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Why Would A Man Sacrifice His Son? | Khutbah
At the heart of the story of these blessed days of Dhul Hijjah is the friend of Allah, Ibrahim (as), being commanded to sacrifice his beloved son Ismail (as). In this khutbah, Dr. Omar Suleiman shares the wisdom and practical lessons that can be derived for us spiritually, from this moment.
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This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. We begin by praising Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, at the core of what we are celebrating in these days of Dhul-Hijjah, may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la accept our good deeds in these days and beyond, Allahumma ameen, is the willingness of our father Ibrahim A.S. to sacrifice anything and everything for the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And it's very interesting because at the core of that is a question. When Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commands Ibrahim A.S. to sacrifice his son, why would a man sacrifice his son? Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commands Ibrahim A.S. to take the most beloved thing in the world to him, his most precious possession. Realize at this point, Ishaq is not even born yet. Ismail is his only son after a long wait. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commands him to sacrifice him. And Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la you'll find that there will be those that would criticize Ibrahim A.S. out of their arrogance and their ignorance to say that there's something wrong with Ibrahim A.S. and what is it about this religion? What is it about this man that this is a praiseworthy act? So I wanted to focus on this insha'Allah ta'ala, this question, but not just answer it from an intellectual perspective, but really in a way that's spiritually productive for us as well. Number one, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says in the Qur'an, and it is what we will end this khutbah with,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commands justice and excellence. So Allah Azawajal is telling us exactly what the nature of His command is to us, that إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ And then in the beginning of this khutbah, أُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ أَمَرَنَا بِالْحَقِّ That when we enjoin one another with the consciousness of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, we once again affirm that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la enjoins only that which is good and that which is true. And so what is it about the story of Ibrahim A.S. taking his son and sacrificing his son when we know that this is not a part of the shari'ah, not a part of the legislation of any prophet before, to sacrifice their children. What is it about the story that makes it a cause of admiration and not a cause of confusion? Number one, realize that when we say Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commands only good and forbids evil, that no person can take this message and go up to their children and say that I had a dream that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la told me that I was sacrificing you and so therefore I'm going to sacrifice you out of the pleasure of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Because the shari'ah as we have it is final, complete, perfect. But the dreams of the prophets, and this is exactly what makes this such an important point, the dreams of the prophet in and of themselves are wahi, are revelation. And this is all happening in real time to them. And so what they see, they are to act upon as it appears with absolutely no discrepancy and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la demands conformity from the prophets of Allah without question and out of their goodness, out of their piety, out of their understanding of their mission. They don't ask why, they just do.
When Allah tells them to do something, they do it. And this is what's praised about Ibrahim A.S. in particular. If qala lahu rabbuhu aslim, qala aslamtu li rabbil alameen. When his Lord says to him, submit yourself, he says, I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds. There are no ifs, ands, and buts, there's no asking any questions. It's just Allah Azza wa Jal commands me to do it, therefore it's good. And I want to focus on this idea of the command of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la being inherently good. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says to us in Surah Nisa, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that if he was to command them to kill themselves, or to remove themselves from their homes, to expel themselves from their homes, only a few of them would do so. And had they done so, it would have been better for them, khayran lahum, and ashadda tathbeeta. It would have been more reassuring to them as well. It would have actually been good for them had they abided by the command of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, even if the command of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la does not make sense to them in the moment. At the core of all of this, dear brothers and sisters, is not a read of Ibrahim A.S. sacrificing his son. It is the absolute trust in the amr of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, the command of Allah being inherently good, even if I can't understand it, paired with the absolute willingness to do anything and sacrifice anything to gain the pleasure of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, no matter what the cost was going to be. That is the beauty of this story at the end of the day. And I want you to pay attention to the words for a moment, because it's not just Ibrahim A.S. who's a participant in this act.
