Some people say Hz. Ibrahim's son that he wanted to sacrifice was Hz. Ishaq. How true is it?

Some people say Hz. Ibrahim's son that he wanted to sacrifice was Hz. Ishaq. How true is it?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is stated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following indicating the attempt to sacrifice Hz. Ismail:

"I am the son of two sacrificed people." [Hakim, al-Mustadrak, II, 604, 609; el-Ajuni, Kashful-Khafa, 1/199 (Hadith No.606), Beirut 1351]

Since the Prophet comes from the progeny of Hz. Ismail, it is understood that the son of Hz. Ibrahim that was wanted to be sacrificed was Hz. Ismail.

When Hz. Ismail was about seven years old, Hz. Ibrahim was sleeping in his house in Damascus; he saw in his dream that he was sacrificing Hz. Ismail. He mounted Buraq and went to Makkah. He found Ismail with his mother. [1] He said to Ismail,

"O my son! Get a piece of rope and a knife. Then, let us go to that valley to collect some wood for our family." He did not mention what his Lord ordered him. [2]

When the father and the son headed toward Shi'b Valley, Satan, who was disguised as a man, stopped in front of Hz. Ibrahim to dissuade him from fulfilling Allah's order. He said,

"O old man! Where are you going and what do you want to do?"

Hz. Ibrahim said,

"I want to go to that valley and do something there."

Satan said,

"You probably want to slaughter Ismail."

Hz. Ibrahim asked,

"Have you ever seen a father slaughter his son?"

Satan said,

"Yes, you are that father."

Hz. Ibrahim asked,

"Why should I slaughter my son?"[3]

Satan said,

"You think and say that Allah ordered you to do it."

Hz. Ibrahim said,

"If Allah ordered me to do it, I find it appropriate to surrender to Allah and fulfill His order." [4]

Satan said,

"By Allah, Satan ordered you to slaughter your son in your dream. You are going to slaughter him." Thereupon, Hz. Ibrahim understood that he was Satan. He said,

"O enemy of Allah! By Allah, I will definitely fulfill Allah's order in that valley."

When Satan lost his hope of affecting Hz. Ibrahim, he stopped in front of Hz. Ismail, who was carrying a piece of rope and a knife on his back. He said,

"O boy! Do you know where your father is taking you?"Hz. Ismail said,

"We will collect some wood for our family in that valley."Satan said,

"By Allah, your father wants to slaughter you [5], he is taking you there to slaughter you." [6]

Hz. Ismail asked,

"Why should he slaughter me? Have you ever seen a father slaughter his son?"[7]

Satan said,

"There is that father."Hz. Ismail asked,

"Why should my father slaughter me?"[8] Satan said,

"He thinks his Lord ordered him to do it."Hz. Ismail said,

"He should do what his Lord ordered him to do.[9] It is better for him to surrender to his Lord and fulfill his Lord’s order wherever he is. [10] I will obey His order and surrender to Him."

When Satan saw that Ismail did not heed his words, he went to his mother at once. Hz. Hagar was at home then. [11] He said to her,

"O Ismail’s mother! Do you know where Ibrahim is taking Ismail?"Hz. Hagar said,

"He took him to that valley to collect wood for us."Satan said,

"He took Ismail there to slaughter him."[12]

Hz. Hagar said,

"How can you think that a father can slaughter his child? [13] No, you are wrong. He is very compassionate toward his son."[14]

Satan said,

"He thinks and says that Allah ordered him to do it." [15]

Hz. Hagar said,

"If his Lord ordered him, it is necessary to obey Allah's order. [16] It is better for him to surrender to his Lord and fulfill his Lord’s order wherever he is." [17]

Satan returned angrily because he was unable to do anything to Hz. Ibrahim and his family. All of them agreed that it was necessary to fulfill Allah's order and to surrender to him. [18] When Hz. Ibrahim was alone in Sabir Valley, he said,

"O my son! I saw in my dream that I was slaughtering you!"Thus, he informed him about the order he was given.

Hz. Ismail said,

"O my father! Do as you are commanded; you will find me if Allah so wills one practicing patience and constancy! [19] Obey Allah's order. Every good deed obeys Lord’s order." Then, he asked his father, "Have you told my mother about it?"

Hz. Ibrahim said,

"No, I have not told her."

