Does The Quran say God told Abraham to sacrifice
his son? (click to read)
The following list of questions/points are for those wishing to
test their understanding of this story to see if it holds up to
scrutiny. Note: not everyone has the same view regarding this
story thus not all questions will be relevant to everyone.
1) what relevance, if any, is there for Quran to mention his son
reached the age of striving/working with him? [37:102]
Reason: in my Abraham leaving scenario, it makes perfect sense
because it is telling us the son had reached a somewhat
independent age, i.e. able to fend for himself.
2) when Abraham asks "...look what you see?" his son seems to
automatically assume it is a command when he says "...do what
you are commanded...". Do you agree? If not, please say why.
3) The future particle "sa"
occurs over 100 times in Quran. Can you provide one example of
usage which matches how you claim it is used here, i.e. what
comes after particle "sa" refers to an ongoing future activity
that occurs prior to what came before particle "sa"?
Let me clarify, here is structure of the Arabic: ABC <future
particle sa> XYZ
My view is XYZ occurs in the future, i.e. after ABC.Your view is
XYZ occurs prior to ABC or XYZ occurs until ABC takes place.
4) can you provide a Classical Arabic dictionary reference which
states the meaning of the verb TaLLa
can mean what you take it to mean and can be done in a
gentle/soft/willing manner? i.e. without force.
Reason: the primary meaning of this definition is to throw down
/ make one prostrate / hold down / wrestle them down etc but
Quran states both submitted so the action was willingly, i.e. no
force needed.
5) can you provide an example elsewhere in Quran in which God
rewards us/someone for what they were about to do but did not
do.
Reason: stating "like thus We reward..." [37:105, 110] implies
an exemplar, if so, where are the other examples, or where such
a principle is mentioned.
6) can you provide another example in Quran wherein it states
someone did X (e.g. perfect verb) but what is meant is they
intended to do X.
Reason: you take "...when they both had submitted..." in 37:103
as submitted in intention only (i.e. not actually done the
slaughter). Similar case with "...Surely you have
believed/confirmed..." in 37:105, i.e. technically he hasn't
confirmed it yet, i.e. it is intention only.
Note: perfect verbs are used thousands of times in Quran.
7) preposition "li" occurs over 2000 times in Quran.
Please provide clear examples of it meaning "upon" as you take
it to mean in 37:103 (i.e. upon his forehead).
8.) please explain why Quran describes the sacrifice/dhibhin in
37:107 as great/mighty/azeem?
9) If you consider killing of an innocent child an evil act and
you consider God was simply testing Abraham but was always going
to stop him before he actually did it, is there any other
example similar to this in Quran (i.e. God commanding or
condoning an evil act)? (see 16:90, 81:8, 16:58-59)
10) how do you reconcile Moses objecting to the killing of a boy
he thought innocent [18:74] whereas Abraham and his son did not?
11) can you provide another example in Quran wherein God talks
positively or rewards us/someone for doing something they think
is from God even though it isn't / goes against Quran's
principles? (e.g. killing of an innocent in this case)
12) was there a family separation mentioned in Quran? If you say
no please explain away the evidence in the article [e.g. 14:37,
2:125-128]
13) if you claim Abraham and his son misinterpreted the dream
(i.e. what it meant or whom it was from) how do you reconcile
that with 12:6 which mentions Abraham and Isaac alongside those
who have been taught the interpretation of narratives?
Reason: if you accept they were gifted with interpretation of
narratives (and this includes dreams) then they must have
interpreted the dream correctly.
14) all indirect Quranic evidence points to the dream being from
God (e.g. the word "trial/balau" is always used in Quran as from
God, and see 2:124). Do you have any Quranic evidence to the
contrary?
If you find
evidence for questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 please post
it here.
Thanks.
#####
"Men occasionally stumble over truth, but most of them pick
themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."
~Winston Churchill