Who Is Ishmael In The Bible And Quran?
When I look at the story of Ishmael, I see that Ishmael is given a very prominent place in the Quran and a not so prominent place in the Bible. So tell about Ishmael how he’s viewed in the two traditions.
In the Quran, Ishmael is not mentioned by name, so often, the son of Abraham is mentioned, and Ishmael is thought to be the son mentioned in the story of the sacrifice.
Elsewhere he is mentioned by name, for example, in the nineteenth chapter of the Quran where God shows that he was a righteous person and God gave him prayer and charity, and he commanded his progeny to do the same.
In the Bible, the stories are told more extensively about all of the prophets, and the Quran only needs to refer to those stories elusively. And to bring out the lessons that could be broader from these stories following the Quranic line of thought.
But even in the Bible, the story of Ishmael compared with others around him seems to be diminished, especially in comparison with his brother Isaac, which is a curious phenomenon because Ishmael was the firstborn son of Abraham according to the biblical narrative itself.
And so you would expect him to have greater prominence, but he doesn’t—the prominence shifts to Isaac, who comes to be known as the ancestor of the Israelite nation.
And Ishmael, by comparison, is said to be a great person and that he will be you will have many descendants. But he’ll also be an unruly donkeyman, whose hands will be against all, and every hand will turn against him.
And in contrast, in the Quran, Ishmael is Ishmael in the Islamic tradition is seen as sort of the ascent the ancestor right the ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad.
So in Islamic tradition, Ishmael gets large mentions. And Isaac, not so much I mentioned so as if the Islamic tradition in a way conquer balance is and fits nicely with the Judeo-Christian tradition showing that the prominence that both sons should have.
Now it seems as if Ishmael’s story within the Quran begins with Abraham leaving them in some sort of barren land, which appears to be Mecca.
In the 14th chapter of the Quran, Abraham prays and says, God. I have settled my descendants in a land that is not cultivated, so please, you provide for them and cause people’s hearts to be inclined towards them.
But he says he’s leaving them there for a purpose so that they would worship God. It’s as if there is an attempt here to plant a new place of worship.
I’m using terminology here from Christian thinking, and in that, you know somebody may say I’m planting a new church. You go to a new area where there’s no church, and then by their very presence there. They’re gonna be a start. They’re going to establish a Christian community.
So Abraham was planting his descendants in a barren region where people would not have come otherwise. In that area, God could be worshiped as well.
How does that story and appear in the Bible? in the Bible, it takes on a different coloring, and that there the story goes that Ishmael was born for us.
First and when he was about 13 years old, Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac. So Isaac was the second son when Isaac was being weaned. Probably he was about two years old.
Ishmael was laughing at him or playing with him. the term yet shocked in Hebrew is ambiguous. It could mean either away.
If it’s taken to be mocking him, this is more likely to explain Sarah’s behavior because Sarah says drive out this slave woman and her son. I won’t allow her son to inherit along with my son.
And it’s in response to this, Abraham then takes his wife and Hagar, and her son and leaves them in the barren area. And in fact, it is said that God told Abraham to listen to his wife.
Which in a way, it’s a good commandment to listen to your wife, but in this specific circumstance, one struggles to see the morality of it like how would it be right to leave this woman and her child with only a small supply of water which eventually will well run out. It seems that they’d be fated to die in this scenario.
In the Islamic tradition, the well is referred to as aam some, and that well continues to provide water. It would seem so had it not been for miraculous intervention and God sending an angel to make it give the provision. To this day, pilgrims from all over the world gather in Mecca.
And they perform the sacred rites at what is called a Masjid al-haram, a mosque around the Kaaba.
And there is the well of Zamzam and where it is it is related in Islamic tradition that Hagar was running between two mountains to two hell’s you might say to use them as vantage points to see if maybe there’s a passing caravan anybody with some water to quench the thirst of her child.
Muslim pilgrims to this day, men and women, traversed the same track, and men, in particular, are encouraged to run between two green lights that mark the place wherein Islamic tradition it is said that Hagar ran between the two hellos.
So let’s talk about that sacrifice, the great sacrifice we hear about in both the Bible and the Quran. However, the story is similar, and how are they different.
So they’re similar in that in both the Quran and the Bible, Abraham and goes to offer a sacrifice to God. This sacrifice happens to be his very son, whom he loves so dearly, which is proof of Abraham’s great faith that he’s not withholding from God, even his beloved son.
Some differences arose between the Muslim and Christian retelling of this and, of course, the biblical retelling. In the Bible, we read in Genesis chapter 22 verse 1 that God said to Abraham.
Abraham, take your son, your only son Isaac whom you love, and offer him as a burnt offering to God, and burnt offering is a reference to how the animals were sacrificed at that time. They were not only killed but also the flesh was burnt. That’s a burnt offering to God.
In the Islamic tradition, when a sacrifice has been made, an animal sacrifice that is a human sacrifice is prohibited in both traditions. But when Muslims offer an animal sacrifice, we eat the meat ourselves and share it with family and friends.
