The Quran

102

فَلَمّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعيَ قالَ يا بُنَيَّ إِنّي أَرىٰ فِي المَنامِ أَنّي أَذبَحُكَ فَانظُر ماذا تَرىٰ ۚ قالَ يا أَبَتِ افعَل ما تُؤمَرُ ۖ سَتَجِدُني إِن شاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصّابِرينَ

Ali Unal

Then, when (his son) grew alongside him to the age of striving (for the necessities of life), he said: “O my dear son! I have seen in my dream that I should offer you in sacrifice. So think about this and tell me your view!” He said (unhesitatingly): “O my dear father! Do as you are commanded.¹ You will find me, by God’s will, one of those who show steadfast patience (in obeying God’s commands).”²

This explicitly shows that what Abraham, upon him be peace, dreamed as a Prophet was a revealed Divine order.
Though the present versions of the Bible record that the son God ordered Abraham to sacrifice was Isaac (Genesis, 22: 2), this son was actually Ishmael, the elder brother of Isaac, upon them both be peace. The Qur’ān describes the boy here with the terms mildness and forbearance (37: 101; 21: 85), but presents Isaac, upon him be peace, as a knowledgeable boy, thus emphasizing he was one with profound knowledge (15: 53). Isaac, upon him be peace, was born of Sārah, when she was too old to give birth to a child (11: 71–72; Genesis, 21). Ishmael, upon him be peace, was born of Hagar and, upon God’s command, Abraham, upon him be peace, left them in the place where Makkah is now located. Years later, he built the Ka’bah with Ishmael, upon him be peace. His attempt to sacrifice Ishmael, upon him be peace, upon God’s order took place in Mina, near Makkah, where sacrifices are offered.
The verse of the Bible (Genesis, 22: 2) which states that God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, upon them both be peace, contradicts several other Bible verses. This verse mentions that when this order was given to Abraham, Isaac was his only son, upon them both be peace. Yet according to Genesis, 21: 5, when Isaac was born, Abraham was 100 years old; and according to Genesis, 16: 16, Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old, upon them all be peace. So according to the Bible, when Isaac came into the world, Ishmael was a young man of 14 years, upon them both be peace. This clearly shows that when Abraham was ordered to sacrifice his “only son” he was being ordered to sacrifice Ishmael, upon them both be peace. And the Qur’ānic verse that follows (113) makes it very clear that Isaac was born years after Ishmael, upon them both be peace. So this agreement between the Qur’ān and the Bible— together with their mutual agreement that when God ordered Abraham, upon him be peace, to sacrifice his son, he had only one son— are enough to make the truth plain.
The most compelling piece of non-textual evidence that God ordered Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael, not Isaac, upon them all be peace, is that while this momentous event, the child-sacrifice being replaced with a ram, is celebrated in Islam – for there is evidence that it was celebrated also in pre-Islamic Arabia by the descendants of Ishmael – it has no place among the festivals of the Jews.
In Rosh Hashanah, one of the major religious festivals of the Jews, a Ram horn (“shofar”) is blown. But it marks the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts. The Bible refers to it as “The Dayo of the Blowing of the Shofar” (Leviticus 23: 24), and rabbinic literature describes it as “The Day of Judgment” and “The Day of Remembrance.” Some midrashic descriptions depict God as sitting upon a throne, while books containing the deeds of all humanity are opened for review, and each person passing in front of Him for evaluation of his or her deeds. The sound of shofar is intended to awaken the listener from his or her “slumber” and alert them to the coming judgment. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah)