Reason 7 of 10
The covenant runs through Isaac, not Ishmael
Genesis blesses Ishmael and names Isaac as the son of the covenant and the son Abraham offered. The Quran never names the son of the sacrifice, and early Muslim scholars were split on who it was. The Mecca-Abraham story is first written in the Quran itself.
In short
Genesis gives Ishmael a real blessing: twelve princes and a great nation. It gives the covenant to Isaac, by name, before Isaac is born. It names Isaac as the son Abraham took up the mountain. The Quran's sacrifice story names no son, and early Muslim authorities disagreed: al-Tabari reports both opinions and himself favoured Isaac; Ibn Kathir (died 1373) argued for Ishmael and dismissed the Isaac view as drawn from Jewish sources.
The claim that Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaaba in Mecca is first written in the Quran (about AD 610-632). No earlier text or inscription known to scholarship connects Abraham with Mecca.
19God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
Genesis 17:19-21 (WEB) · context
12God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac.
Genesis 21:12 (WEB) · context
2He said, “Now take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”
Genesis 22:2 (WEB) · context
100My Lord! Vouchsafe me of the righteous. 101So We gave him tidings of a gentle son. 102And when (his son) was old enough to walk with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice thee. So look, what thinkest thou? He said: O my father! Do that which thou art commanded. Allah willing, thou shalt find me of the steadfast. 103Then, when they had both surrendered (to Allah), and he had flung him down upon his face, 104We called unto him: O Abraham! 105Thou hast already fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good. 106Lo! that verily was a clear test. 107Then We ransomed him with a tremendous victim. 108And We left for him among the later folk (the salutation): 109Peace be unto Abraham! 110Thus do We reward the good. 111Lo! he is one of Our believing slaves. 112And we gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a prophet of the righteous. 113And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves.
Quran 37:100-113 (Pickthall) · context
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ ٱلْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَٰعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ 127
127And 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.
Quran 2:127 (Pickthall) · context
What Muslims answer
Muslims answer that only son must mean Ishmael, because he was born first and was Abraham's only son for thirteen years, so Genesis 22 was edited to insert Isaac.
Why that answer fails
Genesis 21 has already sent Ishmael away and named Isaac as the one through whom Abraham's offspring will be named; Isaac was then the only son of the promise living with Abraham. No manuscript of Genesis, Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic or Samaritan, reads Ishmael in Genesis 22.
Where scholars disagree
- Which son was offered was disputed among early Muslim scholars (see the Ishmael track for the sources).
Sources
- Earliest source Genesis 16-17, 21-22, 25 (World English Bible).
- al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari, vol. II, Prophets and Patriarchs, trans. W. M. Brinner (SUNY Press, 1987), on the son of the sacrifice.
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir on Q 37:100-113.