MUSLIM VILLA - QURAN ONLY

Category 5 => Commentary / Tafsir of specific Quranic Verses or Quran topics with detailed discussions => Topic started by: Zainab_M on March 06, 2007, 05:02:16 am



Title: Ishmael or Issac?
Post by: Zainab_M on March 06, 2007, 05:02:16 am
 BismEm


Ishmael (Ismail) and Isaac (Ishaq) were the two sons of Prophet Abraham (A.S.). There are conflicting opinions between Muslims and Jews/Christians as to which of the two sons was taken for sacrifice. The Muslims say that the Divine Commandment to Abraham was to sacrifice Ismael, while the Jews and Christians claim it was Isaac. But according to evidence from the Glorious Qur'aan, and also from the Bible, it is clear that Ismael and not Isaac was taken for sacrifice. Even though the Old Testament mentions Isaac by name for this purpose, yet the inconsistencies in it prove otherwise .. confirming the accuracy of the Glorious Qur'aan.

The clue to this argument, according to research and recent findings are as follows:

Although the Qur'aan does not mention the name of Abraham's son, it mentions how Allah commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, which was actually just a test of Abraham's faith. The Qur'aan mentions that after getting the commandment from Allah, Abraham told his son about it and sought his opinion. The young boy submitted readily to the Will of Allah. Then, as soon as they reached the altar and Abraham put his son down on his face, he heard a voice, the voice of Allah saying that he (Abraham) had already fulfilled Allah's vision successfully, and proven his devotion & obedience to Allah. Soon after, instead of Abraham's son, something else - presumably an animal (goat or cow) - appeared in the altar which Abraham sacrificed later. After narrating this event, the Qur'aan further mentions that Allah gave Abraham another son in his very old age called Isaac (mentioning his name). Therefore clearly the one taken for sacrifice was Ishmael.

Now .. analysing the version of the same event in the Old Testament, it states that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, his "only son." Isaac is mentioned by name.  It also mentions that Ishmael was 14 years older than Isaac, proving the discrepancy of the concept of Isaac being Abraham's "only son," unless Ishamel had died when or after Isaac was born. But this concept is also refuted by the Old Testament as it categorically mentions that Abraham died at a very old age, and after his death he was buried by his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Therefore, when Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his "only son" (as the Old Testament states), that couldn't possibly have been Isaac because he was never Abraham's only son. It had to be Ishmael, as hinted in the Glorious Qur'aan.

Just for our information .. according to the Old Testament, Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old. And Isaac was born 14 years later, when Abraham was almost 100 and his wife Sarah was about 90. It also states that Abraham lived to be 175 years of age. When he died, he was buried by his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Compared to this, the Qur'aan does not mention anyone's age. And neither is there any mention of Abraham being buried by his two sons. But the context and sequence of revelations of the Qur'aan clearly prove that the one taken for sacrifice as a test of Abraham's faith was Ishmael and not Isaac, as analysed above.


For Reference:

Glorious Quran

Surah 37, Verses 100 - 113.
Surah 2, Verses 125, 127, 128 and 129.
http://www.al-sunnah.com/call_to_islam/quran/pickthall/surah2.html


Old Testament (Bible)

Genesis 16, verses 1 - 3
Genesis 16, verses 15 & 16
Genesis 17, verses 17 - 20
Genesis 22, verses 2 & 3, 6 - 13
http://www.devotions.net/bible/00old.htm


Title: Re: Ishmael or Issac ..?
Post by: Heba E. Husseyn on March 08, 2007, 04:13:07 am
Nice one.

I have also watched Ezz Gad's lecture on this topic.  It was very well presented.   Thanks zeynab.