Muslim Intellectual Stagnation & Abraham's Sacrifice

Anyone who reads books of Qur'anic exegesis (Ar. tafsir) will recognize that, since the earliest times, Muslim scholars have disagreed regarding which son the Prophet Abraham was ordered to sacrifice: Isma'il or Isaac (peace be upon them all). It is not actually spelled out explicitly in the Qur'an and both sides have their arguments. However, mentioning this to the average Arab Muslim will likely agitate them greatly and might even lead to the assumption that you are a complete ignoramus.

But why? Because Muslims are, by and large, intellectually stagnant on two fronts:

1. We have stopped studying classical texts of tafsir, fiqh, aqida, etc. After all, we have the ultra-dumbed-down books funded by petro-dollars to teach us everything we need to know. You need Everything Islamic for Imbeciles? We have it! (Note: an excellent tafsir site is Altafsir.com, but it only works well in IE. Also, I've never tried using it in English. Doesn't everyone serious about learning Islam know Arabic anyways?)
   
2. We have stopped thinking. Dudes: if we say that Isaac was the one chosen for sacrifice, it does not translate to Israel's right to exist. (I recognize Israel's existence the same way I'd recognize a malignant tumour.) The Qur'an mentions the story of Moses and Pharoah extensively, as well as the story of Soloman and Bilqis, Queen of Saba'. Does Pharoah's damnation and Bilqis's submission indicate that Egypt and Yemen should also be ruled by Jews? Get with it guys. There's something called, "logic." Breath deeply and try thinking it through. The Jews were the Chosen People when they believed in the messengers of God. They lost their status when they disbelieved in the Prophet Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). If the Prophet Isaac was the one who was to be sacrificed, it won't benefit them with their disbelief.