Ibrahim\/Abraham (PBUH) woke up\nterrified; he knew that dreams of Prophets were true and free from the\ntemptations of Satan. However, he saw the same dream for two other nights (1),\nwhich indicated the emphasis on the necessity of this task and its importance.\nAbraham (PBUH), who had passed the difficult trials of Allah (SWT) several\ntimes, had to take this latest trial, obey the order of Allah (SWT), and\nslaughter with his own hands his brave adult son, for whom he had waited a\nlifetime. (2)! But before anything, he\nhad to prepare his son; thus, he addressed him as, \u2033O my son! Surely I have\nseen in a dream that I should sacrifice you; consider then what you see (What\nis your opinion?!) (3)\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His son, who was a copy of his devoted\nfather, welcomed this divine order with open arms and extreme content, and\nreplied to his father clearly, \u2033\u2026 O father! Do whatever you have been ordered\u2026\n(4)\u2033 and rest assured from my side because \u2033With the will of Allah, you will\nfind me amongst the patients ones (5).\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On one hand, Abraham (PBUH) discusses\nthe issue of slaughtering with his 13-year-old son and asks his opinion. He\nconsiders his son an independent personality, with free will. Abraham (PBUH)\ndoes not intend to deceive his son or to take him to this trial blindly;\nrather, he wants his son to participate in this great combat against ego with\nhis own desire, and to taste the favor of submission and contentment along with\nhis father. On the other hand, the son wants his father to remain firm in his\ndecision. Thus, he does not say, \u2033Slaughter me\u2033, but says, \u2033Do what you are\ncommanded; if Allah please, you will find me of the patient ones.”\nMoreover, he addresses his father as \u2033O Father! \u2033 to state that this issue has\nno effect on the love between a father and his son; yet, the order of Allah\n(SWT) is superior to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this way, both the father and the\nson passed the first stage of this great trial with complete success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This trial for Abraham (PBUH) was of\nthe greatest trials throughout history. The purpose of this trial was to clear\nhis heart from love for things other than Allah (SWT) and to fill it with love\nfor Allah (SWT). Thus, according to some Hadiths, Satan did his best to prevent\nAbraham (PBUH) from accomplishing this trial successfully. First, he went to\nHagar, Isma\u2019il\u2019s\/Ishmael\u2019s mother, and said to her, \u2033Do you know what is in\nAbraham\u2019s mind? He wants to slaughter his son today! \u2033 Hagar replied, \u2033Go! Stop\nsaying vain words! He is too kind to kill his own son. In fact, is there any\nfather in the world who could slaughter his son with his own hands? \u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satan continued his temptations by\nsaying, \u2033He claims that Allah has ordered him so\u2026\u2033 Hagar replied, \u2033If Allah has\nordered him, then he has to obey, and there is no choice other than submission\nand contentment!!\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, Satan went to \u2033the son\u2033 and\ntried to deceive him, but he was not successful, as he found Ishmael in\ncomplete submission and contentment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, he went to \u2033the father\u2033 and\nsaid to him, \u2033O Abraham! The dream you saw was satanic! Do not obey Satan!\u2033\nAbraham (PBUH), who had recognized Satan through the light of faith and\nprophethood, screamed, \u2033Go away you enemy of Allah!” (6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, the delicate moments\narrived; the order of Allah (SWT) had to be performed\u2026 Having observed the\nsubmission of his son, Abraham (PBUH) hugged Ishmael and kissed his cheeks, and\nthey both started crying, a crying which revealed emotions and eagerness to\nmeet Allah (SWT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Holy Quran mentions this in a\nshort meaningful statement, \u2033Then, when they had both submitted themselves (to\nthe Will of Allah), and he (Abraham (PBUH)) had laid his forehead on\nearth, \u2026\u2033 (7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abraham (PBUH) threw his son down upon\nhis forehead, took out a knife, and using all of his power, tried to finish the\ndeed quickly. While his soul was filled with disturbance, it was only his love\nfor Allah (SWT) that made him act decisively. However, the knife had no effect\non the fine neck of his son\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abraham (PBUH) was shocked; he applied\npressure to the knife once again, but it did not work. Although Abraham (PBUH)\nfully intended to use the knife to cut his son\u2019s neck, Allah (SWT) ordered the\nknife not to cut, and the knife obeyed only Allah (SWT)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Holy Quran wraps up this story by\nmentioning a short and meaningful statement: \u2033And We called out to him saying:\nO Abraham! You have indeed shown the truth of the vision; surely thus do We\nreward the doers of good (8).” Not only do we assist them to pass the\ntrial successfully, but also keep their dear son alive. Of course, those who\nare solely submitted to our orders and have accomplished beneficence deserve\nnothing but such a reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it continues by saying: \u2033Most\nsurely this is a manifest trial (9).