The Quranic Story of Abraham’s Sacrifice – Its Surprising Message and Precision

Eid Mubarak!

The story of Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) being commanded by God to sacrifice his son, whose slaughter was Divinely replaced by a sacrificial animal, is one of the most famous narratives in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, found in the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah. Although the basic tale is the same, there are major discrepancies between the narratives, which alter what message one takes away from it. 

In the Quran, the son in question is Ismael (Ismail in the Quran, Ishmael in the Bible, this being a spelling that reflects both), the first-born son, not Isaac as in the Bible. And he was specified as an adult willing participant, not a child, eliminating the issue of “the binding of Isaac”. Ismael is not named in the relatively short narrative, but the story begins with Abraham’s prayer for a righteous son (Quran 37:109), then Allah’s response in the form of a “forbearing” son (37:101) who would be his first, and only son at the time of the “test”. Then, when that son reached the “age of exertion,” meaning maturity, Abraham tells him of a dream in which he saw himself ritually slaughtering him, asking what he thought. Ismael replied that this was Allah’s command to slaughter him, and he, the father, should definitely do what Allah ordered, and for the son’s part, he (Ismael) was willing and able. 

Surat Al-Nasr: Victory Then, Now, and in the Hereafter

Hajj at Mecca, circa 1910.

Surat Al-Nasr 110 

إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ

وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا

110:1   When the victory of Allah and the conquest comes

110:2   And you see the people entering into the Way of Allah in multitudes

110:3   You shall glorify with praise to your Lord,  and seek His forgiveness; for He is the Redeemer.

This at first glance seems like a very clear and easy-to-understand surah that needs minimal explanation, perhaps only a little historical context. And indeed it can be easily understood. But with the Quran, there is always more…

Why Do People Find Healing in Nature?

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أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالطَّيْرُ صَافَّاتٍ ۖ كُلٌّ قَدْ عَلِمَ صَلَاتَهُ وَتَسْبِيحَهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ

Do you not see that Allah is exalted by whomever is within the heavens and the earth and the birds with wings spread? Each has known his salat prayer and his exaltation (of Allah), and Allah is Knowing of what they do.

Surat Al-Nur (Light) 24:41

The healing and restorative power of nature is well-documented, and it is essentially free and without side effects. Nature therapy, also called ecotherapy, is the well-documented treatment of many health disorders by immersion in or interaction with “nature”, which refers to any part of creation, especially living things, even when represented in videos, pictures, sounds, or scents from pleasing natural sources. Another article is one of many discussing how such therapy works or can be applied, the how often confused with the why, which is rarely addressed. When children ask “why is the sky blue,” the answer nowadays is usually a scientific explanation of the how. But the child’s probing why may ask a different question: for what purpose or meaning is the sky blue? So in that spirit we ask here the question why is nature such a healing force not so much to know how it works as a mechanism, but what is the root cause and the purpose/ intention of this phenomenon. 

Who Owns the Kaaba? Saudi Regime Allows Only Select Saudis to Hajj 2021

The Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, is that tiny black cube—can you spot the not?—dwarfed by the imposing 2-billion-dollar clock tower built as a commercial complex, making the holiness of the Kaaba, which was built by the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) eons ago, seem rather paltry in capitalistic terms. This monstrosity was built at a cost that could have fed—forget about the rest of the world—those non-royal Saudi citizens who have neither sufficient food nor appropriate shelter, estimated at about 20% of the Saudi population.