Part 60

Lord! Gra nt me (offspring) from the rigiHcollS." So We gave

him th e glad tidi ngs o f a forb earing boy. And, whe n he (h is

son) was old enough to wa lk with him. he sa id, "0, my so n!

I have seen in a drcam tha t I am slaught cring YOll (oneri ng

you in sac ri fice to Alla h), so see what you thin k," li e said.

"0, my fath er! Do tha t \\ hich you a rc co mma nded, /11 .'illll·

AI/all (if A ll ah wi ll s), you shall find me of As-Sahireell (one

o f the patie nt ones. ctc.)." The il , when they had both sub mitted

th emselves (to th e Will o f A ll ah) an d he ha d laid him prostrate

on hi s forehead (or on the ~ ide of his forehead for slaughte ri ng),

and We call ed Ollt to hilll , "0, Ibrah ec m! YO LI ha ve fulfilled

th e drea m (v is ion)! Ve ril y! Th us do We reward the /lllIlisi l lOOI1

(t hose who do good)." Verily. that indeed was a mani fes t trial

and We ra nsomed him wi lh a grea t sac ri fice (i.e. a ram); An d

We left for him (a goodl y remembrance) among gen emtions

(to come) in late r ti mes . Sa/all/llll (peace) be upon Ibmhcell1!"

Thus indeed do We reward the MIlh... il1o(}// (those who do good),

Verily, he was one of Our believin g slaves. A nd We gave him

the glad tidin gs o f Ishaq (Isaac) , a Proph et from th e ri ght eous.

We blessed him and Isha q. and o f't he ir progeny arc (some) tha t

do ri ght . and some that plainly wrong th emse lves . . (SOOl'olr

All ah, Most Hi gh, infonns li S regard ing His K/m/eel,

270 Th e S IOI JI of l hr(lheem ~

Ibrahec m ~. that w hcn hc migrated from the lands of his

pcopl e, he as ked hi s Lord to gra m hi m a righteous son and

A ll ah gave hi m the glad tidings of a gent le boy, and that was

ISll1a 'ecl ':&f\ because he wa s Ih e fi rst child born 10 AI-Klloleel,

when hc was eighty-s ix yea rs o f age. And there is no di spute

on this point between the Peo ple of the Scri pture, because he

was hi s fi rstborn SOil.

As fo r All ah 's say ing: ( And, when he (hi s son) was old

enough to walk w ith him ) (Soarall As-Saffilf 37: I 02), it mean s

when he became a young man and began to wo rk as his fath er

did. Accordi ng to Mujahid , it means he beca mc a young man,

went on journeys and bcgan to do what hi s fa ther di d, such as

stri ving and working. At Ihat ti me, Ibra hccm ~ was shown

in a dream that he was comm anded 10 sacrifice this son of his.

In the Iwdeeth narmted on the authority o f 'A bdu llah Ibn

' Abbas ...Gc in a II1w/oo' form, he said, 'T he visions of th e

Prophets are Revelation." (I) II was a lso said by ' Ubaid Ibn

Th is was a tes t from A llah, the Almight y, the A ll -Powerful ,

for Hi s Klmleel, that he sacrifice his beloved son, who was born

to him in his old age . T his was aft er he had been cOlll manded to

leave Isma 'ee l ~ and his mot her in a land o f povert y, w hcre

there was 110 anim als or peoplc, no culti vation and no livestock.

I-Ie obeyed All ah's Command 10 do this and le ft them there ,

Irusti ng in Alla h and dependi ng 0 11 Hi m. And A ll ah made for

th em a re li e f and a way out (o r th cir diITi clilti es) and sllsta ined

th em from whence they had not ex pec ted. T hen, a fte r a ll th at,

when Ibraheem '@o was com manded to sacri fice thi s son o f

(I ) This was also reported by AI-Tir1l1idhi in a 11111 'aI/CUI loml (3689).

(2) Narra ted by Al-Bukhari ( 13 8) and At-Tirmidhi (3689).

The SWIT of Ibmheem ~' 271

hi s, whom he had le n alone, in accordance w ith the Command

of hi s Lord , when he was hi s firstbo rn son and onl y child , he

co mplied wit h that Command and haste ned 10 obey hi s Lord .

The n he subm itled Ihi s to his son, in order Ihat it should be more

acceptable 10 hi s heart and eas ier fo r him , ralher than seizing

him by force and co mpell ing him to submit 10 be ing sac rificed.

( An d. when he (his son) was old e nough to walk w ith him , he

said . " 0 , my son! I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering

you (oITering you in sac rifice to Allah), so sec what you th ink ."

