The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 95
III - Makkah, the Ka ‘ bah & the Quraish 95 and submissive son. When the child grew older, Abraham as saw in a dream that he was slaughtering that son. Upon this, Abraham as became prepared to sacrifice his son literally for the sake of God, and the son submitted himself to the command of Allāh. However, just as Abraham as was about to pass a knife over his child’s neck, an angel of God stopped him from doing so. Then, after this, it is mentioned that Abraham as was given the glad tidings of the birth of Isaac as. 1 From this account, it becomes clearly evident that the son whom Abraham as was set to slaughter was Ishmael as and not Isaac as. The Holy Qur’ān has connected the occurrence of the slaughtering with the eldest son of Abraham as , who was indeed Ishmael as , and mention of the birth of Isaac as follows subsequently. If Isaac as was the intended sacrificial offering, the occurrence of the slaughtering should have been linked to Isaac as and not to the eldest son of Abraham as. 2. The Holy Qur’ān also states that when God bestowed upon Abraham as the glad tiding of his son Isaac as , the glad tiding of his son Jacob as was also given therewith. In other words, the glad tidings of both a son and grandson were given to Abraham as simultaneously. 2 Now, from the very start, if the glad tiding of Isaac as along with that of Jacob as was also present, how is it possible for Abraham as to have agreed to literally slaughter his son Isaac as , when he clearly knew that his own son’s life is meant to last at least until a son is born to him. 3. It is mentioned in Ḥadīth that the Holy Prophet sa stated , “I am the son of two sacrificial offerings”. 3 Firstly, Ishmael as , and secondly ‘ Abdullāh bin ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib, whom the grandfather of the Holy Prophet sa wished to sacrifice as an oblation, and who prepared himself to do so. From this Ḥadīth it is at least proven that, to the Holy Prophet sa , the actual fact of the matter was that Ishmael as was the offering and not Isaac as. 4. It is proven from the Bible that it was a custom of the progeny of 1 Aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:113) 2 Hūd (11:72) 3 Tārīkhul- Khamīs, By Ḥusain bin Muḥammad bin Ḥasan Dayār Bakrī, Dhikrul-Ikhtilāfi fidh-Dhabīḥ, Volume 1, p. 95, Muwassasatu Sha‘bān, Beirut