Editing Abraham in Islam (section)

===Sacrifice===
[[File:Timurid Anthology Zhertva.jpg|thumb|Ibrahim's Sacrifice; Timurid Anthology, 1410–1411]]
The classical Quranic exegete and historian [[Tabari]] offered two versions, whom Abraham was ordered to sacrifice. According to the first strand, Abraham wished for a righteous son, whereupon an angel appeared to him informing him, that he will get a righteous son, but when he was born and reached puberty, he must be sacrificed for God. Later, the angel appeared to Hagar to inform her about the upcoming child. When Ishmael was grown, someone appeared to Abraham, invites him to keep his vow.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rippin |first1=Andrew |last2=Knappert |first2=Jan |title=Textual Sources for the Study of Islam |publisher=The [[University of Chicago Press]] |date=15 October 1990 |isbn=978-0-2267-2063-0 |page=63}}</ref>
<blockquote> When Ishmael was grown, someone appeared to Abraham in a dream and said to him: "Keep your vow which you made! God bestowed upon you a boy by Hagar so that you may sacrifice him" So he said to Ishmael: "Let us go offer a sacrifice to God!" So he took a knife and some rope and went with him until they reached a place in the mountains. The boy said to him: "Oh father! Where is your sacrifice?" He replied: "Oh my son, I saw in a dream, that I will slaughter you. So pay attention to what you see". He said, "Oh my father, do what you have been commanded; you will find me, Insha-Allah (if God wills), one of the patient". Ishmael then said to him: "Make tight my bonds, so that I will not struggle to pull back your clothes so that none of my blood will be shed on them for Hagar will see it and be grieved. Hurry! Pass the knife over my throat so that death will be easy for me. When you come to Hagar, greet her'. Abraham began to approach him and, while crying, tied him up. Ishmael too was crying such that the tears gathered by the cheek of Ishmael. He then drew the knife along his throat but the knife did not cut, for God had placed a sheet of copper on the throat of Ishmael. When he saw that, he turned him on his forehead and nicked him on the back of the head just as God has said in Quran {{qref|37|103|pl=y}}: ''When they had both submitted and he flung on his forehead'', that is they had submitted the affair to God. A voice called out: 'Abraham, you have fulfilled the vision!" He turned around and behold, there was a ram. He took it and released his son and he bent over his son saying: "Oh my son, today you have been given to me". That comes in God's saying in Quran {{qref|37|107|pl=y}}: ''We ransomed him with a great sacrifice''.</blockquote>

The second strand, provided by Tabari, states that Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Ishmael, and [[Iblis]] appeared in form of a man to prevent the sacrifice.
<blockquote> Iblis (Satan), who had taken on the form of a man, said: "Where are you going, O Shaikh?" He replied: " I am going to these mountains because I must do something there'. Iblis said: "By God, I have seen that Shaytan has come to you in a dream and ordered you to slaughter this little son of yours. And you intend to do that slaughtering!" Thereupon Abraham recognized him and said: "Get away from me, enemy of God! By God, I will most certainly continue to do what my Lord has commanded". Iblis, the enemy of God, gave up on Abraham but then he encountered Ishmael, who was behind Abraham carrying the wood and the large knife. He said to him: "O young man, do you realize where your father is taking you?" He said: "To gather wood for our family from the mountains". He replied: "By God, his actual intention is to sacrifice you!" He said: "Why?!" Iblis replied: "He claims that his Lord has ordered him to do so!" Ishmael replied: "He must do what his Lord commands, absolutely!" When the young man had rebuffed him, Iblis went to Hagar, the mother of Ishmael who was still at home. Iblis said to her: "Oh mother of Ishmael! Do you realize where Abraham is going with Ishmael?" She replied: "They have gone to gather wood for us in the mountains". He said: "He has actually gone in order to sacrifice him!" She replied: "It cannot be! He is too kind and too loving towards him to do that!" Iblis said: "He claims that God has ordered him to do that!" Hagar said: "If his Lord has ordered him to do that then he must submit to the command of God!" So the enemy of God returned exasperated at not being able to influence the family of Abraham as he wished.</blockquote>

This great sacrifice denotes the importance of the ram that replaced Ibraheem's son. [[Ibn Kathir|Tafsir ibn Kathir]] records Ibn Abbas' explanation of the verse, according to Muhammad's teachings. The explanation is as follows:<ref name="Qtaf|en:ibk|37|107">{{Qtaf|en:ibk|37|107}}</ref>
{{blockquote|"And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice" (37:107). It was reported that Ibn `Abbas (may God be pleased with him) said, "A ram which had grazed in Paradise for forty years."|{{Qtaf|en:ibk|37|107}}}}

The Tafsir further goes on to say that the ram's horns were preserved until the time of [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]]:<ref name="Qtaf|en:ibk|37|107" />
<blockquote> Imam Ahmad recorded that Safiyyah bint Shaybah said, "A woman from Bani Sulaym, who was the midwife of most of the people in our household, told me that the Messenger of God sent for `Uthman bin Talhah, may God be pleased with him.<nowiki>''</nowiki> On one occasion she said, "I asked `Uthman, `Why did the Prophet call you' He said, `The Messenger of God said to me, I saw the horns of the ram when I entered the House (i.e., the Ka`bah), and I forgot to tell you to cover them up; cover them up, for there should not be anything in the House which could distract the worshipper.)<nowiki>'''</nowiki> Sufyan said, "The horns of the ram remained hanging in the House until it was burned, and they were burned too.<nowiki>''</nowiki> The Quraysh had inherited the horns of the ram that Abraham sacrificed, and they had been passed down from generation to generation, until the Messenger of God was sent. And God knows best.</blockquote>

From that day onwards, every [[Eid al-Adha]] once a year Muslims around the world slaughter an animal to commemorate Abraham's sacrifice and to remind themselves of self-abnegation in the way of God, and they would share the meat among friends, family, the poor and the needy. This is called [[Qurban (Islamic ritual sacrifice)|Qurban]]i ("sacrifice").<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aaiil.org/text/books/mga/khutbahilhamiyya/khutbahilhamiyyadeepermeaningsacrifice.pdf|title=Deeper Meaning of Sacrifice in Islam<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=8 December 2014|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809042827/https://www.aaiil.org/text/books/mga/khutbahilhamiyya/khutbahilhamiyyadeepermeaningsacrifice.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>