The Quran’s Depiction of Abraham in Light of the Hebrew Bible and Midrash r 57description of Abraham’s attempt to save them. In other suras, this part of
the story is omitted entirely. In our opinion these changes are deliberate
and correspond to the Quran’s concept that a sinner should be punished
and that the merit of forefathers or of righteous people does not help to
save him (9:113–114).
The Binding Episode
In the Quran, the story of the binding of Abraham’s son is very condensed
in scope. It appears only once (37:101–10), and very few details are given.
Abraham informs his son that in his dream he saw that he must sacrifice
him. The son consents, and Abraham lays him down to sacrifice him.
Then Abraham hears a voice that says to him: “Abraham, thou hast con-
firmed the vision.” And he redeems his son with a large sacrifice.
The story in the book of Genesis is much more detailed. According to
the narrative, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, thus testing
Abraham. He says to him: “Abraham,” and he answers: “Here I am.” And
He says: “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go
to the land of Moriah, and offer him as a burnt offering.”^55 In the midrash
Pirqei De-Rabbi Eliezer,^56 however, we find an addition: “That night the
Holy One blessed be He appeared to Abraham and said to him, Please
take your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac.” The word night is
apparently a Metonymic ellipsis for “in a dream at night.” That is, accord-
ing to Pirqei De-Rabbi Eliezer, Abraham was commanded in a dream to
sacrifice his son.^57
The biblical story describes the preparations for the sacrifice, how the
father and son go together to the site of the sacrifice, and the son asks
his father: “Here are the firestone and the wood, but where is the sheep
for the burnt offering?”^58 The father replies: “God will see to the sheep
for His offering, my son.”^59 It seems that according to Genesis, Isaac was
unaware of his father’s intention. The midrash also notes Abraham’s readi-
ness to sacrifice his son out of his belief in God;^60 however, it also speaks
of Isaac’s readiness to be a sacrifice at the command of God.^61 The detailed
description in the Bible, along with the midrashic additions, contribute
to the creation of an atmosphere of tension and drama and highlight the
motif of sacrifice with regard to both father and son. This description was
picked up by the Quran in its condensed narrative.
Following the narrative of the binding of Isaac in Genesis, an angel