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is narrated in some Hadiths that at\nthis point, Gabriel yelled (out of admiration), \u2033Allah is the Greatest\u2033, \u2033Allah\nis the Greatest\u2033.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Ishmael called, \u2033There is no God\nbut Allah, and Allah is the Greatest.\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, Abraham (PBUH) said, \u2033Allah is\nthe Greatest, and praise is for Allah (10), \u2033 and these are all similar to what\nwe say on the day of Eid al-Adha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, to accomplish the plan for\nAbraham (PBUH), make him give a sacrifice to Allah (SWT), and fulfill his wish,\nAllah (SWT) sent him a huge sheep to sacrifice instead of his son and to leave\nthis tradition in the ceremony of \u2033Hajj\u2033 in the land of \u2033Mina\u2033 for the future\ngenerations, as the Holy Quran states, \u2033And We ransomed him with a great\nsacrifice (11).\u2033<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have to believe that the\ntemptations of Satan in the great trials are not from one direction; they are\nmade from various aspects with different manifestations. Nonetheless, it is our\nduty to recognize Satan in all his appearances, as Abraham (PBUH) did. Thus we\nshould avoid him and block him from approaching us in any way, and to stone him\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selection taken\nfrom \u2033Tafsir Nemoonah\u2033, by Ayatullah Makarim Shirazi)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roshd Website congratulates all\nMuslims, especially you dear friend, upon the great Eid of sacrifice for the\nBeloved, Eid al-Adha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Footnotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. It is said\nthat he had this dream on the night of \u2033Tarwiah\u2033 (8th night of Dhi al-Hijjah)\nfor the first time, and it repeated on the nights of \u2033Arafah\u2033 and \u2033Eid al-Adha\u2033\n(9th and 10th Dhi al-Hijjah); thus, he was completely certain that it was the\norder of Allah (SWT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The Holy\nQuran, (37:102)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. The order\ngiven to Abraham (PBUH) was just a trial. As we know, such orders are not meant\nto target the act itself; rather, it is just meant to declare the willingness\nof the person to obey the orders of Allah (SWT). And this is applicable to the\ncases where the person is not aware of the hidden purposes behind the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, if we read that after this\nincident, Allah (SWT) says to Abraham (PBUH), \u2033You made your dream come true,\u2033\nit is because he did whatever he could in regards to slaughtering his beloved\nson, proved his spiritual willingness and readiness, and passed this trial with\nsuccess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. The Holy\nQuran, (37:102)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. The Holy\nQuran, (37:102)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Tafsir Ab\nal-Futuh al-Raazi, the interpretation of Chapter 37<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. The Holy\nQuran, (37:103)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. The Holy\nQuran, (37:104 and 105)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. The Holy\nQuran, (37:106)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. Tafsir\nQurtubi and Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11. The Holy\nQuran, (37, 107)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ibrahim\/Abraham (PBUH) woke up terrified; he knew that dreams of Prophets were true and free from the temptations of Satan. However, he saw the same dream for two other nights (1), which indicated the emphasis on the necessity of this task and its importance. Abraham (PBUH), who had passed the difficult trials of Allah (SWT) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28431,28248],"tags":[24954,17778,18909,24920,24953,24955,20756,20121,17976,18418,18838,17954],"class_list":["post-4886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eid-al-adha","category-occasional-letters","tag-2006-12-31","tag-allah","tag-dream","tag-eid-qurban","tag-for-the-beloved","tag-free","tag-importance","tag-lifetime","tag-night","tag-occasion-letters","tag-prophets","tag-true"],"yoast_head":"\n