Axis Mundi
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The pivotal story of the akedah (the ‘‘binding’’ of Isaac) occurs in Genesis 22 wherein God commands Abraham to sacrifice his long-awaited and only son with his wife, Sarah. This divine dictum is considered a test, since at the last minute when Abraham draws the knife to kill Isaac, God sends an angel to stay the sacrifice, and a ram is substituted in place of his son. God rewards Abraham for not withholding his only son from God and therefore passing the test, and promises Abraham numerous offspring, guaranteeing Abraham that he will be the ‘‘father of nations’’ blessed by God. It is Abraham’s absolute faith in God that makes him willing to sacrifice Isaac, and it is precisely this strict obedience that renews Abraham’s covenant with God and, in turn, God’s covenant with the patriarch, Abraham (which begins with God’s first call to Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3) and his subsequent generations. The akedah constitutes the foundation of the three monotheistic (also called Abrahamic) traditions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his son that establishes his absolute faith in God, while simultaneously defining faith within the context of these monotheistic traditions.
Qur’anic Significance In the Qur’an, Abraham is no less a man of faith than in the Hebrew Bible. He is considered to be the first monotheist because he is ‘‘sound in the faith,’’ and thereby a Muslim (one who submits to God) (3:60). The sacrifice story occurs in Sura 37:100–13. There are two notable differences. First, Abraham learns in a dream that he must sacrifice his son and he reveals this to his son: ‘‘My son, I have seen that I should sacrifice thee’’ (37:101), to which his son replies, ‘‘My father, do what thou art bidden’’ (37:102).
Lastly, the Qur’an does not specify which son is to be sacrificed: Isaac or Ishmael, Abraham’s first born through his slave, Hagar. Therefore, many Muslims assume that it was Ishmael who was offered for sacrifice, since he was the first born. However, according to some Qur’anic scholars, there are an almost equal number of authoritative statements within Qur’anic tradition that consider Isaac the intended victim as there are those that point to Ishmael (Delaney, 1998:170).
Søren Kierkegaard In one of his most famous, pseudonymous works (penned under the name, Johannes de Silentio), Fear and Trembling (1843/1983), Kierkegaard uses the Genesis 22 account of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac in order to engage in a philosophical meditation on the question of faith. Although cast within the philosophical tradition, Fear and Trembling opens the question of Abraham to the individual and private sphere, thereby adding a psychological component. Kierkegaard was not the first to engage the story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac philosophically. His writings were a direct response to and critique of those of the pre-eminent German philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831). Like Kierkegaard, Hegel considered himself a pious Christian. Hegel’s interpretation of Abraham appears in a
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