As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 107 of 182

As-Saffat 37:107

وَفَدَيْنَـٰهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ

“And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice,[1298]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah ransomed the son with a great sacrifice: an animal in the boy's place, and a practice believers have honoured ever since.

A reflection

We ransomed him: even the offering was His gift

A seven-year-old buys her father a birthday mug. She paid for it with pocket money he gave her that morning. When she hands it over, he receives it as if it were gold. He does not mention whose money it was. The gift was always his, and his joy is real anyway.

Wa-fadaynāhu: and We ransomed him. One classical rhetorician notices something strange. Allah was the One who commanded the sacrifice, so He is the One from whom the boy was 'ransomed'. How can He also be the ransomer? His answer: Ibrahim was the one who slaughtered the ram, but Allah gave him the ram to do it with. So Allah attributes the ransom to Himself, as its true source.

This is where the ego quietly bows. We like to think of our worship as something we bring to Allah from our own resources. Our prayer, our charity, our sacrifice. But the ayah shows that even the offering was provided by Him. Ibrahim's hands held the knife, but the ram was Allah's gift. Everything we give Him, He first gave us.

Someone might ask: why would Allah require blood at all, even an animal's? Does He need it? The Quran answers directly: 'Their meat and their blood do not reach Allah. What reaches Him is the devotion from you' (22:37). He is free of all need (35:15). The sacrifice was never for His benefit. It was His generosity, letting a father keep his son and still offer something real.

The little girl's mug and Ibrahim's ram follow the same pattern. The Giver supplies the gift, then accepts it as if it were ours, and rewards us for giving it.

When you next give anything for Allah, say quietly: this was Yours before it was mine.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.