Ishmael? I Thought it was Isaac!

Learned something new today. My co-worker friend in Islamabad sent me a wikipedia link explaining why they will be out of the office near Christmastime-- Eid ul-Adha. So being the fair-minded and respectful citizen of the world that I am I clicked open the url to see what it is they'd be celebrating, and right there, first sentence in, I learned that Islam believes Ishmael was actually the son that Abraham was called on to sacrifice.

Interesting.

[And here's some further discussion I had with that friend:]

"Thanks for the link... I never knew that Islam believes Ishmael to be the son that Abraham was called on to sacrifice. Very interesting!"

"Yes, Abraham was a Messenger of God & since he was so pious & close to God that He decided to test Abraham of his greatness. Abraham got indications in dream that God has ordered him to sacrifice his most loving son. He told his son the whole story & his son accepted his fathers order being the order of God ultimately.

When Abraham was closed his eyes & was done with having a sharp knife over his son & then opened his eyes, he saw that it was just a sheep that was sacrificed & his son was sitting aside safely. God just wanted to test Abraham's nerves & he totally fit to that.

Thanks."