# Is it wrong to believe that God asked Ibrahim to kill his son?

*The Quran never says God told him: why Mufti Abu Layth calls the belief absurd and sadistic*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/yruc09ajkeq/s/5/
- Date: 2020-10-28 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: "God did NOT ask Abraham to sacrifice his son" | Mufti Abu Layth (14:34–17:12)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRuC09ajKEQ&t=874s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/yruc09ajkeq/

**Topics:** God and the divine attributes; Stories of the prophets; Reason and revelation

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says the belief is absurd and, on inspection, blasphemous, because it has God asking a father to murder his child for his pleasure and then stopping him, like a mock execution. The Quran never says God told Ibrahim to sacrifice, though it could have.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the belief that God commanded Ibrahim to kill his son is absurd, sadistic and, upon true inspection, blasphemous, since the Quran never says God gave the command though it could have.

**Evidence, his words at 16:22:** “this belief in and of itself upon true inspection is blasphemous but i understand the fact that most people just haven't questioned it” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRuC09ajKEQ&t=982s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says the Bible has God telling Abraham to sacrifice, but the Quran never does, although Allah could easily have said 'we told him to sacrifice and found him true to his word, so we told him to stop'. He acknowledges that most Muslims were raised with this belief but says that, examined honestly, it is an absurdity: it has God asking a father to murder his child because it will make him happy, which he calls beyond rationality and sadistic. To the reply that God stopped him first, he compares a mock execution, which he says psychological studies show to be among the most traumatising experiences. He says that upon true inspection the belief is blasphemous, while stressing that most people have not questioned it: they heard it as children, repeat it as a trial that God resolved, and never ask what it actually claims, which he spells out as God taking pleasure in telling a father to slit his son's throat and then to kill a sheep instead.

## Sources and names cited

- Ibrahim
- the Bible

## Transcript (machine tier, 14:34–17:12)

[14:25] all these people and and obviously in the judeo culture this is what they thought had happened so people are accepting that look there was this this incident with abraham but where did this come from this where did the commandment was it just something he saw himself what did god tell him now i know in the bible they say it as oh god told him but not in the quran the quran never said that and allah could have said that it was so easy to say we told him sacrifice and then we found him to indeed be somebody who lives up to his word so we told him stop but allah never said that

[15:03] you see now the question is it is look i understand that most muslims have been brought up with this kind of a belief but in all honesty that belief is an absurdity you are saying that god is asking a father to murder his child why because it will make him happy i mean that that is utterly beyond any level of rationality it is so absurdly sadistic

[15:42] because what what is it that you are actually saying god is asking him to do here now people will say yes but he stopped him before he did it now but that's similar to like a moxic mock execution then you know yeah we're going to just scare you into you're going to think we're going to execute you but then we're going to actually stop a mock execution which are some of the most horrific traumatizing uh incidents that could ever happen i mean from a psychological perspective if you read the studies on mock executions and what they do to people

[16:22] psychologically so in all honesty i i find this belief even though i'm not look i understand muslims many muslims believe it but this belief in and of itself upon true inspection is blasphemous but i understand the fact that most people just haven't questioned it it's not that they you see they they're following it without actually thinking about it like they've just heard it since they were kids and they never really thought about it what does it actually mean and they just yeah yeah yeah it just makes sense yeah it's just a trial and then god saved him but when you think about it what is it that you're actually saying you're saying that god

[17:02] gets a kick out of saying to a father who just about had a son like you know what go kill your son for me slit his throat because why because it's gonna make me happy that you do it and then don't do it kill that sheep instead that is utterly absurd that does not sound like a god of you know of this great majesty of the the wonder of the creator of the cosmos that doesn't sound like that that kind

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment yRuC09ajKEQ/s/5. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/yruc09ajkeq/s/5/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.