Hundred Questions - Sacrifice

Sacrifice

Tags: 1, 2, 3

Q99 Which son of Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) was sacrificed according to the story of the Qur'an? Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) or Hazrat-i Ishaq (May peace be through him)? Further please tell us what is the ta'wil in it?

A99 In the Qur'an (37:99-107) the sacrifice of Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) is mentioned. This is only the exoteric aspect of the story. However, in the ta'wil of the great trial of sacrifice both Isma`il (May peace be through him) and Ishaq (May peace be through him) are included, the explanation of which follows as under:

God had commanded Hazrat-i Ibrahim (May peace be through him) to sacrifice his son Isma`il (May peace be through him) in His path. The great father and son prepared willingly to comply with His command, and the sharp knife of the father began to move along the blessed throat of Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him), but God turned this unique physical sacrifice into a spiritual sacrifice.
God says: "And We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice (zibhin `azim)" (37:107). That is, the sacrifice of his personality was transformed into a spiritual sacrifice. For the tremendous sacrifice means the spiritual sacrifice which is vastly greater than the physical sacrifice. The gist of the meaning of the spiritual sacrifice of Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) is that the covenant for the office of Imamat was taken from him, and its detail is that he underwent various difficult spiritual trials and offered a sacrifice one after the other in all the stations of spirituality, so that the meaning of patience may be true from every aspect in the function of the Imamat, as the Qur'an says: "And We appointed from among them Imams who guided by Our command when they persevered with patience." (32:24).
It is said that the lamb, which was sacrificed instead of Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) was the 'tremendous sacrifice', but according to the intellect and wisdom how can it be possible for the lamb to be greater than Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him)? Therefore, by the 'tremendous sacrifice' is meant the spiritual sacrifice, which was offered by Ishaq (May peace be through him) also, because they were Imam-i mustaqarr and Imam-i mustawda` respectively. Each Imam whether mustaqarr or mustawda` succeeds to the rank of Imamat after this tremendous spiritual sacrifice.
The spiritual sacrifice of Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) was tremendously greater than his physical sacrifice in the sense that the chief of the prophets, Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny), was born in his pure progeny and by virtue of his physical and spiritual sacrifices the religion of Islam became manifest and firm.
Had the sacrifice of Isma`il (May peace be through him) been confined to his physical personality, that is, he was sacrificed at the time when he was prepared, none of those spiritual sacrifices which he offered later on during his life, and those which were offered by the true Imams from his progeny and which continue with the Imamat until the resurrection, would have taken place. Therefore, God in transforming the physical sacrifice into a spiritual one, not only favoured the great father and son, but also abundantly increased their reward. Thus in this sense the spiritual sacrifice is the 'tremendous sacrifice'.
It should be remembered that for the common people, physical sacrifice i.e. martyrdom is extremely great, for they cannot reach the spiritual sacrifice which is confined to the prophets, the Imams and the true mu'mins of higher rank. However, according to the chosen ones, spiritual sacrifice is exceedingly great.
The word qurbani (sacrifice) is derived from qurban, which is in turn from qurb, (closeness). Thus, qurbani implies a means, which brings a person closer to God. Thus the exoteric and esoteric guidance of the true guide is the greatest sacrifice by which the servants of God become closer to Him.
If you see the ta'wil of the word "zabh (to slaughter)" and "qurbani (sacrifice)" in Wajh-i din, the famous book on ta'wil by Pir Nasir Khusraw, it will be clear to you what the ta'wil of these two words is and in what sense the sacrifice of the natiq is asas, that of the asas is the Imam, and that of the Imam the hujjat, and that of the hujjat is the da`i.
It should be known that each natiq takes the covenant from one of his close relatives, who becomes the asas, which from the ta'wili point of view is like slaughtering a sacrificial animal, and appoints him as his successor so that he may bring the mu'mins of the community closer to God. Similarly the asas takes the covenant of Imamat from his heir and makes him the means of divine proximity. The Imam offers the sacrifice of the hujjat, taking the covenant from him and enriching him with spiritual wealth, makes him the fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom, so that he may be the means of ma`rifat for the servants of God. Similarly the hujjat offers the sacrifice of da`i according to his rank. These are the sacrifices of the hudud-i din (spiritual hierarchy) and the sacrifice of each superior hadd is the one under him.
The story of the sacrifice of Hazrat-i Isma`il (May peace be through him) also contains the wisdom that although the spiritual sacrifice is superior and more excellent in every respect, it is impossible for someone to reach the great rank of spiritual sacrifice without material sacrifices. Therefore, every wise mu'min forms a habit of physical and material sacrifices prior to great spiritual sacrifices, so that thereby he may be able to offer the greatest sacrifice.

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