That was a tradition and form of worshipping God!

That was a tradition and form of worshipping God! In Ibrahim's religion, sheep are sacrificed and not man! Another great lesson is that Ibrahim's God, in contrast to other gods, is not blood-thirsty; those other gods are hungry, hungry for meat! The most meaningful lesson is that God did not want Ismail to be sacrificed, but wanted Ibrahim to sacrifice Ismail and he did it bravely! Ismail was honored to have been chosen for the sacrifice and he patiently persevered.

But then, there was no need to kill him. God, the Almighty, is not needy; we human beings have all kinds of needs! This was the will of Almighty God, the most kind and most merciful to man. He honored and promoted Ibrahim to the point where he was ready to sacrifice Ismail without actually killing him. God also honored Ismail by being His sacrifice, yet he was not hurt at all! This is Ibrahim's faith (Islam) and not the story of blood thirsty gods, masochists or human torturers.

It is a story of man's perfection and his freedom from selfishness and animalistic desires. It is man's ascension to a higher spirit and love, to a strong will that frees him from anything that may hinder his responsibility as a conscious man, to make him ready to sacrifice himself as Ismail, to become a martyr and finally, something not found in the dictionary - "to be like Ibrahim"! The story ends with the sacrifice of a sheep.

This is what Almighty God requested at the end of this greatest human tragedy - to sacrifice a sheep to feed a few hungry people. Like Ibrahim, you should select and bring your Ismail to Mina who is your Ismail? You should know; there is no need for others to know! May be your wife, job, talent, sex, power, rank, position ... etc. I don't know which one it is, but it should be whatever is so dear as Ismail was to Ibrahim!

Some of the signs of your Ismail are whatever takes away your freedom and stops you from performing your duties, whatever joy entertains you, whatever keeps you from hearing and knowing the truth, whatever persuades you to rationalize rather than accept responsibility and whoever supports you only to receive your support in the future. You must search and find it in your life. If you are going to approach Almighty God, you should sacrifice your Ismail in Mina.

Do not choose the sheep (ransom) yourself; let the Almighty help and present it to you as a gift. This is how he accepts the sheep as a sacrifice.