Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:107
And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ) (37:107)
And His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ) — by this He says: and We ransomed Isḥāq with a mighty sacrifice. The ransom (fidya) is the compensation. He says: We rewarded him with it by setting, in place of his slaughter, the slaughter of a mighty ram, and We saved him from being slaughtered.
The exegetes differed concerning which of the two sons of Ibrāhīm it was who was ransomed from the slaughter. Some said: it is Isḥāq.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, on the authority of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Isḥāq.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the one whose slaughter Ibrāhīm was commanded to perform was Isḥāq.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Isḥāq.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: the slaughtered one (al-dhabīḥ) is Isḥāq.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Zayd ibn Ḥubāb related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, on the authority of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ in a tradition that he mentioned, he said: 'It is Isḥāq.'
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, he said: a man boasted in the presence of Ibn Masʿūd and said: 'I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so, descendant of the noble forefathers.' Thereupon ʿAbd Allāh said: 'That is Yūsuf, son of Yaʿqūb, son of Isḥāq, the slaughtered one of Allah, son of Ibrāhīm, the bosom-friend of Allah.'
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mukhtār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ḥāritha al-Thaqafī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of Kaʿb, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: of his son Isḥāq.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Zakariyyā and Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Masrūq, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Isḥāq.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, he said: it is Isḥāq.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmayr, he said: ( Mūsā said: 'O Lord, they say: O God of Ibrāhīm and Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb. Why do they say that?' He said: 'Verily, Ibrāhīm never equated anything with Me without preferring Me above it; and Isḥāq was generous toward Me with the slaughter, while he was even more generous in something else; and Yaʿqūb, each time I gave him more trial, increased Me with good opinion.' )
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of his father, he said: Mūsā said: 'O Lord, why did You give Ibrāhīm and Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb what You gave them?' — and he mentioned the meaning of the tradition of ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Sinān al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Ibn Abī al-Hudhayl, he said: the slaughtered one is Isḥāq.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus informed us, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, that ʿAmr ibn Abī Sufyān ibn Asīd ibn Ḥāritha al-Thaqafī informed him that Kaʿb said to Abū Hurayra: 'Shall I inform you about Isḥāq, son of the prophet Ibrāhīm?' Abū Hurayra said: 'Certainly.' Kaʿb said: when Ibrāhīm was about to slaughter Isḥāq, the Satan said: 'By Allah, if I do not lead the family of Ibrāhīm into temptation through this incident, then I shall never lead any one of them into temptation.' Thereupon the Satan took on for them the form of a man whom they knew, and he came upon them, until, when Ibrāhīm had gone out with Isḥāq to slaughter him, he came in to Sāra, the wife of Ibrāhīm, and said to her: 'Where has Ibrāhīm gone this morning with Isḥāq?' Sāra said: 'He has gone out for some need of his.' The Satan said: 'No, by Allah, it is not for that that he has gone out with him.' Sāra said: 'Then for what has he gone out with him?' He said: 'He has gone out with him to slaughter him!' Sāra said: 'There is no truth in that; he would not slaughter his son!' The Satan said: 'Yes indeed, by Allah!' Sāra said: 'And why would he slaughter him?' He said: 'He claims that his Lord has commanded him to do so.' Sāra said: 'Then it is better that he obey his Lord, if He has commanded him to do so.' Then the Satan left Sāra, until he caught up with Isḥāq, who was walking behind his father, and he said: 'Where has your father gone with you this morning?' He said: 'He has gone out with me for some need of his.' The Satan said: 'No, by Allah, it is not for a need of his that he has gone out with you, but he has gone out with you to slaughter you.' Isḥāq said: 'My father would not slaughter me!' He said: 'Yes indeed.' He said: 'Why?' He said: 'He claims that his Lord has commanded him to do so.' Isḥāq said: 'By Allah, if He has commanded him to do so, then he must surely obey Him.' Then the Satan left him alone and hastened to Ibrāhīm and said: 'Where have you gone with your son this morning?' He said: 'I have gone out with him for some need of mine.' He said: 'No, by Allah, you have only gone out with him to slaughter him.' He said: 'Why would I slaughter him?' He said: 'You claim that your Lord has commanded you to do so.' He said: 'By Allah, if my Lord has commanded me to do so, then I shall surely do it.' And when Ibrāhīm took Isḥāq to slaughter him and Isḥāq had submitted, Allah delivered him and ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice. Ibrāhīm said to Isḥāq: 'Rise, my son, for Allah has delivered you.' And Allah revealed to Isḥāq: 'Verily, I have granted you a supplication by which I shall answer you.' He said: Isḥāq said: 'O Allah, I implore You that You answer me: whatever servant of the first and the last You meet without him having ascribed anything to You as a partner, admit him into Paradise.'