Hz. Ismail said,

"It is good that you have not told her."[20] Then, he said,

"Oh my father! When you want to slaughter me, tie me with the rope firmly so that no harm comes to you from me and my thawabs will not be reduced because death is mighty and hard. I am not sure that I will not struggle when I feel the knife touching my skin. Sharpen your knife well and cut my throat quickly so that it will kill me fast and I will reach comfort.  

When you make me lie while slaughtering me, put me face down and put my forehead to the ground. Do not put me down on my side because I am afraid that as you look at my face you will feel mercy and I will prevent you from doing what Allah ordered you to do. If you see it appropriate to take my shirt to my mother, do so. Maybe this will comfort and console her."

Hz. Ibrahim said,

"Oh my son! You have helped me so nicely about Allah’s order." Then, he tied him up as he wished, sharpened the knife well and placed him face down on the ground. He avoided looking at Ismail’s face.

When Hz. Ibrahim pressed the knife on Hz. Ismail’s throat [21], it looked as if the knife came across a sheet of copper! The big knife’s blade did not cut Hz. Ismail’s throat. Hz. Ibrahim sharpened the knife with grindstone two or three times. However, he could not cut his throat. He said, “This is probably from Allah.” [22]

The blade of the knife in Hz. Ibrahim’s hand became reversed. [23] Just then, Allah Almighty said,

"O Ibrahim!You displayed loyalty to your dream! Here, for you, is an animal that you will sacrifice instead of your son. Slaughter it."[24] When Hz. Ibrahim stood and looked, he saw a ram with big horns [25] standing near Gabriel (Jibril).

He said, "Get up, my dear son! A ransom was sent down for you." He sacrificed the ram there, in Mina. [26]

Hz. Ibrahim stopped and looked around. He saw Jibril (Gabriel) coming down from the sky with a ram. Jibril congratulated Ibrahim by saying, 

"O Ibrahim! This ram has been fed in Paradise for forty years. Now it has been sent down to the earth to be sacrificed instead of your son Ismail."

It is narrated that it was a male goat and also narrated that it was a beautiful ram with big horns. [27]

The two horns of the ram sent as a ransom for Hz. Ismail remained hanging on the Kaaba for a long time. They burnt when the Kaaba burnt down during the time of Abdullah b. Zubayr and Hajjaj.

According to a narration, the skull of the ram was hanging next to the waterspout of the Kaaba. [28] Abuttufayl and Sha'bi stated that they saw the two horns on the Kaaba. [29] When Makkah was conquered, the Prophet (pbuh) called Uthman b. Talha, who kept the keys to the Kaaba and said to him, 

"When I entered Baytullah, I saw two ram horns. I forgot to order you to hide them. Hide them so that they will not be seen. For, it is not appropriate to leave around things that will keep the people who perform prayers busy in Baytullah." [30]

The horns belonged to the ram sacrificed for the son of Hz. Ibrahim. Abdullah b. Zubayr found them when he demolished the Kaaba after the fire in order to rebuild it. When he touched the horns that were covered with red mud, they were broken into pieces. [31]

Sufyan, one of the narrators of the hadith said,

"These horns were in Baytullah until it burnt down. They burnt in the fire too."[32]

The narration of the Incident of Sacrifice in the Quran:

The Incident of Sacrifice is narrated as follows in the Quran:

"O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!" So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear. Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!"

(The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practicing Patience and Constancy!"

So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him "O Abraham! "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" - thus indeed do We reward those who do right.

For this was obviously a trial-And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice: And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times: "Peace and salutation to Abraham!" Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For he was one of our believing Servants. And We gave him the good news of Isaac - a prophet,- one of the Righteous. We blessed him and Isaac: but of their progeny are (some) that do right, and (some) that obviously do wrong, to their own souls. "[33]

The Reason Why Jews Want to Associate the Incident of Sacrifice with Hz. Ishaq:

Umar b. Abdulaziz (death 101 H), the Caliph, invited a Jewish scholar who became a Muslim to his presence and asked him,

"Which son was Hz. Ibrahim ordered to sacrifice?" He said,

"O leader of the believers! By Allah! Ismail was ordered to be sacrificed. Jews know it. However, Jews are jealous of Arabs. They are jealous of the fact that Ismail surrendered to the divine order about him and that his virtue of patience was praised by Allah; they claim that the order to be sacrificed was not given for Ismail; they claim that this order was given for Ishaq because their ancestor is Ishaq." [34]

In the book which is called the Old Testament, and which is regarded as holy by Jews and Christians, it is stated that Hz. Ibrahim wanted to sacrifice his son, Ishaq, not Ismail, but when the text of the Old Testament is examined, it will be seen that it was changed afterwards.

