What happened in the story of Ibrahim and his son?
Allah tested Ibrahim with the most difficult command imaginable: offer your son as a sacrifice. Ibrahim obeyed. He prepared everything. He raised the knife. And Allah stopped him. He had proven what He needed to prove: that Ibrahim held nothing back. And then Allah provided a ram to take the son's place.
The son was about to die. The ram died instead. The son lived because something innocent died in his place.
وَفَدَيۡنَٰهُ بِذِبۡحٍ عَظِيمٖ
“And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice.”
Surah As-Saffat 37:107 | quran.com/37/107
Why does Allah call this sacrifice momentous?
The Arabic word is azeem. Tremendous. Of great weight and consequence. A ram is not azeem. Rams were sacrificed constantly throughout the history of the prophets. None of them would be described with this word.
The sacrifice is momentous because it is pointing beyond itself. The ram that died for Ibrahim's son is a sign. It is pointing to something greater, something truly azeem, that is still to come.
What is the principle this sign establishes?
Substitution. One takes the place of another. The innocent dies in the place of the one who was going to die. Ibrahim's son could not ransom himself. He was about to die. The ram was provided. The ram died in his place. The son was set free.
This is the how. This is the mechanism by which Allah's plan of mercy works. Not through good deeds adding up. Through a substitute. Through one who takes the place of another.
Who is the momentous sacrifice ultimately pointing to?
The Qur'an describes Issa al-Masih as the sinless one, the predestined Mercy of Allah. He is the only one who could be the azeem sacrifice. The ram was a sign. The reality the sign points to is Issa.
“Behold, the Lamb of Allah, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Injil, John 1:29 | bible.com/bible/111/JHN.1.29
The Injil completes the picture that the Qur'an begins with Ibrahim. The ram of Surah 37:107 was a sign. The reality of the sign arrived in Issa al-Masih.
The Mapmaker and the Unmarked Stone
A mapmaker left his grandson a map with seven landmarks. The third landmark was labeled Substitute.
The grandson arrived at it and found two stones. One was carved with a name. The other was a simple unmarked stone the same size and shape.
Under the marked stone was a note: this stone carries the name of the one who was supposed to stay here. The unmarked stone is what came instead. One left so the other could go free. Remember this. It will matter at the seventh landmark.
The grandson carried the unmarked stone for the rest of the journey. He did not fully understand it until he arrived at the seventh landmark and the house built there.
Inside the house was a place for the stone. The slot was exactly the right size. He placed it there and the door to the inner room opened.
He stood in the doorway, holding the memory of the clearing where one stone had taken the place of another.
Surah 37:107 establishes the most important principle in Allah's plan of mercy: substitution. The innocent in place of the guilty. This principle begins with Adam. And it does not end with Ibrahim. It ends with Issa al-Masih.
What does it mean to you that Allah's plan for your rescue was built on this principle from the very beginning of human history? Sit with that. Take it to your prayer.