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Abī Sufyān ibn al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ḥāritha al-Thaqafī, the confederate of Banū Zuhra, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, that the one of his two sons whose slaughter Ibrāhīm was commanded to perform was Isḥāq, and that Allah, when He brought him and his son relief from the mighty trial in which they were, said to Isḥāq: 'Verily, on account of your patience at My command I have granted you a supplication by which I give you what you ask, so ask Me.' He said: 'O Lord, I ask You that You not punish any servant of Your servants whom You meet while he believes in You.' That was the supplication that he asked.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Ibn Sābiṭ, he said: it is Isḥāq.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUqba related to us, on the authority of Ḥamza al-Zayyāt, on the authority of Abī Maysara, he said: Yūsuf said to the king to his face: 'Do you desire to eat with me, while I, by Allah, am Yūsuf, son of Yaʿqūb, the prophet of Allah, son of Isḥāq, the slaughtered one of Allah, son of Ibrāhīm, the bosom-friend of Allah?'
He said: Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abī Sinān, on the authority of Ibn Abī al-Hudhayl, he said: Yūsuf said to the king — and he mentioned something similar.
And others said: the one of the sons of Ibrāhīm who was ransomed with the mighty sacrifice is Ismāʿīl.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb and Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥabīb ibn al-Shahīd related to us, both of them saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Thawr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: the slaughtered one is Ismāʿīl.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Bayān related to me, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: Ismāʿīl.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Abū Ḥamza related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Maymūn al-Sukkarī, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the one whose slaughter Ibrāhīm was commanded to perform was Ismāʿīl.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of ʿAmmār, the client (mawlā) of Banū Hāshim, or on the authority of Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: it is Ismāʿīl — namely ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ).
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: it is Ismāʿīl.
And Yaʿqūb related it to me once more, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind was asked: which of the two sons of Ibrāhīm was commanded to be slaughtered? He claimed that al-Shaʿbī said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: it is Ismāʿīl.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Bayān, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that concerning the one whom Allah ransomed with a mighty sacrifice he said: it is Ismāʿīl.
Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Layth related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Ismāʿīl.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿUmar ibn Qays informed me, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: the ransomed one is Ismāʿīl, and the Jews claimed that it was Isḥāq, but the Jews have lied.
Muḥammad ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: the one whom Allah ransomed is Ismāʿīl.
Ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Abī ʿĀṣim al-Ghanawī, on the authority of Abī al-Ṭufayl, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, something similar.
Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn related to me, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: the one whom Ibrāhīm wanted to slaughter was Ismāʿīl.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, that concerning this verse ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ) he said: it is Ismāʿīl, and he said: the two horns of the ram hung on the Kaʿba.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: the slaughtered one is Ismāʿīl.
He said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: I saw the two horns of the ram in the Kaʿba.
He said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Mubārak ibn Faḍāla, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān, on the authority of Yūsuf ibn Mihrān, he said: it is Ismāʿīl.
He said: Ibn Yamān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: it is Ismāʿīl.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it is Ismāʿīl.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī say: verily, the one of his sons whose slaughter Allah commanded Ibrāhīm to perform was Ismāʿīl, and we find that in the Book of Allah, in the narrated report about Ibrāhīm and what he was commanded concerning the slaughter of his son Ismāʿīl. That is because Allah, when He had completed the account of the slaughtered one of Ibrāhīm, says: 'And We gave him the glad tidings of Isḥāq, a prophet, belonging to the righteous.' He says: We gave him the glad tidings of Isḥāq, and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb. He says: of a son and a grandson. It could thus not be that He commanded him to slaughter Isḥāq, while He had given him the promise concerning him that Allah gave him; and the one whose slaughter He commanded was none other than Ismāʿīl.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār and ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, that he did not doubt that the one of the two sons of Ibrāhīm whose slaughter was commanded was Ismāʿīl.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq said: I heard Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī say that often.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Burayda ibn Sufyān ibn Farwa al-Aslamī, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, that he related to them that he mentioned that to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, when he was caliph, when he was with him in Syria. ʿUmar said to him: 'Verily, this is something about which I had not yet reflected, and I truly see it as it is.' Then he sent for a man who was with him in Syria, who had been a Jew and had afterward converted and whose Islam was good, and who was thought to be among the scholars of the Jews. ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz questioned him about that. Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb said: and I was with ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. ʿUmar said to him: 'Which of the two sons of Ibrāhīm was commanded to be slaughtered?' He said: 'Ismāʿīl, by Allah, O Commander of the Believers, and the Jews know that, but they envy you, the people of the Arabs, on account of the fact that your father is the one concerning whom Allah decreed that, and on account of the excellence that Allah has mentioned of him because of his patience at what he was commanded. Therefore they deny that and claim that it was Isḥāq, because Isḥāq is their father. Allah knows best which of the two it was; they were both pure, good, and obedient to their Lord.'
