Did Abraham offer Ishmael or Isaac? - In chapter fifteen of Genesis Almighty God reassures Abraham as follows: 1 “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. ” 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” From this it is important to note that Almighty God was the protector of Abraham and his great reward, which shows that God Himself is Abraham’s payment and his compensation. For example God promises Abraham that he would have a son from his own flesh and blood. Now because Sarah was getting very old and had not yet blessed them with a son, she gave Abraham her slave named Hagar as shown from chapter sixteen of Genesis as follows: 1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” 6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. Now it is interesting that although Sarah gave her slave to Abraham, when Hagar became pregnant, she began to despise her mistress, whereupon Sarah complained to Abraham, whereby he gave Sarah the permission to do what she thought was best. ARGUMENT According to chapter thirty-seven of the Qur’an Abraham prayed to God for a son, whereby he received the news of a son as follows: 100 My Lord, grant me from among the righteous. 101 So We gave him the good news of a boy, possessing forbearance. 101 And when he attained to working with him, he said: O my son! surely I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice you; consider then what you see. He said: O my father! do what you are commanded; if Allah please, you will find me of the patient ones. Therefore this shows that after Abraham prayed to God for a son, the good news of a boy was announced from the heavenly host. From this it is important to note that the name Ishmael is derived from the Hebrew transliterated word ‘shama`, and el’, whereby it simply mean God hears. Now because the name Ishmael, means God hears, Muslims claim that when God answered the prayer request of Abraham, this shows that the above verses in the Qur’an refers to Ishmael as the intended sacrifice. RESPONSE The Qur’an has misunderstood the period when the name Ishmael was given. For example After Hagar fled from Sarah, an angel from God comforted Hagar shown from chapter sixteen of Genesis as follows: 9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” 11 The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Therefore this shows that Ishmael was not given this name due to God answering the prayer request of Abraham, but instead after Hagar and Ishmael fled from Sarah, whereby Almighty God answered the misery of Hagar by naming her son Ishmael, which as shown previously means God hears.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 21:08:50 +0000
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