The Sacrifice Of The Prophet Abraham

to Makkah, there was no person and no water. (Sahih alBukhari, Hadith No. 3364) At that time, people had abandoned God and worshipped man-made gods. But the rocks and mountains remained in their natural state. In that natural environment, he was assigned the task of building God’s House, so that any servant who wished to worship only God could come and do so. Abraham crossed the coastal lands of the Red Sea, reached present-day Makkah, and built the Kaaba. A man born in comfort and honour chose loneliness, travel, and a hard life—for the sake of truth. Abraham left Iraq at the age of 75. After living as a traveller for 25 years, a son was born to him, whom he named Ishmael (God has heard). At that time, he was 100 years old. Children born in old age are always very dear. And in Abraham’s case, all friends and family had abandoned him. Now, he lived only with his wife and son. In such a situation, this promising child must have been extremely precious to him. But when the boy grew up and could walk with him, a harder test came. God ordered him to sacrifice his son for His sake. According to the Torah, the child was 13 years old at that time. When Abraham reached 100 years of age, he saw a dream that he was sacrificing his son. Normally, dreams are taken symbolically. He could have interpreted it differently. But such was Abraham’s spirit of sacrifice that he chose not