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmmār al-Rāzī related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUbayd ibn Abī Karīma related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Khaṭṭābī related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Muḥammad al-ʿUtbī, a descendant of ʿUtba ibn Abī Sufyān, on the authority of his father, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd related to me, on the authority of al-Ṣunābiḥī, he said: we were with Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān, and they mentioned the slaughtered one, whether it was Ismāʿīl or Isḥāq. He said: 'You have come upon the expert: ( we were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when a man came to him and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, give me of what Allah has bestowed upon you as spoils of war, O son of the two sacrificed ones.' Thereupon he laughed, peace and blessings be upon him. We said to him: 'O Commander of the Believers, what are the two sacrificed ones?' He said: 'Verily, when ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib was commanded to dig Zamzam, he vowed to Allah that, if the matter were made easy for him, he would slaughter one of his children. The lot fell upon ʿAbd Allāh, but his maternal uncles prevented it and said: ransom your son with a hundred camels. So he ransomed him with a hundred camels. And Ismāʿīl is the second.' )
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: the one with whom the ransom was made is Ismāʿīl — and by 'the slaughtered one' He means, exalted is His mention, the ram with which Isḥāq was ransomed. The Arabs call everything that is prepared for slaughter 'dhibḥ' (sacrifice), whereas 'dhabḥ', with a fatḥa on the dhāl, is the act.
Abū Jaʿfar said: the more correct of the two opinions concerning which of the two sons of Ibrāhīm, the bosom-friend of the Most Merciful, was ransomed with the slaughter is, on the basis of the literal meaning of the revelation, the opinion of the one who said: it is Isḥāq. For Allah said: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), wherein He mentioned that He ransomed the forbearing youth of whom Ibrāhīm was given glad tidings when he asked Him to grant him a righteous son from among the righteous, and he said: 'Lord, grant me from among the righteous.' Now, if the one of his two sons who was ransomed with the slaughter is the same one of whom the glad tidings were given, and Allah, blessed be His name, has declared in His Book that the one of whom the glad tidings were given is Isḥāq — and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb, for He, exalted is His praise, said: 'And We gave her the glad tidings of Isḥāq, and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb' — and since in every place in the Qurʾān where there occurs the mention of His giving him glad tidings of a son, Isḥāq is meant thereby, then it is clear that His giving him glad tidings with His word 'And We gave him the glad tidings of a forbearing youth' in this place corresponds with all His other reports about that in other verses of the Qurʾān.
Furthermore: Allah, exalted is His praise, has reported in this verse about His bosom-friend that He gave him the glad tidings of the forbearing youth in answer to his asking Him to grant him from among the righteous. And it is known that he only asked Him that at a time when he did not yet have a son from among the righteous, for of his two sons he had none except the leader of the righteous, and it is not plausible of him that he would have asked his Lord to grant him what He had already given and granted him. If that is so, then it is known that the one whom He, exalted is His mention, mentions in this place is the same one who is mentioned in the rest of the Qurʾān as the one of whom He gave him the glad tidings, and that is without doubt Isḥāq, since the ransomed one is the same as the one of whom the glad tidings were given.
