A critical review of reuven firestone's view on the example of "sacrifice" (zhabih) in the qur'an

The specialized view of the Orientalists on the teachings of the Holy Quran shows the necessity of a methodical and critical look at their studies. Especially, some of them have adopted a particular method in determining the examples of some verses. Reuven Firestone is one of the authors of the encyclopedia of the Holy Quran, who has written some of its entries. In these entries, he has commented on the "Zhabih" (sacrificed child) of the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and, contrary to the opinion of most Islamic scholars, he believes that Ibrahim (AS) wanted to sacrifice "Isḥāq" (Isaac) - his second son. According to him, most of the previous commentators of the Qur'an share the same tendency and belief in this regard. The present study challenges Reuven Firestone's opinion by examining, analyzing and criticizing the content of the entry "Isḥāq" from the Quran encyclopedia and examines the methodology of the mentioned entry and why Firestone insists on Isaac to be the sacrificed child. The findings of the research show that in addition to the contradiction between the Torah and the Gospel of Barnabas in determining the example of sacrifice, the context of the verses of the Qur'an fits with the sacrifice of Ismail. Besides, the hadiths related to the sacrifice of Ismail, came with valid chain of documents and reliable sources, unlike the narrations related to the sacrifice of Isaac, which, in addition to the interruption of the chain of transmission, are faced with the weakness of the narrators.