سورة الصافات

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): [It is narrated from Imam Rida (peace be upon him):] Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said: إِنِّی أَری فِی الْمَنامِ [Indeed I see in a dream], and Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): وَ ما جَعَلْنَا الرُّؤْیَا الَّتِی أَرَیْناکَ [And We did not make the vision which We showed you (except as a trial for the people)] (al-Isra/60). What Allah showed to His Prophet in the world of dreams was true... The visions of the prophets (peace be upon them) are revelation.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Hasan ibn Ali ibn Fadhdhal said: I asked Imam Rida (peace be upon him) about the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) when he said: "I am the son of the two sacrificed ones." He said: "By the two sacrificed ones is meant, firstly, Ismail (peace be upon him) son of Ibrahim the Friend of Allah (peace be upon him), and secondly, Abdullah son of Abd al-Muttalib. As for Ismail (peace be upon him), he was the forbearing boy of whom Allah gave the glad tidings to Ibrahim (peace be upon him). When he reached the age of striving with him, he said: 'My son! I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you; what is your view?' He said: 'My father! Do whatever you have been commanded; you will find me, Allah willing, among the patient ones.' Ismail (peace be upon him) said: 'Father, carry out your mission,' and he did not say: 'My father, act upon what you have seen; Allah willing you will find me among the patient ones.' When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) resolved to slaughter his son, Allah ransomed him with a great sacrifice, which was a ram whose legs were those of a ram, and around whose mouth, around whose eyes, and around whose tail down to the underbelly was black, while the rest of its body was white. Before that, for forty years, it had grazed in the gardens of Paradise, and it had not come out of the womb of a female; rather Allah by His will had created it in order to make it a ransom for Ismail (peace be upon him). Everything that is slaughtered at Mina, until the Day of Resurrection, is all a ransom for Ismail (peace be upon him). This is one of the two sacrificed ones. As for the second sacrificed one, his account is this: Abd al-Muttalib took hold of the ring of the Ka'bah and asked Allah to grant him ten sons, and in order that this supplication be answered he made a vow to sacrifice one of the ten children. When the number of sons reached ten, he said: 'Allah has fulfilled His promise; I too must fulfil my vow.' Then he took his sons into the House of the Ka'bah and drew lots between them. The lot fell on Abdullah (peace be upon him), the father of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), who was the most beloved of his sons to him. A second time he shuffled the lots; again the lot fell on Abdullah (peace be upon him). For the third time he drew lots, and the lot fell on Abdullah (peace be upon him). Abd al-Muttalib took hold of Abdullah (peace be upon him), detained him, and resolved to sacrifice him. The Quraysh gathered and prevented him from sacrificing Abdullah (peace be upon him), and the women of the household of Abd al-Muttalib gathered together weeping and wailing. Atikah, the daughter of Abd al-Muttalib, said to him: 'Dear father, present an excuse between yourself and Allah for killing your son.' He said: 'My daughter, what excuse shall I present? Speak, for you are a blessed daughter!' She said: 'Draw lots between your son and the camels you have in the sanctuary, and give to your Lord until He is pleased.' Abd al-Muttalib sent someone and the camels were brought. He set aside ten camels and cast lots between those ten camels and Abdullah (peace be upon him). The lot fell on Abdullah (peace be upon him). Abd al-Muttalib kept adding ten camels at a time until it reached one hundred, and the lot fell on the camels. At this Abd al-Muttalib said takbir, and the Quraysh gave a takbir that shook the mountains of Makkah. Abd al-Muttalib said: 'I will not accept until the lot falls on the camels three times.' Then he drew lots three more times, and in each of the three the lot fell on the camels. On the third time, Zubayr and Abu Talib (peace be upon him) and his brothers pulled Abdullah (peace be upon him) out from under the feet of Abd al-Muttalib and took him away, while the skin of one side of Abdullah's face, which had been placed on the earth, had been torn away from its flesh. They lifted Abdullah up on their arms and kissed him and wiped the dust from his head and face. Abd al-Muttalib gave the order that the camels be slaughtered at the place of slaughter and that their meat be placed at the disposal of others without restriction; and their number was one hundred camels. Abd al-Muttalib laid the foundation of five practices which Allah the Mighty and Majestic put into effect in the religion of Islam: he forbade the wife of the father to the son; he set the blood-money for killing at one hundred camels; he used to circumambulate the House of the Ka'bah seven times; he found a treasure and gave one fifth of it in the way of Allah; and the well of Zamzam, which he dug for watering the pilgrims, he named Zamzam. Had it not been the case that Abd al-Muttalib had firmly resolved to sacrifice his son Abdullah (peace be upon him), just as Ibrahim (peace be upon him) had resolved to sacrifice his son Ismail (peace be upon him), the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) would not have taken pride in his ascription to these two, in that both of them are the sacrificed ones, when he said: 'I am the son of the two sacrificed ones.' And the reason for which Allah the Mighty and Majestic lifted the sacrifice from Ismail (peace be upon him) is the same reason for which He lifted the sacrifice from Abdullah, namely that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the Imams of the religion (peace be upon them) were in the loins of these two, and through the blessing of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the Imams (peace be upon them) Allah lifted the sacrifice from these two. And for this reason it was not established that people should slaughter their children; otherwise it would have been obligatory on people, at every Eid al-Adha, to sacrifice their children. And whatever people offer as a sacrifice until the Day of Resurrection will be a ransom for Ismail (peace be upon him)."

Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them): Aban ibn Uthman narrates from Abu Basir that Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them) said: When the Day of Tarwiyah (the day of watering) arrived, Allah commanded him to sacrifice his son, though he greatly loved his son's character, nature and face and was accustomed to him. When morning came, Ibrahim (peace be upon him) set out from al-Mash'ar toward Mina and said to his mother, "You go to visit the House of Allah," and he kept the young lad with him. He said, "My son! Bring the donkey and the knife. I wish to offer a sacrifice for Allah." When the account reached this point, Aban asked Abu Basir, "What did Ibrahim (peace be upon him) want the donkey and the knife for?" Abu Basir said, "He wanted to slaughter Isma'il (peace be upon him) with the knife, then place him on the donkey and prepare him for burial." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: The boy brought the donkey and the knife and said, "O father! Where is the sacrifice?" Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said, "Your Lord knows where it is. O my son! By Allah, you are that sacrifice. Allah has commanded me to slaughter you — what do you say?" He said, "My father! يا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ ما تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ مِنَ الصّابِرِينَ [O my father! Do what you are commanded; if Allah wills, you will find me among the patient ones]." When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) intended to slaughter him, he said, "O father! Cover my face and bind my hands and feet." Ibrahim (peace be upon him) said, "My son! Shall I bind your hands and feet and slaughter you [both]? By Allah, I will not do both of these to you on any day." Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Then he threw the saddle-pad of the donkey on the ground and laid him upon it and placed a sharp knife on his throat. At that moment an old man appeared and said, 'What do you want with this boy?' He said, 'I want to slaughter him.' The old man said, 'Subhan Allah! You wish to slaughter a young lad who has never disobeyed Allah?' He said, 'Yes, Allah has commanded me to do so.' The old man said, 'It is not so. Your Lord does not wish you to do such a thing — rather it was Satan who gave you such a command in your sleep.' He said, 'Woe to you! I heard this speech from the very One who brought me to this station that you see. No, by Allah! I will not speak with you again.' Then he resolved to slaughter his son. The old man said, 'O Ibrahim (peace be upon him)! You are the leader of the people and they follow you. If you slaughter your son, they will all slaughter their sons. Hold back.' But Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did not speak with him. Abu Basir said: I heard Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) say: 'Ibrahim (peace be upon him) laid his son down at Jamrat al-Wusta and placed a sharp knife on his throat, then raised his head to the sky and drew the knife with all his strength, but Jibra'il turned the blade of the knife away from the boy's throat. When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) looked, he saw the blade turned over. He turned it back to its cutting edge, but again Jibra'il turned it onto its back, and this happened several times. Suddenly a call came from the left side of Masjid al-Khayf: O Ibrahim! You have fulfilled the vision (and carried out your mission)!' And Jibra'il pulled his son out from beneath his hands and brought down a ram from the peak of Mount Thabir and placed it beneath his hands. At that moment the wicked old man appeared and went to an old woman who was looking at the Ka'bah in the middle of that valley, and said to her, 'I saw an old man at Mina — who is he?' and he described the features of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). She said, 'He is my husband.' The old man said, 'And that boy who was with him — who was he?' and he described his son. She said, 'He is my son.' The old man said, 'I saw him lay your son on the ground and take a knife to slaughter him.' She said, 'Never — Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is the most compassionate person I have ever seen. How could he slaughter his own son?' The old man said, 'By the Lord of the heavens and the earth and this House, I saw him lay your son down and take a knife to slaughter him.' She said, 'Why?' The old man said, 'He claimed that his Lord had commanded him to do so.' She said, 'Then it is right for him to obey his Lord.' When the old woman finished her rites, she feared that something might have befallen her son. It is as though I see her now, running in that valley with her hand on her head, saying, 'O my Lord! Do not take me to task for what I did to the mother of Isma'il (peace be upon him).' When Sarah reached Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and was informed of what had happened, she turned to her son and looked at him, and when she saw the mark of the knife's scratch on his throat, she became distressed and fell ill. A pain began in her body from which she eventually died."