As for the argument upon which the one who relied upon it relied that it is Ismāʿīl — namely that Allah had promised Ibrāhīm that he would obtain from Isḥāq a grandson, so that it was not permissible that He would command him to slaughter him, in view of the previously given promise — to this we reply: Allah commanded him to slaughter him only after he had reached with him the age at which he could walk about with him, and that is a state in which it is not possible that children had already been born to Isḥāq — let alone but one? And as for the argument upon which the one who relied upon it relied that Allah followed the account of the ransomed one of the offspring of Ibrāhīm with His word 'And We gave him the glad tidings of Isḥāq, a prophet', and that, if the ransomed one were Isḥāq, the glad tidings of him would not have been given afterward, since he had already been born and had reached with him the age to walk about — to this we reply: the glad tidings of the prophethood of Isḥāq from Allah, according to what the reports about that have transmitted, came to Ibrāhīm and Isḥāq after he had been ransomed, as an honoring by Allah of him on account of his patience at the command of his Lord in the trial with which He tested him through the slaughter, and the tradition about that from the one who said it has already been mentioned above. And as for the argument upon which the one who relied upon it relied that the horn of the ram had been hung up in the Kaʿba — it is not inconceivable that it was transported from Syria to the Kaʿba. And it has been transmitted from a group of people of knowledge that Ibrāhīm was commanded to slaughter his son Isḥāq in Syria, and that he wanted to slaughter him there.
The people of knowledge differed concerning the sacrifice with which Isḥāq was ransomed. Some said: it was a ram.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Abī al-Ṭufayl, on the authority of ʿAlī: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: a white, horned, large-eyed ram, tied to a samura tree on the mountain Thabīr.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed me, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: a ram. ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr said: he was slaughtered at the Maqām, and Mujāhid said: he was slaughtered at Minā at the place of slaughter (al-manḥar).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Khuthaym, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the ram that Ibrāhīm slaughtered is the same ram that the son of Ādam offered as a sacrifice and which was accepted from him.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Sayyār informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that Ibn ʿAbbās gave a legal opinion (fatwā) to someone who had bound himself to slaughter himself, and he commanded him a hundred camels. He said: then Ibn ʿAbbās said: 'If I had given him a fatwā with a ram, then it would have sufficed him to slaughter a ram, for Allah has said in His Book: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ).'
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: the slaughter of a ram.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: he looked around, and there was a ram, and he took it and slaughtered it.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: the ram that Ibrāhīm slaughtered had grazed for forty years in Paradise, and it was a grayish-white ram, whose wool was like the red ʿihn (dyed wool).
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: with a ram.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Layth informed us, Mujāhid said: the mighty sacrifice is a sheep.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: and Warqāʾ related to us, all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word ( with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: with a ram.
* And al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: the sacrifice (al-dhibḥ) is the ram.
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: he — namely Ibrāhīm — looked around, and there was a ram, and he took it and released his son.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: the mighty sacrifice is the ram with which Allah ransomed Isḥāq.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Qatāda ibn Diʿāma, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Iyās, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: there came to him a ram from Paradise, which had previously grazed for forty autumns. Ibrāhīm released his son and followed the ram, which he drove out to the first Jamra, where he pelted it with seven pebbles; then it escaped him there and came to the middle Jamra, where he drove it out and pelted it with seven pebbles; then it escaped him and he caught up with it at the great Jamra, where he pelted it with seven pebbles and drove it out there; then he took it and brought it to the slaughter-place of Minā and slaughtered it. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Ibn ʿAbbās, this was truly the beginning of Islam, and the head of the ram truly hung by its two horns at the rainspout of the Kaʿba, withered — that is to say: dried up.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, Ibn Isḥāq said: and the first People of the Book and many of the scholars claim that the sacrificial animal of Ibrāhīm, with which he ransomed his son, was a grayish-white, horned, large-eyed ram.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: with a ram.
And others said: the sacrifice was an ibex (waʿl).
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Abī Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it was an ibex (waʿl).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he used to say: Ismāʿīl was only ransomed with a buck of the mountain ibexes (al-arwā), which was sent down upon him from the mountain Thabīr.
The exegetes differed concerning the reason why the sacrifice with which Isḥāq was ransomed was called 'mighty'. Some said: that was said because it had grazed in Paradise.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĪsā, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: it had grazed for forty autumns in Paradise.
And others said: it was called 'mighty' because it was an accepted sacrifice.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( mighty ), he said: accepted.
Al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ), he said: 'the mighty' means: the accepted.
And others said: it was called 'mighty' because it was a sacrifice that was slaughtered in truth, and that is that it was slaughtered according to the religion of Ibrāhīm.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he used to say: Allah says ( And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice ) not merely on account of the sacrificial animal that he slaughtered then, but it concerns slaughtering according to his religion; and that is the customary practice (sunna) until the Day of Resurrection. Know therefore that the sacrifice wards off an evil death, so offer sacrifices, servants of Allah.
Abū Jaʿfar said: and there is no more correct statement about this than what Allah, exalted is His praise, has said, namely that one says: Allah ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice. For Allah has kept His description of it as 'mighty' general without a further specification, so it is as He has kept it general.
