KHUTAB III - 28. ISMĀ‘ĪL (ISHMAEL) AND ISH.ĀQ (ISAAC)

28. ISMĀ‘ĪL (ISHMAEL) AND ISH.ĀQ (ISAAC)

Regarding the present situation in the Middle-east I would like to talk about the two children of Prophet Abraham (Ibrāhīm), namely, Ishmael (Ismā‘īl), the ancestor of the Arabs, and Isaac (Ish.āq), the ancestor of the Jews. Ishmael’s mother was Hagar (Hajar), an Egyptian servant, and Isaac’s mother was Sarah. As Sarah was barren she allowed her husband Abraham to marry Hagar. Both Hagar and Sarah were blessed with a son. According to the Bible, “Abraham was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.” (Genesis 16:16), and “Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.” (Genesis 21:5). Therefore, Isaac was born when Ishmael was fourteen years old.

The Bible said that Sarah said to Abraham, "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." (Genesis 21:10). Abraham did, but God promised him that He would make Ishmael's descendants a nation (Genesis 21:13). The same promised where given to Hagar, that He would “make him into a great nation.” (Genesis 21:18).

          The main characteristic of Ishmael, as mentioned in the Qur’ān, is his forbearance. When Prophet Abraham wished to have a son, he prayed to Allah,

رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ. فَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِغُلَامٍ حَلِيمٍ. (الصافات :١٠٠-١٠١ )

O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son). So We gave him

 the good news of a forbearing son. (Q. 37:100-101).

The son meant here was the righteous and forbearing son Ishmael. We learned that when Prophet Abraham told him that Allah ordered him to sacrifice him, he asked his opinion.

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى

 قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ (الصافات : ١٠٢ )   

“O my son! I have seen in a dream that I offer thee in sacrifice: now see what

 is thy view!”  (The son) said: “O my father! Do as thou art commanded:

Thou will find me, if Allah so wills one of the steadfast.”  (Q. 37:102).

Ubayy ibn ‘Umar said that the dreams of the prophets were divine inspirations, and then recited the above verse. (Bukhārī, S.ah.īh., h.adīth vol. 1, no. 140 and 818). The vision of Prophet Abraham sacrificing Ishmael occurred not in one night, but in three nights, as to emphasis this command of Allah. For this reason Ishmael was called   أَبُوالْفِدَاء (lit. "Father of Ransom", i.e., "the ransomed person"). In the Genesis 22, it was Isaac who was sacrificed instead of Ishmael. When the Caliph ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz asked about it to a converted Jew, he said, "The Jewish know also that Ishmael was the one to be sacrificed, but as they are jealous of you, they say it was Isaac." 

This forbearing character of Ishmael was inherited from his father who was also forbearing. Allah said,

إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لَحَلِيمٌ أَوَّاهٌ مُنِيبٌ (هود: ٧٥ )

    Verily, Abraham was without doubt forbearing,

 tender hearted, and was repentant (to Allah

 all the time, again and again). (Q. 11:75).

This character of forbearance, is mentioned again by Allah when He said of him,

إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لَأَوَّاهٌ حَلِيمٌ (التوبة : ١١٤)

Verily, Abraham was tender hearted, forbearing. (Q. 9:114).

Prophet Abraham prayed for his father, but Allah told him not to pray for his disbelieving father. This character of h.ilm is also inherited by Ishmael's descendants, the Arabs. The word h.ilm (الْحِلْم) has many meanings, not only forbearance and patience, but also gentleness, clemency, insight, intelligence, and reason. The Arabs used to say كُنْ حَلِيْمًا "Be gentle, be forbearing, be patient, be intelligent, be reasonable", meaning "do not follow your emotion and passion." This is very difficult for emotional Arabs and for us in general, as it is very difficult to control our passion and emotion, and may be the most difficult thing to control. Therefore the Arabs used to say اْلحِلْمُ سَيِّدُ الأخْلاق “The h.ilm, forbearance, patience, being sensible and controlling one's emotion, is the master of all good characters (morals).” Nowadays, people say to calm down a furious person,  صَلُّوْا عَلىَ النَّبِيِّ “ask blessing for the Prophet” by sayingاللَّهُمَّ صّلِّ عَلىَ مُحَمَّد   ‘Oh Allah, give blessing to Prophet Muhammad.’”

          The main characteristic of Isaac, as mentioned in the Qur’ān, was being endowed with knowledge. The angels who were sent by Allah to punish the people of Prophet Lot who disobeyed him and practiced homosexuality appeared as human beings and visited Abraham and told him that Allah would gave him a son endowed with knowledge. It was said that there were three angels, Gabriel along with another two. Allah says,

وَنَبِّئْهُمْ عَنْ ضَيْفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ . إِذْ دَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُوا سَلَامًا قَالَ إِنَّا مِنْكُمْ وَجِلُونَ . قَالُوا لَا تَوْجَلْ إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ عَلِيمٍ . قَالَ أَبَشَّرْتُمُونِي عَلَى أَنْ مَسَّنِيَ الْكِبَرُ فَبِمَ تُبَشِّرُونَ . قَالُوا بَشَّرْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَلَا تَكُنْ مِنَ الْقَانِطِينَ . قَالَ وَمَنْ يَقْنَطُ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّهِ إِلَّا الضَّالُّونَ. (الحجر :٥١-٥٦ )