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mu'awiya ibn Ammar narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: Jibra'il came to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) at midday on the Day of Tarwiya (the eighth of Dhul-Hijjah) and said: "O Ibrahim (peace be upon him)! Take water for yourself and your family." This was because no water was to be found between Mecca and Arafat, and for this very reason that day was named Tarwiya. So he took him and brought him to the land of Mina and prayed with him the Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha and Fajr prayers, until when the sun rose he went towards Arafat and settled him in the area of Namira, which was the centre of Arafat. At the time of Zuhr he came out, performed ghusl, and offered the Zuhr and Asr prayers with one adhan and two iqamas, and prayed in the place of the mosque which was in Arafat. There were white stones there, and he placed them into the mosque which he built. Then he passed on from there and went to the Mawqif (the standing place). [Jibra'il] said: "O Ibrahim (peace be upon him)! Confess your sin and learn your rites and rituals." For this reason that day was named Arafa. He remained there until the sun set; then he took him from there. He said: "O Ibrahim (peace be upon him)! Draw near [to al-Mash'ar al-Haram]." So it was named Muzdalifa. He brought him to al-Mash'ar al-Haram and offered with him the Maghrib and Isha prayers with one adhan and two iqamas. Then he spent the night there (at Mash'ar) until he offered the Fajr prayer there. He showed him the Mawqif, then he set out towards Mina. He commanded him, and he [threw stones] at Jamrat al-Aqaba in Mina, and it was right there that Satan appeared to him.

The Messenger (peace be upon him and his family): Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Awsi said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to Jibra'il (peace be upon him): "You, with such strength, have you ever grown tired? — that is, have you fallen into hardship?" He said: "Yes, O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Three times. Once, on the day Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was cast into the fire. On that day Allah revealed to me to reach him, and He said: 'By My Might and Majesty! If Ibrahim reaches the fire before you, I will surely erase your name from the register of the angels.' I descended swiftly toward him and caught up with him between the fire and the air, and I said to him: 'O Ibrahim (peace be upon him)! Do you need anything?' He said: 'From Allah, yes; but from you, no.' The second time was the day Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was commanded to slaughter his son Isma'il (peace be upon him). On that day Allah revealed to me to reach him, and He said: 'By My Might and Majesty! If the knife reaches Isma'il's throat before you, I will surely erase your name from the register of the angels.' I descended swiftly toward him and turned the knife over in Ibrahim's (peace be upon him) hand onto its back, and brought him the ransom. The third time was when Yusuf (peace be upon him) was cast into the well. On that day Allah revealed to me: 'Reach him, O Jibra'il (peace be upon him)! By My Might and Majesty! If Yusuf (peace be upon him) reaches the bottom of the well before you, I will surely erase your name from the register of the angels.' I descended swiftly and caught up with him midway, and took him to a rock that was at the bottom of the well, and set him safely upon it, and I grew very tired. In that well, snakes and vipers had their dwellings; when they sensed Yusuf (peace be upon him) among them, they said to one another: 'Beware of moving, for a noble prophet has descended among us and settled in our midst.' So not one of them came out of its hole, except the vipers, which came out and wanted to bite Yusuf (peace be upon him). At that moment I let out such a cry upon them that it deafened their ears until the Day of Resurrection."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The place where Ibrahim (peace be upon him) intended to slaughter his son was the very place where the mother of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) conceived him, at the middle Jamrah. That place remained the encampment of the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and they inherited it one after another, until finally Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him), following an incident that occurred between the Banu Hashim and the Banu Umayyah, departed from there and pitched his tent at al-'Arin.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked: "Where did Ibrahim (peace be upon him) intend to slaughter his son?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "At the middle Jamrah. When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) resolved to slaughter his son, Jibra'il (peace be upon him) turned the knife over, and pulled the ram from the direction of Thabir [the name of a mountain in Mecca] to the other side, and drew the boy out from under Ibrahim's (peace be upon him) hand, and put the ram in place of the boy. And Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was called from the left side of Masjid al-Khayf: يا إِبْراهِیمُ، قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْیا إِنَّا کَذلِکَ نَجْزِی الْمُحْسِنِینَ، إِنَّ هذا لَهُوَ الْبَلاءُ الْمُبِین [O Ibrahim! You have fulfilled the vision (and carried out your mission)! Indeed, thus do We reward the doers of good. Surely this is the manifest trial]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): ... "The ram of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) — what colour was it and where did it come down?" He said: "It was black mixed with white in colour, and it had horns, and it came down from the sky onto a mountain on the right side of the Mosque of Mina. The legs of that ram, and the area around its mouth, and around its eyes, and around its tail down to under its belly were black, and the rest of the parts of its body were white."