Today is the first day of the festival of Eid al-Adha, and Muslims are sacrificing sheep. I live in a Muslim city, where they say that up until just a few years ago, the streets here (literally) ran with blood on this day each year.

A few years ago, in the interest of sanitation and modernization, the government mandated that all sacrifices be held in designated areas. This was necessary because of the sheer number of animals being slaughtered. Islam requires that all Muslims who can afford to do so must sacrifice a sheep today.

If you have Muslim friends, you may have heard about Eid al-Adha. What you might not know is that this holiday commemorates a Biblical story. The purpose of the mandatory sacrifice is to commemorate the prophet Abraham’s (or “Ibrahim,” in Arabic) willingness to sacrifice his son. What your Muslim friend might not know is that this story points to the Gospel.

The Islamic Story

The extremely brief Quranic account (Sura 37:99-113) is mostly the same as the Biblical account, except that it is Ishmael (Isma’eel) rather than Isaac who is to be sacrificed. This little change makes sense from a Muslim perspective, as Ishmael is the progenitor of the Arab people.

Muhammad, the founder of an ethnic religion, naturally wanted to honor his own ethnic group, not the Jews. The Islamic version also mentions that Ishmael gave his father permission to sacrifice him. That change is likewise reasonable. It tones down the moral dilemma, making the story a bit more palatable.

These corruptions aside, the gist of the Quranic story is recognizable: God told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. Abraham obeyed, proving his great faith. At the last moment, God told him that he had passed the test and did not need to follow through with the sacrifice. God then provided a sacrifice in place of Abraham’s son.

The Quranic version is nothing more than a truncated version of the much richer Biblical narrative, with a few convenient alterations. But to see the deeper meaning of Abraham’s test, you need to consult the Biblical treatment of the story.

“On the Mountain of the LORD It Will be Provided”

According to the book of Genesis, God had promised that from Abraham’s son Isaac would come descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky. (Genesis 15-17)

So Abraham must have been completely taken off guard when God told him, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love — Isaac — and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22)

Abraham obeyed. In an act of staggering faith — reasoning that God could raise the dead (Hebrews 11:19) — Abraham took his son up the mountain. He placed the wood for the burnt offering on his son Isaac — who then carried the fuel of his own immolation! It says:

As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and the wood are here,” Isaac said, “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

Did Abraham believe himself to be lying, I wonder?

When they reached the top Abraham tied up his son and laid him on the altar. It does not say whether Isaac resisted, but the necessity of the ropes could be taken to imply that he might have. Abraham raised the knife and was about to strike, when a voice halted him. “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him.”

He looked and saw in a thicket a ram caught by his horns. He took it, and sacrificed it in place of his son. Thus, his words “God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice, my son” proved more prophetic than he knew. Indeed, his words were far more prophetic even than that, because almost two thousand years later, God provided another sacrifice.

The Genesis account continues:

So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

Think about that saying: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” Did the people who repeated this proverb grasp its prophetic nature? Probably not.

The account in Genesis says God showed Abraham a specific mountain in the region of Moriah, and told him to sacrifice his son there. It doesn’t specify which one, but it isn’t hard to guess: Mount Calvary is a mountain in the region of Moriah. Just as Isaac walked up the mountain carrying the wood for his sacrifice, so Jesus walked up the mountain carrying the cross for his execution. Through his death, God provided a sacrifice for all of us — once and for all.

And because of Abraham’s faith, God gave him this gift: that this would come about through Abraham’s offspring. God tells Abraham:

I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring [or seed] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.

As Paul points out, “Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16) It is through Jesus Christ that all nations are blessed. Abraham’s sacrificial choice completed his faith (James 2:23), making him the Father of all who believe (Galatians 3:7) and are ransomed by the life of Jesus (Mark 10:45), the descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), the Lamb of God (John 1:29).

Make the Most of Every Opportunity

Muslims remember the story of Abraham. But they don’t know why they are supposed to remember it.

The sacrifice for all of our lives has already been made, once and for all. The blood of countless sheep is wasted every year, as are the prayers and the lives of thousands of faithful Muslims who have not believed in God as he revealed himself through Jesus, and who think that they can achieve righteousness by works of the law.

Christians are told to make the most of every opportunity. (Ephesians 5:16) Our world has grown very multicultural, and in 2023 far more Christians in America have Muslim friends and colleagues than was the case even one generation ago.

This week is a great opportunity to share the Gospel. It should not be missed. If you know any Muslims, I encourage you to bring up the meaning of their holiday. Tell them that you have heard that the holiday commemorates the sacrifice of Abraham’s son, and ask them if they’ve heard the Biblical version of the story. Ask them what it means to them, and tell them what it means to you.

Peter Rowden is a friend of The Stream living in the Middle East.