   And tell them about the guests (the angels) of Abraham. When they entered to him, and said, “Peace!” [Abraham] said, “Indeed! We are afraid of you.” They (the angels) said, “Do not be afraid! We give you glad tidings of a boy (son) possessing much knowledge and wisdom [meaning Isaac]”. (Abraham) said, “Do you give me glad tidings (of a son) when old age has overtaken me? Of what then is your news?” They (the angels) said,” We give you glad tidings in truth. So, be not of the despairing.” (Abraham) said, “And who despairs of the Mercy of his Lord except those who are astray?”

 (Q. 15:51-56)

This glad tiding of the birth of Isaac was repeated in the Qur’ān as follows:

هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ ضَيْفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْمُكْرَمِينَ. إِذْ دَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُوا سَلَامًا قَالَ سَلَامٌ

 قَوْمٌ مُنْكَرُونَ. فَرَاغَ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ فَجَاءَ بِعِجْلٍ سَمِينٍ. فَقَرَّبَهُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَالَ أَلَا تَأْكُلُونَ. فَأَوْجَسَ

 مِنْهُمْ خِيفَةً قَالُوا لَا تَخَفْ وَبَشَّرُوهُ بِغُلَامٍ عَلِيمٍ. (الذاريات  : ٢٤-٣٨)

    Has the story reached you, of the honoured guests of Abraham?

 When they came in to him and said “Peace (be upon you).” He answered, “Peace (be upon you),” and said, “You are people unknown to me.” Then he turned to his household, and brought out a roasted calf [as the property of Abraham  was mainly cows]. And placed it before them (saying), “Will you not eat?”  Then he conceived fear of them (when they ate not).

 They said, “Fear not.” And they gave glad tidings of a son

 having knowledge [meaning Isaac].  (Q. 51:24-28).

From these Qur’ānic accounts we notice that:

1.    Allah mentioned twice that Prophet Abraham was a forbearing person.

2.    Although Allah mentioned once only that Ishmael would be a forbearing son, He informed Prophet Abraham a.s. directly that He had answered to his prayer for a son.

3.    Although the glad tiding of the birth of Isaac was mentioned twice in the Qur’ān, it was not directly from Allah, but through the angels. It was not an answer to Prophet Abraham's prayer, but a surprise for him to have another son from Sarah, despite of their old age.

The descendants of Isaac through his son Jacob (Ya‘qūb) apparently inherited also this gene and character of endowment with knowledge and wisdom. Jacob who was also called Israel had twelve children. They, their descendants and the Jews in general are called in the Qur’ān Banī Isrā’īl (“the children of Israel”). According to the Old Testament Jacob wrestled with God in the form of a man and won; therefore God called him Israel.  The word Israel means in Hebrew "he who struggled with God, contender with God" At one night Jacob took his wives, children, maidservants, and all his possessions across the stream of Jabbok (Genesis 32: 22-23). Then the Bible continued:

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will be no longer Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with man and have overcome” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel [Peniel means ‘face of God’], saying “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel [in Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel] and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore, to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.  (Genesis 32:24-32).

In other verses of the Bible it is said,

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.”  So he named him Israel.

 (Genesis 35:9-10)

 It is also said that the name Israel is from the expression يَسْرِيْ فِي اللَّيْل or يَسِيْرُ فِي الَّليْل meaning “he travels at night.” The word isrā’ means “a night journey.” This might be the Muslims’ interpretation, but I lean more to the first view, as the word el, ill or īl, means “Allah”, such as Emmanuel or Immanuel means in Hebrew “God with us.” Gabriel means in Hebrew “hero of God”; Michael means in Hebrew “who is like God”; Raphael in Hebrew means “God hath healed”. Jacob traveled at night fleeing from his elder brother Esau, and took refuge to his maternal uncle Laban (the brother of his mother Ribka) in Haran. Jacob had deceived his elder brother Esau twice by taking his birthright and his blessing. (Genesis 27:1-46; 28:1-9). The word Jacob literally means “he grasps the heel”, and figuratively means “he deceived, a supplanter, a person who takes the place of another.”

To conclude, let us remember Allah's warning to all of us and to the People of the Book in general, as follows:

وَمِنْهُمْ أُمِّيُّونَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا أَمَانِيَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ. فَوَيْلٌ لِلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتَابَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَذَا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ لِيَشْتَرُوا بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا فَوَيْلٌ لَهُمْ مِمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَهُمْ مِمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ. (البقرة , ٧٨-٧٩)

 And there are among them (Jews) unlettered people, who know not the Book but they trust upon false desires and they but guess. Then woe to those who write the book with their own hands and then say, “This is from Allah,” to purchase with it a little price! Woe to them for what their hands have

 written and woe to them for that they earn (thereby). (Q. 2: 78-79) (ANUMA, 11August, 06)