Imagine how difficult it would have been if Ismail A.S. was running away from his father. Imagine Ibrahim A.S. who is struggling with the emotional turmoil of having to carry out this act, despite being a Muslim in the full sense of the word, one who submits himself to Allah, if Ismail A.S. was not a willing participant. But every single person in this story cites the same thing as being the cause of their tathbeet, the cause of their reassurance, and that is what? Ismail A.S. asks his father, did Allah command you to do this? So when Ibrahim A.S. says, InnaAllaha amarani, Allah Azzawajal has commanded me to sacrifice you. As soon as Ismail A.S. reaffirms that this is the command of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, that is where he puts his trust and his hope in, and he says, satajiduni inshaAllah minassabireen, then you will find me to be amongst the patient. When Ibrahim A.S. leaves Hajar A.S. in the desert and is walking away from her, and this is painful for Ibrahim A.S. This is so difficult for him, to have to leave Hajar and Ismail in the desert without explanation. It's Hajar who calls out to Ibrahim A.S. and what are her words? Allahu amarak bihaza, did Allah command you to do this? If Allah commanded you to do this, then he's not going to lose us. If Allah commanded you to do this, then he will not abandon us. All three of the participants in this story cite the same thing as their reason for confidence in what they're doing, even though it doesn't make sense to any one of them. This is interesting.
It's not like Ibrahim A.S. knows what's happening and Hajar and Ismail don't, and he has to somehow give them ishara, somehow give them a sign. All three of them do not understand what the plan that Allah has in store for them is, but all three of them become willing participants with thabat, with firmness, with comfort, with reassurance, because they understand Allah does not command evil. Allah does not command purposelessness. Allah does not command that which is harmful. If Allah commanded, it will be good for all three of us in our own ways. And look what ends up happening. And subhanAllah, that's why when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam tells us about shaitan going to all three of them with a different temptation. To Ibrahim A.S., you're really going to sacrifice your son and leave your wife out here in the desert? To Hajar A.S., are you aware about what your husband is going to do with your son? Aren't you going to stop it? Are you going to get in the way? To Ismail, do you know what your father intends to do with you? And just like when the hijaj go through and they pelt the shaitan symbolically at the jamarat, all three of them were able to move him away, just like this. Because at the end of the day, he had no entrance. Because as much sense as he was making and as much emotional manipulation as he was using, he could not interfere with a basic belief that all three of them had, that Allah only commands good. That Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will never command us to do something that is not in our benefit and not in our favor at the end of the day. And this is exactly what Islam means, submission. This is exactly why Ibrahim A.S. gets that title, هو اجتباكم, to choose, to be chosen and to choose and to be named a Muslim, and for you to be named a Muslim.
And anyone that can look back at that incident and misrepresent it, or anyone that can look back at that and not see the beauty of it and instead see the output, why would Allah Azzawajal command something like this, even though we know what happens at the end, which is obviously that Ismail is unharmed and elevated, that there is something put in his place, and that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives Ibrahim A.S. even more children and grandchildren. We know all of that now, but anyone who looks back at that and cannot appreciate and absorb that simple fundamental beauty, وَمَن يَرْغَبُ عَن مِلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مَن سَفِهَا نَفْسًا Who turns away from the religion of Ibrahim A.S. except for the one who disgraces themselves? Because that's at the core of it. Allah Azzawajal commands good, and everything that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commands is for our benefit at the end of the day. And when you think about where we're at right now, and again, this is not our shari'ah to do these things. Most things in Islam, in our shari'ah, you can trace something identifiably beneficial, and you can see something that is identifiably harmful from that which Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has prohibited. But when you come across these rulings, and these rulings are being forsaken on a regular basis, or circumvented, or undermined, because this doesn't make sense to me, this doesn't make sense to me, this doesn't make sense to me. That's not the religion of Ibrahim A.S. You know, it's very interesting, subhanAllah, because you know when you go to hajj, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allow us all to go to hajj and have an accepted hajj. Allahumma ameen. When you go to hajj, the most intelligent people in the world, the most educated people in the world, the most successful people in the world, you know what they're doing when they get to the Ka'bah? They're saying, Sheikh, where does my ihram go here? How many times are we doing this? What do I do here? What do I do here? Everyone is asking questions to make sure that they don't compromise that act of submission in hajj. No one is sitting there, going around in tawaf, and saying,
