When Ibrahim’s (as) firstborn son, Ismail (as) was old enough to walk around with his father and work with him, it was revealed in a dream to Ibrahim (as) that he must sacrifice his son. Ismail (as) did not question this command, just as his mother Hajar (as) had not questioned it when Allah commanded Ibrahim (as) to leave her and her baby son in the desert all those years ago. ‘He (Ismail) said, “O my father! Do as you are commanded. If Allah wills, you shall find me of the
patient”’. (Qur’an, 37:102) Both father and son were prepared to sacrifice Ismail’s life, but Shaytan wanted to dissuade them.
In this narration, Ibrahim (as) stoned Shaytan three times; in other narrations, Shaytan appeared separately to Ibrahim, Hajar and Ismail (as). Each time, he tried to convince them that Ibrahim (as) was about to commit a terrible crime; each time, they attested that if it was from Allah they must accept it. Each of them stoned Shaytan. (Tabari and Hakim) It seems impossible to us that someone could be prepared to sacrifice their beloved child, the person most dear to them in the world, especially when obstacles have been placed in their way on three separate occasions. However, the family of Ibrahim (as) were so forceful in their rejection of disobeying Allah that they threw stones at Shaytan. It is this stoning that we remember at Hajj. As Ibrahim (as) prepared a knife to sacrifice his son and a shroud to bury him in, he couldn’t face Ismail (as), so he turned his son’s face away. According to Ibn Kathir’s tafseer, they both remembered Allah and testified their faith in Him – Ibrahim because he was about to make a sacrifice, and Ismail because he was about to die. Then Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son – and when the knife was at Ismail’s neck, he heard a voice calling to him to stop.
Ibrahim (as) sacrificed a white, horned ram instead of his son and, like the stoning of the pillars, we remember this sacrifice every year at Hajj. It represents the devotion of Ibrahim (as), who was ready to sacrifice his beloved son for Allah’s sake, and the reward and blessing they received from Allah as a result of their submission. Remembering this journey every time we do Qurbani should bring us closer to Allah; again, it is not the animal that matters, but our willingness to submit wholeheartedly to Allah