The Mysterious Story of Abraham Sacrificing His Son

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

فلما بلغ معه السعي قال يا بني اني ارى في المنام اني اذبحك فانظر ماذا ترى قال يا ابت افعل ما تؤمر ستجدني ان شاء الله من الصابرين 37:102

"And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, "O my son, indeed I have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think." He said, "O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast."

فلما اسلما وتله للجبين  37:103

"And when they had both submitted and he put him down upon his forehead,"

وناديناه ان يا ابراهيم  37:104

"We called to him, "O Abraham,"

قد صدقت الرؤيا انا كذلك نجزي المحسنين 37:105

"You have fulfilled the vision." Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good."

ان هذا لهو البلاء المبين 37:106

"Indeed, this was the clear trial."

وفديناه بذبح عظيم  37:107

"And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice,"

وتركنا عليه في الاخرين  37:108

"And We left for him [favorable mention] among later generations:"

سلام على ابراهيم   37:109

"Peace upon Abraham."

كذلك نجزي المحسنين  37:110

"Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good."

   صدق الله العلي العظيم

Quranic Verses from Quran.com

Having read the above verses, there are a number of questions that come to our mind namely:

1. Is it God who demanded sacrifice of Abraham's son through a dream? 
2. Why God stopped Abraham ?
3. What is praised by God on this specific act of Abraham?
4. Why Abraham is so highly spoken of throughout Quran to the degree that he is called "friend of God"?
5. What is the impact of Abraham on the world after him?
6. What kind of relationship with God is illustrated in Quran by the story of Abraham's life?

1.  Based on the other cases in Quran where a dream has been interpreted such as Yusuf's dream, it seems that true dreams are mainly an indication of what is to come in future.  Our personal prophetic dreams, which present clear vision of an upcoming event, corroborate this fact as well. They primarily show the events that are going to happen soon.

I am not sure if there is a concrete evidence in Quran in which God has explicitly given a command to a Prophet through a dream.  On the contrary, I believe "Vahy" meaning God's words (directly or indirectly) to Prophets have always been received in their state of full consciousness.

It also appears that Dreams have something to do with personal desires and conditions. That is  to say, dreams often answer an intention or a question that we have been thinking about for a long time or they address a personal deep concern or emotion.  From this perspective, it can be assumed that Abraham might have been influenced by a tradition of his time when it was common to sacrifice their children for their Gods. Judging from Abraham's life story as narrated by Quran however, we can realize that Abraham was always obsessed with the best he could do for God in the course of his life. Evidently, it is more reasonable to assume that he had believed such sacrifice could be the ultimate deed for God. This motivation as the main source of his dream would be more consistent with his other actions such as leaving his second wife with the new born son in a desert against all the odds, as instructed by God, where was later called Mecca the holiest place on earth for ever after.

That said, we can come to the belief that Abraham's dream was not a clear instruction from God asking Abraham's to sacrifice his son.   I have seen the interpretations which take the son's words "do as you are commanded" in verse 102 as the proof for considering the sacrifice a command from God. I am not sure if that is entirely the case. In my opinion, it only shows the son had surrendered himself to God and he was willing to give his life for God if it is demanded.

2 & 3. If the sacrifice was God's command, there was no reason for him to stop Abraham.  In verse 104 it is clearly stated that God calls upon Abraham and then in 105 God tells him "You have fulfilled the vision"   and he was told this not in a dream.

One would argue that verse 106 could be the evidence to the contrary. "Indeed, this was the clear trial."     The answer to this argument is hidden in the previous verse 105: "You have fulfilled the vision." Indeed, We thus reward the doers of good."   What is the good action being rewarded by God, if it is the sacrifice itself it is not done.  What is so worthy of God's praise is infact, the Abraham's sacrifice of his dearest asset in life for God.  To give a priority to God over all his interests even if it is the life of his beloved son who is given to him after years of praying and expectations. Especially a son whose birth itself was a miracle because of the age of Abraham's wife, according to earlier verses.

We can therefore, come to the conclusion that God had never intended for Abraham's to actually kill his son with his own hand but to only test him indirectly to choose between his interests  and God's, as perceived by Abraham from his dream, definitely not based on God's command.

Most importantly, I believe the message of this event for our time is the fact that we are not allowed to hurt an innocent person with the intention of doing something for God in order to purify our soul or get closer to God.  This is a clear contradiction we can see today in many evil actions that are done in the name of religion , Islam in particular. Harming innocent man, women or children, in anyway, regardless of their faith or race is a satanic criminal act and can not be based on a true religion and its potential justification is only a distortion of truth.

I would like to emphasize that ,based on these verses of Quran, no matter how devoted we believe our action is to God, we are not allowed to commit any immoral action.  If we are to follow Abraham's footsteps look how humanly he has discussed his frustration with his son and has done noting without his consent (102).


I will try to answer the remaining  3 questions in the next post, God willing.