Because it is trust in the Islamic tradition in the Quran itself. It says that the flesh and blood of the sacrificial victim do not reach God. It is your piety and if God is concerned about.
So we can benefit from the meat itself as a provision from God. It’s just this dedication going through this ritual that God is interested in.
So I understand there’s some difference there’s some confusion about which song it was? Well, this is the big confusion actually that you know it was it Isaac was it Ishmael Muslims seemed to think it was Ishmael.
Many Muslims think that in classical Islamic interpretations of the Quran, we see both opinions and some scholars. It seems that this was a very early opinion that Muslim scholars like Otto berry, for example, favored the view that Isaac was the son to be sacrificed and that, of course, follows from knowing what the Jews and we’re saying about this.
Later Muslim scholars such as Sigma kaffir are Girt argued on good grounds that the son to be sacrificed was Ishmael looking at clues within the Quranic text itself, and that reading convinces me of it.
Especially as described by Imam a Suti in his Al-Hawa Lil Fattah, his collection of Islamic verdicts. So taking the son to be Ishmael has become the majority view, and it makes good sense.
Especially when we see the wording in Genesis chapter 22 verse 1 where it says, take your son, your only son. Because the only time there was an only Son is when Ishmael was the only son for some 14 years.
And then Isaac was born now we Abraham had two sons so one might say well only son Isaac could mean that Abraham has vanished the other son and this theoretically there’s only one son.
But the Bible does confirm that Ishmael was still the son of Abraham, and that’s how the Bible refers to him, not as you know as someone of lower status than a son. So he was the only son.
Interestingly, in the biblical narrative, Abraham says to the son, we’re going to offer a burnt offering, and the son says. Still, Dad, where is the animal that we’re going to sacrifice. And Abraham is a little bit evasive in answering the son.
In the Quran, the story is from the start that Abraham sees a dream that he’s sacrificing his son, and then he says to his son I see this dream you tell me what do you think about about this and then the son says, I bet if Alma Tomar Satoru Insha Allah – Barbarian.
So in the 37th chapter of the Quran, the son says, my father do what you are commanded, and you will find me God willing to be one of those who are patient.
So the son in the Quranic narrative knew that he knew what was going to happen, and he wanted to be part of that, and he was deliberately allowing himself to be sacrificed in this way. It shows the communication that should take place between father and son.
Especially when we’re about to do something for God, we want to all do it together as a family. Everyone in cooperation shows the willingness of the son. Then, of course, as the story, no one falls in both the Bible and the Quran God provides the animal to be sacrificed instead, demonstrating that God does not want us to sacrifice our children; God does not demand human sacrifices.
And, in the Bible itself, it is very clear that human sacrifice is prohibited. And it is the animal sacrifice that remains in the tradition. This remains firmly in the Islamic tradition.
Especially seeing that the Arabs thought that there were descendants of Ishmael, they wanted to maintain that tradition. In the Islamic faith, this becomes a cornerstone of our Eid celebration.
Lots more we could talk about, including the fact that Ishmael with Abraham built the Kaaba and that they were in Mecca, which is not something that’s not described in the Bible.
What Nation Came From Ishmael?
They are referred to in the region of the “Arabized Arabs” (Musta Ribah) from central and North Arabia, descending from Ishmael, the elder brother of Abraham through his descendant Adnan. As with the tribes from the ancient times from Hawazin or the modern tribes of Otaibah and Anazzah.
Is Muhammad A Descendant Of Ishmael?
The entire biography of Muhammad, written by Ibn Ishaq, and edited by Ibn Hisham, opens: The Qur’an, however, is not the source of any genealogies. Muhammad has been believed to be among the many family members of Ishmael. It was widely known among Arabs for the reason that Quraysh was one of the Descendents of Ishmael.
What Happened To Ishmael In The Bible?
Ishmael was the first son of Abraham, the most popular patriarchal character of Abraham, and the most common patriarch in Abrahamic religions and Abraham, who was also known as Abraham, the Egyptian Hagar (Genesis 16:3) and is considered by Muslims as prophetic. According to Genesis, the Genesis account of his death, he was in the year 137 (Genesis 25:17).
FAQ
1. Why did God send Ishmael away?
Answer: In a party after Isaac had been weaned, Sarah discovered the teenager Ishmael laughing at her son (Gen 21:9). Sarah was so angry by the thought that Ishmael was taking their riches as she demanded Abraham beg Abraham to take Hagar as well as her child away. She stated that Ishmael could not be part of Isaac’s inheritance.
2. Who was Ishmael from the Bible?
Answer: Ishmael, Arabic Isma’il, the son of Abraham through Hagar According to the three main Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Following Abraham’s son was born, Isaac, another son of Abraham by Sarah, Ishmael and his mother were thrown into the desert.
3. Who are the 12 tribes of Ishmael today?
Answer: The 12 tribes of Ishmael today is:
- Nebaioth
- Kedar
- Adbeel
- Mibsam
- Mishma
- Dumah
- Massa
- Hadad
- Tema
- Jetur
- Naphish
- Kedemah.
