In the chapter of Al-Sâffât there are some phrases that talk about Abraham (PUH) and his prays to his Lord and his requests for guidance and the faithful descendants. Then God answered his calls and prays and gave him what he desired and gave him a faithful servant (son) but He put him under the test to show people how sincere he is to his Creator, the Exalted said: So We gave him tidings of a gentle son. And when (his son) was old enough to walk with him, (Abraham) said: O my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice thee. So look, what thinkest thou ? He said: O my father! Do that which thou art commanded. Allah willing, thou shalt find me of the steadfast (Al-Sâffât:101-102). So the gentle son had nothing but to obey with happiness and sincere desire the commandments of God, and His messenger.
We have no doubt that everything a prophet, a messenger, or a viceroy would do or avoid is decided by God, and his deeds are done only by what is allowed and what gives benefits, however people liked it or not. Then, the duties that are assigned by God for people are not transfered except by prophets of human beings, and so for this infallibility is granted for them. We've pointed out before that a prophet or a messenger and their voiceroys must be described with the highest of manners and so they should not be asked or opposed for what they are doing. For this, Ishmael did not refuse or deny what his father asked him for his manners and infallibility and he knew what would happen and said to his father: O my father! Do that which thou art commanded. Allah willing, thou shalt find me of the steadfast.When Abraham was about to do what he was commanded, and Ishmael had no opposition, and God knows their faith and their belief, and God then told them that it was His command to do so as to test them and gave them a ransom, and the Exalted said: We called unto him: O Abraham! Thou hast already fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good.Lo! that verily was a clear test.Then We ransomed him with a tremendous victim(Al-Sâffât:104-107).
Scholars differed in the one that had been ransomed for , some said it is Isaac ben Abraham, and this opinion is favored by many muslim scholars, while Imamite scholars agreed that  the one ransomed for was  Ishmael ben Abraham (PUT). Al-Mas`udi said: people  argued about who was to be ransomed for , some said he is Isaac and others say he is Ishmael , and if the commandments took place in the land of Hijâz, then Ishmael is the one because Isaac did not go to Hijâz before, but if the commandment took place in  the lands of Shem, then Isaac is the one, because Ishmael did not go the lands of Shem after getting out of it. We say that tidings from the Household (PUT) been reported that their grandfather the prophet (PUH) said: I am the son of the two ransomed for, and they interpret this saying by saying that these two are his father `Abdullah ben `Abd Al-Muttalib, and his grand grandfather Ishmael (PUH), and they mentioned other things about their details.
Maybe the source of such debate is that  quran did not mention the name of the one that was ransomed for, but it is obvious for  anyone that meditated in the holy phrases from the chapter of Al-Sâffât that he is Ishmael (PUH) by clues that are so clear and no way to interpret them, go through  their order and you will get the exact situation. After telling the story of the event and God's rewards to Abraham by saying: Lo! he is one of Our believing slaves(Al-Sâffât:111), then after that comes the happy tidings to Abraham from God about Isaac and letting him to be a faithful prophet later on, so God said: And we gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a prophet of the righteous. And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves(Al-Sâffât:112-113). Then the tidings about Isaac came after telling the story of the dream of Abraham, and this is a great clue for that the son meniotned is not Isaac, because telling the name of Isaac gives an obvious clue that Isaac and the one that was ransomed for are different apparently.
 Saying "And we gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac" and it is connected by "and" to the person in the previous story, then for sure it is not Isaac and it is Ishmael without a doubt. Abdul Wahâb in his tales said: The main character in this story for jews in Torah is Isaac, then he said: and I think that the name of Isaac was put in(by them) between the lines of the story for they are cautious and careful to make their grandfather is the one that gave his life for God since his childhood, then he said: and my clue that the one who sacrified himself for God is Ishmael is derived from Torah itself when it comes to mention that the child is the only child for Abraham that he has no one else except him and it is a clue for Abraham's ultimate faith in God, so much that he gave his only child to sacrify with, but if we considered Isaac we see that he was never alone because he was born and Ishmael was fourteen years old as it is mentioned in Torah itself also and Ishmael stayed until the death of his father and he was near him when he died and buried him. We say that this is a strong prove and the truth is what had been said (by Abdul-Wahâb) and he has many correct opinions.
