Salaamun alaykum, dear readers!
It is a misconception that the Quran says God ordered Abraham via a dream to kill his son Ismael.
That is because God does not violate His own law. One of God’s promises in the Quran is that He never commands anyone to do something immoral or sinful.
- [7:28] And when they have committed an immorality, they said, “We have found our fathers upon it, and God has commanded us to do it.” Say, “Indeed, God does not command immorality. Do you say about God what you do not know?”
If someone agrees that human sacrifices are immoral and sinful, then that person must also agree that God would never command someone to do it.
Moreover, many verses (4:92, and 6:151) spell out that intentional killing of a believer is a gross sin.
That means God would never violate His own law and command the prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son.
And the Quran never states that this dream about Abraham killing his son is an order that came from God. That dream very likely came from Iblis, or Satan, rather than God.
The story starts when Abraham had a dream of the slaughter, then he asked his son Ismael, and both of them believed that this was a command that came from God. However, right before the slaughter was about to take place, God intervened to save Ismael, and to save Abraham from committing a grave slaughter.
Abraham was a good-doer, and a prophet of God, thus God felt he deserved to be saved from committing an act under the belief that God ordered it, when in fact God never ordered it. Hence, after saving Abraham, God said, “Indeed, We thus reward the good-doers.” Saving the prophet Abraham from losing his son due to Satan’s deceptive dream was his reward for being one of God’s good servants, and for being someone who is willing to sacrifice everything he loves if he thought God told him to do it.
So this was definitely a clear test from God, which Abraham nearly failed if it were not for God coming to the rescue.
As an act of ransom for almost tragically killing his son, God provided a concession of conducting a proper animal sacrifice dedicated to Him.
It is noteworthy that the act of ransom is compensation to rescue someone from harm or bad situations, like when the enemy soldiers offer you a ransom of $1 million in exchange for releasing whomever they took from your side as prisoners of war.
- Abraham was in a bad situation spiritually because he almost committed a sin by nearly killing his son, while mistakenly thinking God told him to do it. So God offered the ransom of another substitute sacrifice to save Abraham from his mistake.
- There would be no need to offer Abraham a ransom for his actions if he was simply trying to carry out a real command from God to kill his son.
Here is what the Quran states on this matter:
- [37:102-107] Then, when he (Ismael) reached the age of exertion, he (Abraham) said, “O my son, I see in my sleep that I am slaughtering you, so see what you think.” He said, “O my father, do what you are commanded. You will find me, God willing, of the patient ones.” Then, when they had both submitted, and he placed down his forehead, and We called him, “O Abraham, you have certainly believed the vision!” Indeed, We thus reward the good doers. Indeed, this was definitely a clear test. And We ransomed him with a great slaughter.
Conclusion
This was one of the teachings of Rashad Khalifa, God’s Messenger of the Covenant, that God never commands anyone to commit immoralities, therefore He never actually ordered Abraham to sacrifice his own son. The dream that Abraham saw about sacrificing his son likely came from Satan.
In a way, these verses were a kind of test not just for Abraham, but for the Muslim community at large today. This tested whether we will have full confidence in God’s words and promises, including the promise that God never commands sin or immorality.
Now the question is, will we pass this test?
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