The identity of the son in the sacrifice narrative marks one of the clearest points of scriptural divergence between the Abrahamic traditions: the Hebrew Bible's account in Genesis names Isaac explicitly as the son bound for sacrifice, and Jewish and Christian tradition has followed that identification without significant dispute, while Islamic tradition, working from a Quranic text that does not name the son directly, developed a strong majority position identifying him as Ishmael instead, reflecting the distinct genealogical and covenantal significance each tradition attaches to its own line of descent from Ibrahim.
This divergence is not treated within Islamic scholarship as a discrepancy to be reconciled with the earlier biblical account, but rather as reflecting the Quran's own independent authority as a distinct revelation, which Islamic tradition holds to correct alterations it understands to have entered the earlier scriptures over time.
The episode's continued centrality to Eid al-Adha, observed by Muslims worldwide through animal sacrifice and the distribution of meat to family, neighbors and those in need, ensures that this specific narrative, whichever son is understood to be involved, remains one of the most actively commemorated stories in the Quran across the entire Islamic ritual calendar, repeated in personal and communal observance every year rather than remaining only a text to be read.