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Is the ritual of Hajj based on the story of the sacrifice of Ishmael (peace be upon him), or does the Qur'an affirm that the sacrifice was Isaac (peace be upon him)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The ritual of Hajj began in the time of Adam, peace be upon him, and angels performed Hajj to it before Adam. The one to be sacrificed is Ishmael, peace be upon him, not Isaac, because Allah gave glad tidings to Sarah of Isaac, and after Isaac, Jacob. So how could Abraham be commanded to sacrifice him while he was young, and Abraham had certainty that he would live to father Jacob? And it is mentioned in Surat As-Saffat the glad tidings of a forbearing boy (Ishmael), then the story of his sacrifice, then the second glad tidings of Isaac came after the story of the sacrifice.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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