The Story of Ibrahim's Sacrifice
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Subject: hajj
Title: The Story of Ibrahim's Sacrifice
Created on: Wed Sep 26 17:11:07 -0400 2007
Updated on: Wed Sep 26 17:11:07 -0400 2007
Version: 1
Abstract: ... - out his century of prophethood and service of God, as Ibrahim grew older, his desire to have a son grew stronger. The Prophet Ibrahim desperately longed for a son but his wife Hajar was barren. "O my Lord ! Grant me a righteous son !" (37:100) was his call to Allah. Against every expectation, Allah fullfilled his promise of making Ibrahim the seed of a great line of Prophets, the root of the great universal religions. "So we gave him the good news of a forbearing boy" (37:101). Allah brought mercy to the agedness, loneliness, hopelessness and anguish of his trustworthy Messenger. For Ibrahim, Ismail was not just a son for a sonless father, he was the end of a life of waiting, the reward of a century of suffering, the fruit of his life, the hope after despair and the young boy of an old father. Ismael being the promise of future generations was in some sense the whole world for Ibrahim. So there was joy and rejoicing in Ibrahim's house as Ismail was quickly growing under the sun of his father's love. But Allah decided that it was not to remain so. Brothers and Sisters, Ibrahim was to be tried once more. Ibrahim had a vision in which he was commanded by Allah to slaughter his only son. Brothers and Sisters, why should Ibrahim, whose entire life was devoted to prophethood, to Jihaad, to removing ignorance, to laying the foundations of tawheed be tried once again ? Is it because man should not rest ? Is it because man should not be deceived by 100 years of Jihad and victories ? Is it because he should not think of himself without weakness ? Is it for the fact that whatever we fix our eyes upon in this world will blind us ? And finally, is it because the higher the spiritual height we reach, the greater is the danger of falling ? Brothers and Sisters, it is not possible to convey in words what it must have meant for Ibrahim to be commanded by Allah (ta'ala) to sacrifice his only son Ismail. The magnitude of the pain does not allow the imagination to enclose it. It inspires fear and trembling. How can Ibrahim take his beloved son, the fruit of his life, the joy of his heart, the meaning of his living and staying, his Ismail, and hold him on the ground, put a knife to his throat and kill him ? If it were only the slaughter of Ibrahim at the hand of Ismail, how easy ! But no ! The young Ismail must die and the old and aged Ibrahim must remain ! Ibrahim, the steel-like idol-smasher must have felt torn apart ! Within him, there must have been a war, the greatest jihad. Which war ? The war between God and Ismail ! The difficulty of choice ! Who should Ibrahim choose ? Love of God or Love of self ? Prophethood or Fatherhood ? Loyalty to God or loyalty to family ? Faith or Emotion ? Truth or Reality ? Consciousness or Instinct ? Responsibility or Pleasure ? Duty or Right ? Tawheed (Monotheism) or Shirk (Polytheism) ? Advancing or Remaining ? To Become or To Be ? And finally, God or Ismail ? What should Ibrahim choose ? Brothers and Sisters, Ibrahim did not choose immediately. He doubted and wavered under the crushing force of pain and anguish. Only after the third vision did he finally decide to carry out Allah's command. This is reflected in the hajj ritual of stoning the three idols representing Iblis who tempted Ibrahim to disobey Allah. When a `truth' enhances one's earthly life, most people become seekers of truth. But when a truth opposes life and leads to problems, loss and dangers the seekers of truth are few in number. Iblis works wherever he finds traces of fear, weakness, doubt, despair, envy selfishness and even great affection towards someone or something. Iblis sometimes blows logical reasons, intellectual and religious justifications to achieve his ends. For instance we may imagine that, under the powerful crush of his pain and distress, Ibrahim could have used many justifications. Perhaps the meaning of dhebh (slaughter) is just metaphorical and means kill your `ego'. Perhaps `Ismail' might be a general noun and not Ibrahim's son. Perhaps ``slaughter Ismail'' actually means ``slaughter the love of Ismail''. Ibrahim could have also tried many interpretations of his vision. But Ibrahim, khalil-ul-Allah, the intimate friend of God, had faith in Allah and he knew that Allah (ta'ala) demanded the sacrifice. Abraham's conscience would make a mockery of all these logical justifications and reasons. Ibrahim chose the Love of God over the Love of self, Prophethood over Fatherhood, Loyalty to God over Loyalty to family, Truth over Reality, Consciousness over Instinct, Responsibility over Pleasure, Duty over Right, Tawheed over Shirk. He preferred Advancing to Remaining. Ibrahim chose God and gave up Ismail. Brothers and Sisters, in Mina, an amazing and frightening conversation between a father and a son took place. Ibrahim said to Ismail : "O my Son, I see in a vision that I offer you in sacrifice. Now see what is your view ? " (37:102) What frightening words for a child to hear ! Ismail could have kept silent. He could have asked Ibrahim to refrain. But Ismail had also faith. He submitted to Allah's will. Realising his father's distress, Ismail gave him these comforting words : "O my father ! Do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah so wills, patient and constant " (37:102) Allah-u-Akbar ! Allah-u-Akbar ! Allah-u-Akbar ! Ibrahim had consulted his son who willingly offered himself to Allah's command. The choice of Ibrahim was sacrifice. That of Ismail was self-sacrifice : Martyrdom. This gave Ibrahim strength. Ibrahim tied his heart to God, he took the Ismail of his life in one hand and the knife of his faith in the other and he walked until he ... [Full Article...]