They say that when he was to be sacrified with, he was thirteen years old and it is the age of an adult, and he had became able to do what his father can do and he had to help him and work for God and worship Him, and he reached the ultimate level of thought and sense, so this is why he obeyed the commandment of God with his father. When his father laid him on the ground on his side to slay him and God knew how sincere they are, and both of them decided to and showed the deed in public, and when they reached the level of doing, God showed the secret for what they were commanded to do so, and that He did not desire the deed itself but it is a test and thus God gave the ransom, so God said "Then We ransomed him with a tremendous victim" and they say it was a great ram, and as reported by Ibn `Abbâs, it is the same ram that God accepted from Abel, and for saying "tremendous victim" it is because it (the ram) grazed in paradise for fourty years. From the interparetations of `Ali ben Ibrâhim in a long speech attributed to Al-Sâdiq (PUH) which included that when Ishmael gave hisself to be sacrified with and when Abraham wanted to slay him, and old man came and said: O Abraham, what do you want from this boy? He answered: I want to slay him, so he said: O God, a boy that never did wrong to God, so said Abraham: God ordered me to do so, so he answered: God denies this but it is something from Satan, then said Abraham: woe unto you! The One who made me reach this high level ordered me to do so, then the old man said: O Abraham you are a great man and people follow you and if you killed your son now they will follow you by killing their children, but he did not answer him and he asked his son about slaying him, and when all surrended to the commandments of God, the boy said: O father, tie me and cover my face, so then said Abraham: O son, the tie and the slay? No I sweat that I will not do them to you, then he laid him and put the knife over his neck and lifted his head to the sky and ran the knife over his neck, but Gabriel flipped the knife and pulled the great ram and made him in the place of the boy, then he (Abraham) was called from the side of the mosque "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision. Lo! thus do We reward the good."
It is mentioned also that he said to his father: slay me while i am prostrating so you won't see my face and have mercy on me, it is also mentioned that he said: tie me tightly father so I won't become nervous and keep your clothes away from me so that my blood shall not reach them and then my mother would see it and sharpen your knife and run it fast on my neck to make it easier for me because death is hard, then Abraham said: What a help you are for God's commandment. In some tidings it is included that God inspired unto Abraham and He knows what is in the mind afore: what creation is beloved to you more than anything else? He answered: Your beloved Muhammad, for You did not create a creation that is more beloved to me than him, so god said then: is he beloved more than yourself? So said Abraham: he is beloved more than myself, then God said: are his children beloved to you more than your own children? He said: his children are, so God said then: is killing his children by their enemies more hurtful to your heart or killing your own son for My commandments? He answered: It is killing his children bytheir enemies that is more hurtful to my heart, then God said: O Abraham, there will be a group that claim to be followers for Muhammad, they will kill Al-Husain after him for no rights and they will slay him as for slaying a ram and thus they will deserve My anger, then Abraham got shocked and so sad and started crying. There are many tales and speeches about this matter but we did not come to mention them for it might be so boring.
There are also some tidings that mention the prophets' stops in Karbala before the massacre and their passing through the location of death of Al-Husain ben `Ali and the son of Fâtima the daughter of the prophet (PUT), and their crying for him after telling them about his trouble and the massacre by Gabriel (PUH). Such tidings were told by Gabriel to every messenger and prophet since the time of Adam (PUH) until the time of Jesus ben Mary (PUH) and all of them used to cry and have pains for it. [some lines come here but add nothing to the matter and complicated somehow to translate].

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Next: A Completion With The Ancestry of The Prophet (PUH)