Prophets & prophecy
Why Eid al-Adha remembers Ishmael
Every year Muslims around the world mark Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice, at the end of the Hajj in Mecca. Why do Muslims connect Abraham’s sacrifice with Mecca, and with Ishmael?
1The question
Why do Muslims link the story of the sacrifice to Mecca and Ishmael?
2What Christians believe
Christians follow Genesis, which places the sacrifice in “the land of Moriah” (Genesis 22:2). 2 Chronicles 3:1 names Mount Moriah as the place where Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem.
Christians see the ram God provided as a picture of Christ, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
3What the texts say
Where Genesis places it
And 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.
Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Ishmael in the wilderness
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
God’s promise for Ishmael
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
4What scholars say
F. E. Peters (The Hajj, 1994) describes how the rites of the pilgrimage remember Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael: running between Safa and Marwa, the well of Zamzam, and the sacrifice at Mina.
Biblical scholars usually place the wilderness of Paran, where Ishmael lived (Genesis 21:21), in the Sinai peninsula. Muslim writers have often identified Paran with the Hijaz, the region of Mecca. Some Muslim writers also link the name Moriah with Marwa, one of the two hills of the Hajj; this link is a suggestion, not something scholars agree on.
Scholars agree that 2 Chronicles is a much later book than Genesis, and that Genesis itself does not name Jerusalem as the place.
5The Islamic perspective
The Qur’an tells how Abraham settled part of his family near God’s holy House, and how Abraham and Ishmael raised its foundations together. The sacrifice of Eid is a sign of devotion, not of blood:
Our Lord! Lo! I have settled some of my posterity in an uncultivable valley near unto Thy holy House, our Lord! that they may establish proper worship; so incline some hearts of men that they may yearn toward them, and provide Thou them with fruits in order that they may be thankful.
And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham prayed): Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower.
Their flesh and their food reach not Allah, but the devotion from you reacheth Him. Thus have We made them subject unto you that ye may magnify Allah that He hath guided you. And give good tidings (O Muhammad) to the good.
For Muslims, Mecca is where Abraham’s family settled, where he and Ishmael built the Kaaba, and where his obedience is remembered every year. The sacrifice at Eid remembers a father and son who both submitted to God, and the meat is shared with family, neighbours and the poor.
6Objections and responses
“Moriah is the temple mount in Jerusalem.”
Response: That identification comes from 2 Chronicles 3:1, written centuries after Genesis, about the place where David saw an angel. Genesis speaks of “the land of Moriah”, a region three days’ journey away (Genesis 22:4), and does not name Jerusalem.
“Mecca is far from where Abraham lived.”
Response: The Qur’an says Abraham settled his son and Hagar near the House (14:37) and visited them. Genesis says Ishmael grew up in the wilderness and that God would make him a great nation (Genesis 21:18–21). Muslims see the Arab peoples descended from Ishmael, and the House in Mecca, as the fulfilment of that promise.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that Abraham was tested and that God provided a sacrifice in place of his son. Christians follow Genesis and later tradition in placing the event at Moriah in Jerusalem. Muslims remember it in Mecca, where the Qur’an says Abraham and Ishmael built the House of God.
Read Genesis 21:8–21 and Qur’an 14:35–41 and compare what each says about Ishmael and his mother.
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Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Genesis 22:22 Chronicles 3:1Genesis 21:18Genesis 21:21Genesis 17:20
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 14:37Qur’an 2:127Qur’an 22:37
- F. E. Peters, The Hajj (1994)
- Reuven Firestone, Journeys in Holy Lands (1990)