The sacrifice of the son
DivergenceBiblical text
Gênesis 22:1-19
1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
15And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Qur'an
As-Saffat 37:99-113
وَقَالَ إِنِّى ذَاهِبٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّى سَيَهْدِينِ
99And he said: Lo! I am going unto my Lord Who will guide me
رَبِّ هَبْ لِى مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
100My Lord! Vouchsafe me of the righteous
فَبَشَّرْنَـٰهُ بِغُلَـٰمٍ حَلِيمٍ
101So We gave him tidings of a gentle son
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ ٱلسَّعْىَ قَالَ يَـٰبُنَىَّ إِنِّىٓ أَرَىٰ فِى ٱلْمَنَامِ أَنِّىٓ أَذْبَحُكَ فَٱنظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَىٰ ۚ قَالَ يَـٰٓأَبَتِ ٱفْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ ۖ سَتَجِدُنِىٓ إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ
102And when (his son) was old enough to walk with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice thee. So look, what thinkest thou? He said: O my father! Do that which thou art commanded. Allah willing, thou shalt find me of the steadfast
فَلَمَّآ أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُۥ لِلْجَبِينِ
103Then, when they had both surrendered (to Allah), and he had flung him down upon his face
وَنَـٰدَيْنَـٰهُ أَن يَـٰٓإِبْرَٰهِيمُ
104We called unto him: O Abraham
قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ ٱلرُّءْيَآ ۚ إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
105Thou hast already fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good
إِنَّ هَـٰذَا لَهُوَ ٱلْبَلَـٰٓؤُا۟ ٱلْمُبِينُ
106Lo! that verily was a clear test
وَفَدَيْنَـٰهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ
107Then We ransomed him with a tremendous victim
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ
108And We left for him among the later folk (the salutation)
سَلَـٰمٌ عَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ
109Peace be unto Abraham
كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
110Thus do We reward the good
إِنَّهُۥ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
111Lo! he is one of Our believing slaves
وَبَشَّرْنَـٰهُ بِإِسْحَـٰقَ نَبِيًّا مِّنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ
112And we gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a prophet of the righteous
وَبَـٰرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَىٰٓ إِسْحَـٰقَ ۚ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِۦ مُبِينٌ
113And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves
In common
The shape of the story is similar on both sides: God asks Abraham/Ibrāhīm to sacrifice his son, and at the moment of sacrifice God steps in and substitutes an animal. Both traditions treat the episode as the greatest test of faith a person can face, one Abraham/Ibrāhīm passes.
Differences
The Islamic tradition preserved both identifications of the son. The identification with Ishmael became predominant across much of later Muslim tradition, while some important classical exegetes argued for Isaac. In the Bible (Genesis 22), the text names Isaac without ambiguity. In the Qur'an (Surah 37:99-111), the son isn't named in this specific passage, though the following verse (37:112) separately announces "the birth of Isaac." There's also a narrative difference worth noting in the son's response: in the Qur'an (37:102), he answers his father directly, accepting what is asked of him, while Genesis records no equivalent response from Isaac, staying silent on his consent.
Judeo-Christian tradition: Genesis 22 identifies the son as Isaac unambiguously, across all Jewish and Christian traditions.
Islamic tafsir: Reading Ishmael as the son of the sacrifice is the majority but not unanimous view among classical commentators (e.g. At-Tabari records both opinions as historically held).