can you explain to me the wisdom of putting the ihram this way or that way, or else I'm not going to put it under my shoulder. No one is saying, I'm not going to pray two rak'ahs at Maqam Ibrahim until you make it make sense to me. Because there is an acceptance in that moment, a mindset in hajj, that you are here performing the way of Ibrahim A.S. with the spirit of Ibrahim A.S. as taught to you by Muhammad S.A.W. as a Muslim. Allah says, do it, it's good. And that was the spirit of Umar A.S. When he walks around, he looks at the black stone. Look at the purity of his creed, matched with the dedication that he has. Absolutely uncompromised. I know that you don't benefit or harm. And if I didn't see the Prophet S.A.W. kiss you, I would have never kissed you. Some of the scholars said, look at the difference between Ibrahim A.S. and shaytan and the devil. Iblis comes up with a rational explanation. When he's taught, or when he's told to prostrate himself to Adam A.S., what does he say? I'm better than him. You created me from fire and you created him from dirt. And the scholars say, look at Ibrahim A.S. Ibrahim A.S. could have said when Allah A.S. commanded him to prostrate towards the Kaaba, I'm better than that. You made it from stone and you made me from clay. But Ibrahim A.S. had a different mindset. And I want to end with this because it's so beautiful and so powerful when we're talking to one another. When we're reminding each other, even as there's no harm in learning the benefits of abiding by the way of Allah S.W.T., it becomes manifest to us all the time that everything that Allah A.S. has commanded us to do has wisdom and beauty and benefit and purpose. And everything that Allah S.W.T. has prohibited in time will show itself to be harmful to us. But something so beautiful and profound, when Ibrahim A.S. is pleading with his father to give up idol worship,
he says, Oh my father, don't worship the shaitan because verily the shaitan was to the most merciful disobedient. Because to him, the language, the approach, the substance, is that I am in a relationship of ubudiyah to Allah S.W.T. He is my lord and he commands. And it's upon me to accept and the more I accept and the more wholesome my acceptance, the better it's going to be for me in this life and in the next. And he's telling his father, why would you follow one who disobeys the most merciful? Verily the shaitan was to the most merciful disobedient. His crime is that he doesn't obey the command of the most merciful. May Allah S.W.T. allow us to willingly submit ourselves even when we can't understand and to willingly sacrifice even when we are attached and to be joined with the Prophet S.A.W. and our father Ibrahim A.S. and the most righteous in the highest level of Firdaws Al-A'la. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, as we come to the last few days of Dhul Hijjah, I remind you that what is more important to sacrifice than the animal and the qurbani that you put forth is whatever it is that stands as a barrier between you and Allah S.W.T. And just as when we stand in Ramadan, we remind ourselves of the sins that we need to relinquish, what is it that you haven't yet sacrificed for the sake of Allah S.W.T.? May Allah S.W.T. make us amongst those who willingly submit themselves
and who are considered amongst al-muhsineen. Allahumma ghfirl al-mu'mineena wal-mu'minat wal-muslimeena wal-muslimat al-ahya'i minhum wal-amwati innaka samee'un qareebun wujeebu al-da'awat Allahumma ghfirl lana wa rahamna wa a'afu anna wa la tu'adhibna Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam takhfir lana wa tarhamna lana koonanna min al-khasireen Allahumma innaka a'afuun kareemun tuhibbu al-a'afu wa fa'afu anna Allahumma ghfirl li waridina Rabbirhamu ma kama rabbuna sigara Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurra ta'ayun wa ja'alna lilmuttaqina imama Allahumma ansur ikhwanan mustad'afina fi mashariqil ardi wa magharibiha Allahumma ya'izzil al-islam wa al-muslimeen wa athilla al-shirka wa al-kadibeen wa dammir a'da ad-deen Allahumma ahlik al-dhalimeena bil-dhalimeen wa akhrijna wa ikhwanan min bayneem salimeen Ibadallah anna Allah ya'umru bil-ardi wal-ihsan wa ita'idil qurba wa yanha al-infahsha'i wa al-munkari wa al-baghi ya'izzukum la'allukum tathakkaroon fadhkuru Allah wa yadhkurukum wa shkuruhu ana ni'ma yazid lakum wala dhikru Allahi akbar wallahi ya'arumu ma tasna'oon wa akhimu s-salam
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