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Sinan said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "Who was the one to be sacrificed?" He said: "Isma'il (peace be upon him)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sulayman ibn Mihran narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), "I am the son of the two sacrificed ones," refers to his uncle (Isma'il, peace be upon him), because Allah named an uncle a father, where He said: أَمْ کُنْتُمْ شُهَداءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ یَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْ قالَ لِبَنِیهِ ما تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِی قالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلهَکَ وَ إِلهَ آبائِکَ إِبْراهِیمَ وَ إِسْماعِیلَ وَ إِسْحاقَ [Were you witnesses when death came to Ya'qub, when he said to his sons: "What will you worship after me?" They said: "We shall worship your Allah and the Allah of your fathers, Ibrahim and Isma'il and Ishaq"] (Baqarah/133). This is while Isma'il (peace be upon him) was the uncle of Ya'qub (peace be upon him), and Allah here mentions him as the father of Ya'qub (peace be upon him).

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): If Allah the Exalted had created meat more pleasant than the meat of the ram, He would have made it the ransom for Ishaq (peace be upon him).

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Imam Rida (peace be upon him) wrote to Muhammad ibn Sinan as follows: "The reason why Mina is called Mina is that Jibra'il (peace be upon him) said to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) at Mina: 'O Ibrahim (peace be upon him)! Wish from your Lord whatever you wish.' Ibrahim (peace be upon him) wished within himself that Allah the Exalted would place a ram in the stead of his son Isma'il (peace be upon him) and command him to sacrifice it as a ransom for him. So the Almighty Allah fulfilled his wish and did just as he had wished."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Fath ibn Yazid said: I met Imam Rida (peace be upon him) ... and I heard him say: "O Fath! Indeed, Allah has two wills and two intentions: one a decisive will and the other a resolute will. He forbids while He wills, and He commands while He does not will. Have you not seen that Allah forbade Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife from eating of that appointed tree, while Allah had willed it — and had He not willed it, they would not have eaten; and had they eaten [against His will], their will would have overpowered the will of Allah the Exalted. And He commanded Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to slaughter his son Isma'il (peace be upon him), but He willed that he should not slaughter him — and had He not willed that he should not slaughter him, the will of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would have overpowered the will of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic." I said: "You have removed my sorrow, may Allah remove your sorrow."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) narrates from his forefathers from Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): A Jew from the people of Sham came to Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and said to him: "Ibrahim (peace be upon him) laid his son down and threw him upon his forehead." Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "It was so, but after Ibrahim (peace be upon him) laid down his son, a sacrifice was given to him as ransom. However, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was afflicted with a calamity more painful than that: he stood over the body of his uncle Hamzah (peace be upon him), the Lion of Allah and the Lion of His Messenger and the helper of the religion, while the soul had departed from his body, yet he did not show burning grief, nor did he shed a single tear upon him, nor did he consider the place Hamzah held in his heart and in the hearts of his Ahl al-Bayt — so that he might please Allah the Mighty and Majestic with his patience and submit to His command in all affairs."

Imam Hadi (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him) that his noble father visited the pure grave of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) on the day of Eid al-Ghadir with these words: "Peace be upon you, O Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him)! O Trustee of Allah on His earth ... And when the affair came to you, in turning away from those things toward what is with Allah for you, you carried them through on what those two had put into effect; and your ordeal with those two resembled the ordeals of the prophets (peace be upon them) at times of loneliness and the absence of helpers; and in sleeping on the bed you resembled Isma'il the Sacrificed One (peace be upon him), for you answered as he answered and you obeyed as Isma'il (peace be upon him) obeyed patiently, seeking reward, when he said to him: 'O my son! Indeed I see in a dream that I am to sacrifice you; consider then what you see.' He said: 'O my father! Do what you are commanded; if Allah wills you shall find me among the patient.' And such were you when the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) made you lie down and commanded you to sleep in his bed obediently, protecting him with your own life, while you had prepared yourself for being killed, and you hastened to answer him; so Allah the Exalted thanked your obedience and made your beautiful deed manifest with this saying."