Those who held that he was Ishmael argued that Allah, Exalted is He, mentioned the glad tidings of Isaac after completing the account of the son to be sacrificed, saying: “And We gave him glad tidings of Isaac, a prophet from among the righteous” (al-Saffat 37:112). This indicates that the sacrificed son was someone other than Isaac. Moreover, Allah, Exalted is He, says in Surat Hud: “So We gave her glad tidings of Isaac, and after Isaac, Jacob” (Hud 11:71). Thus, just as He gave him glad tidings of Isaac, He also gave him glad tidings of Isaac’s son Jacob. How, then, could He command him to sacrifice Isaac when He had promised him a further offspring through him?

Al-Qurazi said: Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz asked a man who had been one of the Jewish scholars, then embraced Islam and became a good Muslim, “Which of Abraham’s two sons was he commanded to sacrifice?” He replied, “Ishmael.” Then he said, “O Commander of the Believers, the Jews certainly know this, but they envy you Arabs because your forefather was the one whom Allah, Exalted is He, commanded to be sacrificed, and so they claim that it was Isaac.”

Further evidence for this is that the ram’s two horns remained suspended upon the Ka‘bah, in the custody of the descendants of Ishmael, until the House was burned and the two horns were burned during the days of Ibn al-Zubayr and al-Hajjaj.

Al-Shabi said: “I saw the ram’s two horns suspended upon the Ka‘bah.”

Ibn Abbas said: “By Him in whose Hand is my soul, at the beginning of Islam the ram’s head, with its horns, was still hanging in the waterspout of the Ka‘bah, having become weathered”—that is, dried out.

Al-Asmai said: I asked Abu Amr ibn al-Ala about the sacrificed son: “Was it Isaac or Ishmael?” He replied, “O Sumay, where has your reason gone? When was Isaac ever in Makkah? Ishmael alone was in Makkah, and he was the one who built the House with his father.”

As for the account of the sacrifice, al-Suddi said: When Abraham supplicated, saying, “My Lord, grant me a child from among the righteous,” and was given glad tidings of him, he said, “Then he shall be sacrificed for Allah.” When he was born and reached the age at which he could strive alongside him, Abraham was told, “Fulfil your vow.” This was the reason Allah, Exalted is He, commanded him to sacrifice his son. At that point, he said to Isaac, “Come, let us offer a sacrifice to Allah, Exalted is He.” So he took a knife and a rope and set out with him, until he brought him among the mountains. The boy said to him, “My dear father, where is your sacrificial offering?” He replied, “My dear son, I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you. So consider: what do you think?” He said, “My dear father, do as you are commanded.”