) (SOO1'O" As-So./ftu 37: I 02) Th is ge ntl e son ha stened to do

his fat her 's biddin g, say ing, ( "0, my rather! Do that which

you arc com manded, /11 sIlO ' A I/o" (if A llah w ill s), yo u shall

find me o f As-Sabireen (the patie11l ones, etc.)," ) (So01'oli As-

Sa./ftl/ 37: 102) Thi s repl y displays the ultimate in ri ght condu ct,

filia l piety and obed ience to the Lord of the slaves, A llah , Most

High , says, ( Then. when they had bot h submitted themse lves

(to the will o f A llah), and he had laid him prostra te on his

forehead (or on the side of his fore-head for s laughterin g)

(Soorall As-Saffat 37 :103) It was said that thi s mea ns : when

they had submitted to Allah 's Com ma nd a nd dete rmined to

eany it out, he placed hi m on hi s fa ce. It was said that when

he intended to sacrifice hi m, he placed him fac edown so that

he could slaughter him from behind, and not have to sec hi s

face at the tim e of slaughter, so that it would be eas ier fo r him.

This was said by ' Abdullah Ibn 'A bba s .te, Mujahid , Sa'eed

Ibn Jub air, Qala dah and Ad-Dahh ak. It was also said th ai he

turned him on his sidc, the way olle turn s a sacrificial animal

on its side, so th at th e side of his fo rehead was on the ground. (

Th cy had both submitt ed thcm selves ) , that is when Ibrahee m

~ had said, "Bisl1Iillalli lVallahli Akbar (i n the Name of Alla h

and All ah is Greater)" and hi s SOil had sa id, "Ashhadll An/a

i/a/w iI/aI/ali ( I bea r wit ncss tha t none bUI A llah has the right

272 The SUJI"y of /braJu:elll ~

to be wo rshipped)," in preparation as for Al lah 's Saying: ( And

We called out to hi m, "0, Ibrahccm! You have fulfi llcd the

drcam (vision)!" Ve rily! Thus do We reward the A1uilsiIUUJ/1

«hose who do good) (Sooralllls-S,u!m 37: 104, 105), i< means

that the goal in this test to whi ch you have been subj ected has

been attained and you have shown yourself to be obedient and

prepared to carry ali t Allah 's Commands; just as yo u submined

your body to the fire, so you did not hesitate to submit your

son to be sacrificed and spc nd your wealth for the sake of

your gucsts. This is why Allah says, ( Verily, that indeed was

a manifest tri al ) (Soorah As·Saffilt 37: 106) That is, a clear

tcs t. As for His Saying: ( An d We ransomcd him wit h a grcal

sacrifice ) (Sooral1 As·SaJfat 37: I07), it mea ns: We made as

a ran som fo r the sacrifice of his son, that which was easy for

Allah, to be substituted for him and what has been widely

report ed fro m th e majority of scholars is th at it was a prime,

whi te ra m, with long horns, which he saw tied to an acacia tree

at Thabeer (a mountain in Makkah).

It was mentioned in the hadeetl1that it was a ram. This was

narrated by Imam Ahmad, on thc authority of Safiyyah BinI

Shaibah, who said: A woman from Banl! Saleem who waS the

midwife of most of the pcople in our household, infonncd me

thai the Messenger of Allah :i scnt for 'Uthman Ibn Talhah

~ . On one occasion she said: I asked ' Uthm3n, "Why did the

Prophet ~ call you?" He said: The Messenger of Allah j5 said

to me, "I saw the horns of the ram whcn I cntered the House

(i.e. thc Ka·bah) and I forgot to tell you to covcr them up; cover

them up, for there should not be anything in the House which

could distract the worshipper." Sufyan said, "The hams of the

ram rcmained hanging in the House unti l it was bumed, and they

( \) Thi s is nn authenti c Iw(/ecrh narrated by Imam Ahtllnd (4/68, No. 2271).

The Story of the Birth ofIshaq WI

All ah, Most Hi g h, says, ( And We ga ve him the g lad tidings

of Ishaq (Isaac) a Prophet from the ri ghteous. We blessed him

and Ishaq (Isaac), and of th eir progeny are (some) that do ri ght,

and some that plain ly wrong themselves. ) (SoO/"all As-SaJlat

37: 11 2, 11 3) The g lad ti di ngs o r his bi rth we re brought by the

angels to Ibrahecm ~ and Sara h whe n th ey pa ssed by th em as

they we re heading for the ci ties orthe peop le ar Lot, in o rder to

infli ct destructio n o n them beca use of th eir di sbeli e f anclthe ir