In previous installment, we talk about Prophet Ishmael and the story of the sacrifice. We mention that there is a controversy regarding the person to be sacrificed, whether it was Ishmael or Isaac.
The People of the Book (Ahli Kitab), that is the Jews and the Christians, say that it was Isaac who was sacrificed. Their opinion is based on the Bible, the book of Genesis, Chapter 22, verse 2, that says: Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
There is no disagreement among the Jews and the Christians on this matter. All of them believe that the son to be sacrificed was Isaac.
The Islamic scholars, however, differ on the matter. Most of them say that it was Ishmael, but a few suggest that it was Isaac. Why Muslim scholars differ on the person to be sacrificed.
There are two main reasons for this.
Firstly, because neither Quran nor authentic hadith makes specific mention about the name of the son to be sacrificed. The Islamic scholars, therefore, suggest the name based on their understanding and their interpretation of the story. As for the People of the Book, their Bible clearly states that it was Isaac. So, there is no disagreement among them with regard to the person to be sacrificed.
Secondly and more importantly, to the Muslims, it does not really matter which son was to be sacrificed. To the Muslims, the story to be highlighted is the great trial that Abraham and his son had to go through.
Islam views the life on this earth as a test. All people will have to undergo one test after another. The greater the person is, the greater will be the test he will have to go through. Prophets, being the people closest and most beloved of Allah, had to go through the hardest trials. Abraham, being the greatest prophet, had to undergo the greatest test, to prove that he is worthy of the stature.
To the People of the Book, especially the Jews, however, the actual son to be sacrificed makes a lot of difference. This is because they associate the sacrifice with the promise made by Allah to Prophet Abraham.
Allah has promised Prophet Abraham to make his descendants the great nation, the chosen people. Since the Jews were descended from the line of Isaac, and since the Jews believe that they are the Chosen People, and since the Promise is linked with the Sacrifice, the son to be sacrificed is therefore of paramount importance. To them, if Ishmael was sacrificed instead of Isaac, then the Chosen People would not be the Jews, but the Arabs, because Arabs were descendants from the line of Ishmael.
Quran also mentions about the Promise that Allah gave to Abraham. Allah has made Prophet Abraham to be the leader of believers. Abraham then requested that his descendants be made the leaders as well. On this request, Allah replied that His promise is not applicable to the wrongdoers.
Herein lies the difference between the People of the Book and the Muslims. The People of the Book, especially the Jews, take the Promise along the racial line. The Jews consider themselves the Chosen People simply because they were descended from Abraham through Isaac.
The Muslims, meanwhile, take the Promise from the righteousness angle. Only the righteous descendants of Abraham are covered in the Promise. His descendants who are wrongdoers are not included.
Because of this view, we can see that, although Islamic scholars differ on the son to be sacrificed, they do not fight against each other over these differences. This is because they consider both Ishmael and Isaac are the worthy sons of Abraham, and that Allah’s Promise is not directly linked with the name of the son being sacrificed.
This is the lesson we can draw from the controversy regarding the person to be sacrificed. And this is the basic problem with the People of the Book, both the Jews as well as the Christians.
The Jews made a mistake when they turned the universal religion of their forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—into the religion of their tribe, the Bani Israel. They link religion with race and made religion hereditary. That is why it is difficult for them to accept Muhammad as the Last Prophet, since Muhammad SAW was not a Jew.
The Christians choose similar path as the Jews when they formulated their faith based on hereditary. The Christians believe that the sin of the father is passed down to his descendants. In other words, the children inherit the sin of their father. This belief is known as Original Sin and it is the core of their faith.
They say, when Adam ate the fruit forbidden by Allah, he committed the sin. Since Adam was the first man, and that was the first sin committed by him, it is therefore considered to be the Original Sin.
In a way, this is true. It was the first sin committed by the first man. But the problem is that they say this Original Sin is passed down to Adam’s Children and all his descendants. And the Original Sin was so great that all his descendants, meaning all humankind, will have to go to Hell.
Later, God took a pity on the human plight and decided to erase this Original Sin, so that humankind can enter Heaven. Unfortunately, the Original Sin is so great that it can only be redeemed by God sacrificing Himself. But how can God sacrifice or kill himself?
If God sacrifices himself, who is going to be the God and rules the universe? God is only one. And, no one can kill God other than he himself. But, if God commits suicide, there will be no God anymore.
According to the Christians, this delicate problem is resolved by God taking his own Word and put the Word into the womb of Mary. After 9 months or so, the Word got out of Mary’s womb in the form of a male baby, and that male baby was called Jesus.
Since it was a human baby who came out of Mary’s womb, Jesus is therefore a human. But since it was God’s Word that Mary conceived, not the normal human seed (or semen), Jesus is therefore a God. To differentiate the God on earth and the God in Heaven, Jesus is called the Son and the God in Heaven is called the Father.
When the Son reached the age of about 33 years old, he was arrested and crucified. He died for three days, but after that he came back to life and ascended to Heaven, sitting beside the Father. And all the while, God is one, and one only.
Confusing as it may sound, if one believes in that, then he will be redeemed and will enter Paradise. If he does not believe in that, then he goes to Hell.
The matter would not be so confusing if the Christians just take what the Old Testament say (Old Testament is the Jewish Bible which is also part of Christian Bible. The other part of the Christian Bible is the New Testament). In many passages of the Old Testament, it is clearly said that the sin of the father shall not be passed down to the son. In other words, the children do not inherit the faults of their parent.
But the Christians ignore what the Old Testament says because the Original Sin is extremely important to their faith. Without Original Sin, there will be no need for Jesus to die on the Cross, as there is no need for him to sacrifice himself to redeem mankind. Without Original Sin, Jesus does not have to be a God.
To end, let’s relook at the book of Genesis, Chapter 22, verse 2. “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
If we take the word “Isaac” out, then the passage will read: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
Now, every one who studies the Bible would know that Ishmael was meant here, because he was the first son of Abraham, and the only son before Isaac was born. Isaac was the second son of Abraham. He was born when Ishmael, his half-brother, was 14 years old; Abraham, his father, was about 100 years old; and Sarah, his mother, was about 90 years old.
To be certain that it was Isaac, instead of Ishmael, was meant here, the word “Isaac” has to be there. But by having the word “Isaac,” and yet calling him “the only son,” what happened to Ishmael? Is he not considered the son of Abraham as well? How could Isaac be the one and only son when he was actually the second son, and the first son was still alive when this event took place? Or could it be that the word “Isaac” was not in the original revelation, but was inserted later?
We shall look at this matter in the next installment.
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