without any hesitation: “Do as thou art commanded. ” (37:103)