| Answer: The Almighty never
commanded Abraham (sws) to sacrifice his son. It was Abraham (sws) who took this
step thinking that the Almighty wanted this to happen. In this regard, the
following points must remain in consideration:
1. Firstly, Abraham (sws) thought
that he was directed to sacrifice his son by the Almighty in a dream shown to
him. For the Prophets of Allah, such dreams are a source of contact with the
Almighty, and in them they are shown certain images by Him for the purpose of
their education and instruction. However, as a principle, they are not to be
interpreted literally; they contain realities which are depicted in symbolic
form. Symbolic representation is a very subtle and powerful way of expression:
facts seem veiled, yet for one who pauses to ponder, they are most evident. So
what needs to be understood is that dreams of the Prophets of Allah are symbolic
too. They portray a fact in figurative form in order to make it more effective
to understand. Let me give you an example. You must have read the dream of the
Prophet Joseph (sws) mentioned in the Qur’ān. It says that he saw the sun, the
moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. The interpretation of the dream
offered by the Qur’ān itself at the end of Sūrah Yūsuf shows that this bowing
down was a symbolism to show that his eleven brothers and father and mother
would submit to his authority as the king (12:100). Similarly, more examples can
be given from the Qur’ān.
2. The next point which arises is
about the symbolism found in ‘human sacrifice’. In other words: ‘What does human
sacrifice stand for?’. A knowledge of the ancient scriptures reveals that human
sacrifice offered to God symbolizes consecrating a person in the service of
Allah:
You are to bring the Levites
before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hand on them. Aaron is to
present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so
that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord. ‘After the Levites lay their
hands on the heads of the bulls, use the one for a sin offering to the Lord and
the other for a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites. Have the
Levites stand in front of Aaron and his sons and then present them as a wave
offering to the Lord. In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the
other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine. After you have purified the
Levites and presented them as a wave offering, they are to come to do their work
at the Tent of Meeting. They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to
me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male
offspring from every Israelite woman. Every firstborn male in Israel, whether
man or animal, is mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set
them apart for myself. And I have taken the Levites in place of all the
firstborn sons in Israel. (Numbers 8:10-18)
As is evident from the underlined
portion, the symbolism found in ‘human sacrifice’ is dedication of a person to
the service of Allah. In other words, the Almighty actually wanted Abraham (sws)
to devote Ismael (sws) for special tasks assigned by the Almighty.
3. Abraham (sws) in his spirit of
submission to the will of God started to follow his dream in the literal sense
instead of interpreting the dream; consequently, the Almighty told him that he
had ‘made the dream a reality’, which of course was not required. However, this
willingness to submit to a command of Allah as perceived by Abraham (sws)
greatly pleased the Almighty since it was based on sincerity and a great will to
do what he thought was Allah’s will. |