Abraham, the Dream and the Rejection of Human Sacrifice — Ali Shukri Amin
First published on my writing site: www.aliamin.info/2026/05/abraham-the-dream-and-the-rejection-of-human-sacrifice/
By Ali Shukri Amin. I first wrote this as a comment on r/MuslimAcademics, in the thread “Abraham, the Dream, and the Rejection of Human Sacrifice”, copied here as written.
This is less severe of a reinterpretation than ibn ‘Arabi’s, who argued that Ibrahim wholly misunderstood the dream. I think the problem with this interpretation is that Allah clearly intended for Ibrahim to intepret the ru’ya as he did. The story is not just about the sanctity of human life.
We also lose the rich insights that come from Ibrahim intending to sacrifice his son, such as discussions around the teleological suspension of the ethical and the necesity of submitting everything to Allah even when we cannot justify it with our limited intellect.
Some of the best that has ever been written on this topic was by Kierkegaard in Fear & Trembling.
In fact, the preservation of life is NOT the greatest goal of the Shari’ah. The preservation of Din is. Once Ibrahim had proven his Din & the Din of his son preserved, THEN the maqsad became to preserve life.
Posted May 30, 2026. Read it on Reddit.
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