ABRAHAM'S SACRIFICE EXPLAINED TO MUSLIMS
A. Abraham
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1. INTRODUCTION
2. ABRAHAM'S SACRIFICE
3. CONCLUSION
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1. INTRODUCTION
Two months and ten days
after the Muslim month of fasting the Hajj month begins. It commemorates
Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son. Sacrifices are an often-reoccurring
theme in the Torah. The Quran too acknowledges
that God commanded animal sacrifice in the time of Moses (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 67). The
Bible declares its main meaning to be that of atonement; it covered the sins
of the people who offered it (Lev
'Christ was
sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time,
not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.' (Heb
9:28)
In this article it will be
seen that this ultimate purpose of sacrifice is also supported in the Quranic story where Abraham was commanded to kill his son.
2. ABRAHAM'S SACRIFICE
In Surah
37, Al Saffat, verse 107 we read about God's
miraculous, personal intervention by sparing Abraham from this terrible ordeal
in that the Almighty himself 'ransomed Abraham's son with a momentous
sacrifice.' In the Quran we are not told the name
of the son whom Jews and Christians, according to their scriptures, believe to
be Isaac. Verses 112-113 speak about Isaac too. There is no word in the Arabic
(like 'thumma'= 'then') to separate the two stories. This
seems to confirm that they are part of a summary of the story where Abraham was
asked to sacrifice his son. The same literary feature of summarizing a
narrative at the end is found in the surrounding verses 79-82 and 120-122.
Here an important question
needs to be asked: 'Why is the sacrifice which Muslims, Jews and
Christians believe to have been a ram (Gen
To see only a symbol or
a remembrance in Abraham's sacrifice as Muslim commentators would have us believe,
stands in sharp contrast to the Biblical view as explained above. Their views
also contradict the definition of the word 'sacrifice' being '...a religious
ceremony in which something is given to a god...Persons offering it expect to receive some physical
or spiritual good.' (See, "The World Book Encyclopedia",
Volume 17, 1982, USA, page 7)
These Islamic explanations
also go contrary to the claim that the Quran teaches
basically the same as all earlier prophets. (Surah
42, Al Shurah, verse 13)
The solution to the problem
lies in the word 'ransom'. It means that a person, in this case Abraham's
son, is set free in exchange for someone or something else. When compared
with Abraham's son, the ram by itself is not very special; in that sense it is
not great. Therefore, the real importance of it has to lie somewhere else. It
points to the perfect sacrifice found in Jesus Christ. That truth found in the
Torah can not have been abrogated, otherwise it would have to be replaced with
something similar or better (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 106). What better could be offered to us
than God dealing with our sins, with the shame we brought upon him, personally
by supplying a great sacrifice for us in Jesus Christ?!
Furthermore, this great,
momentous sacrifice was foretold in the Torah (e.g. Exo
3. CONCLUSION
Rightfully, Abraham's
sacrifice is commemorated regularly once a year. Such a momentous occasion must
never be forgotten. It speaks about Jesus, the perfect sacrifice to come. He
established God's honour once again. Not to accept his work is to continue to
put shame on him. To blaspheme in such a horrendous way will lead to
everlasting distraction.
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Copyright
© 2001, 2003, by Rev. Andrew Abraham. This publication may be reproduced in part or
in full in any form or by any means under the condition that credit is given to
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