Sacrificed Lamb By Ibrahim عليه السلام
Quran 37:102-107 makes it very clear that purpose was not actual sacrifice of Prophet Ismael (sws). فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاء اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ. فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ. وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ. قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ. إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْبَلَاء الْمُبِينُ. وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ. وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِينَ. سَلَامٌ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ. كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ. إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ. وَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِإِسْحَقَ نَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ. وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى إِسْحَقَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ. “[That boy reached maturity.] Then when he reached the age to work about with him, Abraham said to him [one day]: “My son! [Since the past few days,] I dream that I am slaughtering you. So reflect; what is your opinion?” He said: “Father! Do as you are being directed. God willing, you will find me steadfast.” Then when both of them submitted and the father laid down his son on his forehead and We called out to him: “Abraham! You have made your dream come true,” [60] imagine how the sea of mercy must have stirred. In reality, this is how We reward those who are thorough in their deeds. Surely, this was a clear trial. [When Abraham successfully came out of it,] We ransomed Ishmael against a grand sacrifice and [gave Abraham such fame that] We left a group among the earlier generations on his ways. Peace be to Abraham. Thus do We reward those who are thorough in their deeds. Undoubtedly, he was among Our believing servants. [It was at this instance that] We gave him glad tidings of Isaac; a prophet from among righteous. And We sent Our blessings to both Ishmael and Isaac. Now there are those in their progeny who are thorough in their deeds and also those who are openly unjust to their souls”. (Quran 37:102-113) (Excerpt from Quranic Exegesis : Javed Ahmed Ghamidi) (Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem) ________________ [60] . The Almighty had not directly bidden Abraham (sws) to sacrifice his son; He had actually shown him that he was slaughtering his son in a dream and dreams need interpretation. The interpretation of this dream was that he was required to devote his son for the service of God’s House. The dream never meant that Ishmael (sws) was required to be slaughtered. However, the upright servant of God literally followed what he saw in the dream instead of interpreting it. Here the Almighty has expressed utmost love and praise for what Abraham (sws) set out to do by saying that he had actually made the dream come true. The reason is for the manner in which this directive was given, the attitude adopted was more akin to servitude to God. The purpose was also to see whether he interpreted the dream or followed it literally. It is for this reason that it is said ahead that this was an open trial and Abraham (sws) passed it in all respects. Thus it is a fact that Abraham (sws) is an imam of not only those who reflect on the wisdom of a directive more than the directive itself but also those who instantly follow the directive before pondering on its widsom. This is because in case of a test, the latter attitude is the correct one.
Who said that Prophets always have to do correct interpretation of every dream they see right away. It is a known academic fact that dreams are always prone to interpretation – they can be either symbolic or literal – but always prone to interpretation. Sometimes interpretation can be done right away ( Prophet Joseph (sws) interpreting the dreams of his fellow prisoners and of the Pharaoh ), sometimes it is shown to the prophet to achieve some other objective ( Quran 48:27 , Quran 8:43 and Quran 37:102 ) the depth of which unfolds in front of the Prophet at a later time, and sometimes their actual interpretation is delayed until it unravels itself in front of the Prophet ( Dream of Prophet Joseph manifesting itself when he became the king ). The point that must be borne in mind is that while dreams of Allah’s Messengers were an absolutely reliable means for knowing the will of the Almighty, since they were saved from the influences of Satan and His accomplices, our dreams can have no religious bearing whatsoever upon us because of our susceptibility to Satanic influences.
Prophets are under protection of Allah to be always guided to the right path. The same happened with Prophet Abraham (sws) and Prophet Muhammad (sws) when they followed their dreams in their literal sense. Allah intervened and corrected the course accordingly and/or explained later why things unfolded in that particular way as opposed to literal interpretation of dreams.