Land of Israel and Jewish heritage – 20

Visits: 6

Land of Israel and Jewish heritage

A series from the book written by Naveed Anjum

Leaving Isaac in Canaan and Ishmael in Makkah, cont’d

I will not go in-depth regarding whether or not, in the above tradition, Paran was an actual place near Makkah. Rather, my intent is to demonstrate that it was God’s plan to settle Ishmael’s descendants somewhere other than Canaan. Tradition further informs us that:

PayPal DONATE buttonPlease donate to
Israel The Legitimate State Thank you
The journey began in Syria, when Ishmael was still a suckling. Gabriel personally guided them on the journey (part of which took place on a winged steed); upon reaching the site of the Kaaba, Abraham left Hagar and son Ishmael under a tree and provided them with water. Hagar, learning that God had ordered Abraham to leave her in the desert of Paran, respected his decision.”

Here, we see that it was not Abraham’s own decision to expel them, but, rather, God ordered Abraham to resettle Hagar and Ishmael outside of Canaan. God’s reason was that He had already planned Makkah for the descendants of Ishmael, just as He had planned Canaan for the descendants of Isaac.

In Bukhari 810 – 870 AD (810 – 870 CE 194 – 256 AH), Book 55, Hadith 583 Narrated by Ibn Abbas (the cousin of Prophet Mohamed):

Abraham brought her and her son Ishmael while she was suckling him, to a place near the Kaaba under a tree on the spot of Zam-zam at the highest place in the mosque.

During those days there was nobody in Mecca nor was there any water so he made them sit over there and placed near them a leather bag containing some dates and a small water-skin containing some water, and set out homeward. Abraham leaves baby Ishmael and his Mother in the desert.

Ishmael’s mother followed him saying, ‘O Abraham, Where are you going, leaving us in this valley where there is no person whose company we may enjoy, nor is there anything (to enjoy)?’

She repeated that to him many times, but he did not look back at her.

Then she asked him, ‘Has God ordered you to do so?’

He said, ‘Yes.’

She said, ‘Then He will not neglect us,’ and returned.”

(To be continued…)


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.