Was Isaac or Ishmael to be sacrificed ?

Was Isaac or Ishmael to be sacrificed ?




As you know, Kedar is a descendent of Ishmael {Genesis 25:13}, and Ishmael is the the base for the Family Tree of Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alaihi wasalam) through Kedar.


An important Fact that I would like you to observe now is how the scribes switched names to illegitimize Ishmael.

The scribes and commentators say that Ishmael is not a legitimate son of Abraham and therefore the covenant was only with Isaac.



Now I will show you in the Scripture that it was Really Ishmael who was to be sacrificed and the covenant was first done with Ishmael and Ishmael was a legitimate son of Abraham even after Abraham's death.



1. The covenant was first made with Abraham and Ishmael;


Genesis 17:10 This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.


Genesis 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.


Note:-

So it's basically mentioned that the covenant [contract] between Prophet Abraham and God will continue through his family tree. That the future male children through his family will be circumcised. And that the covenant will be in his flesh (through his blood lineage) forever till the end of time.


The covenant is so special because the Jews claim that the covenant is in their family lineage only, whereas we as Muslims believe that the covenant was with the Jews so long as they stuck with their side of it, however - they continuously rejected it and Allah replaced them with another people who would submit to Allah, and since Ishmael was part of the covenant as mentioned before - the covenant would be with the 'Arabs, and after Muhammad (peace be upon him) - with those who followed him.




2. It was really Ishmael and not Isaac who was going to be sacrificed and the Jewish scribes because of vanity, switched the names;


Genesis 16:16 "and Abram [is] a son of eighty and six years in Hagar's bearing Ishmael to Abram."

So Abram/Abraham is 86 when he had a son called Ishmael (Isma'il) through Hagar/Hajar.



Who's son? Abraham's "son". Now as far as the sacrifice is concerned,


Genesis 17:24 "Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin."

That makes Abraham's son Ishmael, 13, how old is Isaac at this time?

Genesis 21:5 "Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him."


Abraham circumcised himself at the age of 99 (when Ishmael was 13), but he was 100 years old when Isaac was born to him.






that means during the circumcision/sacrifice, Abraham's only "begotten" son is Ishmael (and not Isaac as the Bible says.)

KJV Hebrews 11:17 "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac (???!): and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,"


Therefore we see that Isaac was not the only son (since Ishmael was older than Isaac), as a matter of fact, Isaac was not even born yet and Abraham's Only begotten son was Ishmael. Therefore further confirming that it was Ishmael who would be sacrificed by Abraham as a test from Allah (but he wasn't because Allah stopped it from occurring when Abraham passed the test in showing his sincerity to Allah.)

It also shows that the one who was going to be sacrificed (Ishmael) was special in the rank of Allah, he was the forefather of the Arabs, and Muhammad (peace be upon him, who is Arab.) Which further strengthens the Legitimacy of Prophet Muhammad which God says I will make great Nations from Ishmael.

Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

The Arabs are multiplied exceedingly compared to the Jewish population, they are plenty in number and are blessed to have the final revelation (Qur'an & Sunnah) in the Arabic language. They were also a great nation which spread Islam from Arabia to the different corners of the globe, to the extent that there are Muslims in every part of the world.





3. Ishmael was a legitimate son even after Abraham died;

Genesis 16:3 "And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife."

Genesis 25:9 "Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him (Abraham) in *the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,"

Genesis 25:12 "Now these are the records of the generations of *Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham;"


This shows that Hagar/Hajar was truly the wife of Prophet Abraham and the true, legitimate wife (of Abraham) and mother of Ishmael.




And Allah knows best.