The following is stated in verses 15 and 16 of Genesis 16:

"So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael."

The following is stated in verse 5 Genesis 21:

"Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him."

The following is stated in verses 2, 10,11,12,15 and 16 of Genesis 22:

"Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.The angel said,

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”"

"The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son."

When it is considered that the second son of Hz Ibrahim’s two sons, Ishaq, was born fourteen years after Ismail, it will be true and appropriate to use the phrase “your only son” in the order to sacrifice only for Ismail. It cannot be accepted that the phrase “your only son” can be used for Ishaq since Ismail was alive. It is clearly seen in verse 2 of Genesis 22 that the phrase“whom you love—Isaac—“ was added to the text as an interpretation after the phrase “your only son”.

In the same verse, Moriah is mentioned as the place of sacrifice. The Prophet said,

"All streets and ways of Makkah and all parts of Mina are places of sacrifice."[35]

He stated the following for the sacrifice of umrah:

"Here is the place of slaughtering," pointing to Marwa Hill. [36]

Asmai (122-213 H) states the following:

"I asked Abu Amr b. Ala (70-154) whether the child to be sacrificed was Ismail or Ishaq. He said,

'(O Asmai! Where is your mind?) When was Ishaq in Makkah? Only Ismail was in Makkah and he was the person who built Baytullah with his father. The place of sacrifice is also in Makkah.'" [37]

References:

[1] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 555.
[2] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 140, Thalabi-Arais p. 93-94, Ibn Athir-Kamil Vol. 1 p. 111.
[3] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 140.
[4] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 555-556.
[5] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 94-95.
[6] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[7] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 95.
[8] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[9] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 95, Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[10] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[11] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1,8.141, Thalabi-Arais p. 95.
[12] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 94.
[13] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[14] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 94.
[15] Taberî-tarih c 1 s 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 94, Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[16] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 94.
[17] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2. p.556.
[18] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Thalabi-Arais p. 95.
[19] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1.p.141.
[10] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[21] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141, Zamakhshari-Kashshaf Vol. 3 p. 349-350.
[22] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 556.
[23] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 141.
[24] Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1.p.141.
[25] Thalabi-Arais p. 94, Ibn Athir-Kamil Vol. 1 p. 112.
[26] Hakim-Mustadrak Vol. 2 p. 555-556.
[27] Tabari-Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 141, Tafsir Vol. 23 p. 87, Thalabi-Arais p. 94, Ibn Athir-Kamil Vol. 1 p.  112-113, Abulfida-Albidaya wan-nihaya Vol. 1 p. 157.
[28] Tabari-Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 142, Thalabi-Arais p. 94, Zamakhshari-Kashshaf Vol. 3 p. 350, Abulfida-Albidaya wan-nihaya Vol. 1 p. 158
[29] Ibn Athir-Kamil Vol. 1 p. 110.
[30 Azraqi-Akhbaru Makkah Vol. 1 p. 223-224, Ahmed b. Hanbal-Musnad Vol. 4 p. 68.
[31 Azraqi-Akhbaru Makkah Vol. 1 p. 224.
[32] Ahmed b. Hanbal-Musnad Vol. 4 p. 68.
[33] Saffat: 100-113.
[34] 356) Tabari-Tarikh  Vol. 1 p. 138-139, Tafsir Vol. 23 p. 84-85, Thalabi-Arais p. 92, Abulfida-Albidaya wan-nihaya Vol. 1 p. 160.
[35] Malik-Muwatta' Vol. 1 p. 393, Waqidi-Maghazi Vol. 3 p. 1108, Abu Dawud-Sunan Vol. 2 p. 194, Ibn Majah-Sunan Vol. 2 p. 1013.
[36] Malik-Muwatta Vol. 1 p. 393.
[37] Zamakhshari-Kashshaf Vol. 3 p. 350, Fakhrurrazi-Tafsir Vol. 26, p. 153. Nasafi-Madarik Vol. 4.S.26. Qurtubi-Tafsir Vol. 15.p. 100.

(M. Asım Köksal, Peygamberler Tarihi, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları: I/191-193).

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