He was only commanded to slaughter his son as a test, then he was ransomed with a ram. This is a matter that was specific to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and does not extend to anyone else, due to a wisdom known only to Allah the Exalted. Even if Ibrahim had been commanded to slaughter a ram, our law has come to the contrary; for a vow to slaughter a son is not an act of worship in our law, nor is it permissible. Rather, it is an act of disobedience, so its expiation is like the expiation of all other vows of disobedience.

Section: If one vows to slaughter himself or a foreigner, there are also two narrations from Ahmad regarding this, and there are two narrations from Ibn 'Abbas as well. Ibn Mansur narrated from Ahmad, regarding one who vows to slaughter himself if he breaks his oath: he must slaughter a sheep. The same applies if he vows to slaughter a foreigner; because it was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding the one who said: "I will slaughter so-and-so," that he said: "He must slaughter a ram." And because he vowed to slaughter a human being, he must slaughter a ram, just like the vow to slaughter his son. The second narration is that he must perform the expiation of an oath; because it is a vow of disobedience, so its requirement is an expiation, for the reasons we mentioned previously. Al-Jawzajani narrated with his chain of transmission from al-Awza'i, who said: Abu 'Ubayd told me: A man came to Ibn 'Umar and said: "I vowed to slaughter myself." He said: Ibn 'Umar frowned at him and expressed disgust. Then he went to Ibn 'Abbas and said to him: "Sacrifice a hundred camels." Then he went to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham and said to him: "What do you think if you vowed not to speak to your father or your brother? This is but one of the footsteps of Satan. Seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him." Then he returned to Ibn 'Abbas and informed him, so he said: "'Abd al-Rahman is correct." Ibn 'Abbas retracted his opinion. The correct view regarding this is that it is a vow of disobedience; its ruling is the same as the ruling of other vows of disobedience, and nothing else.

Section: Ahmad said, regarding a woman who vowed to slaughter her son, and she has three sons: she must slaughter a ram for each one of them and perform the expiation of her oath. This is based on his view that the expiation for a vow to slaughter a son is the slaughter of a ram. He stipulated a ram for each one because the singular term, when possessed, implies generality, so there is a ram for each one. If she intended only one by her vow, then she is only liable for one ram, based on the evidence that when Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was commanded to slaughter his one son, he was ransomed with one ram, and none of his other children were ransomed. Likewise here, and when 'Abd al-Muttalib vowed to slaughter one of his sons if they reached ten, he did not ransom but one of them.