The Sacrifice of Ismael (AS)

Ibrahim (AS) would visit his wife and son in Mecca from time to time. One day, when he came to visit, he saw a dream. In it, Allah told him that he must sacrifice his only son, Ismael (AS). This was the most difficult test that Ibrahim (AS) had to face. He had wished and prayed and made du’a for a son for a very long time. Now that he had one, he loved him greatly. To sacrifice his own son would be incredibly hard, impossible for any normal human. But Ibrahim (AS) was Khalil Allah, and he always submitted to any request his Creator had of him.

So the next day he took his son aside and told him about his dream. Then he asked Ismael (AS) what he thought. The boy replied, ‘O my father, do what you are commanded. Inshallah, you will find me from the patient.’ From this we can see how pious Ismael (AS) was also, even from such a young age. He too submitted totally to the will of Allah, and trusted his father entirely. This was one of the du’a of Ibrahim (AS), when he asked Allah to give him children that surrendered to Allah just as he had surrendered.

Ibrahim (AS) took Ismael (AS) with him to a place for the sacrifice. On the way there, Shaitaan came to Ibrahim (AS) three different times to try to convince him not to follow Allah’s command. So Ibrahim (AS) picked up some stones from the ground and threw them at Shaitaan to make him leave them alone. This is the reason that today we throw stones when we go for hajj.

When Ibrahim (AS) reached the location where he wanted the sacrifice to happen, he put Ismael (AS) down on the side. Just as the knife was about to come down, Allah replaced Ismael (AS) with a ram from Jannah, and Ibrahim (AS) slaughtered a ram instead of his own son. Then Allah called down, ‘O Ibrahim, you have done what We told you to do in your dream. Now We will reward you for your good deeds. Indeed, that was a clear test.’

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