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Israel — A Jewish Heritage, cont’dIn Part 7, we learned two significant facts:
- Abraham did not expel Hagar and Ishmael, because God had ordered him to resettle them outside of Canaan. Why? Because God planned Makkah for the descendants of Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, and Canaan for Abraham’s second son, Isaac.
- God planned for Abraham to leave Hagar and Ishmael in Makkah but stay with his imminent child, Isaac, in the Holy Land. The tradition informs us that “he set out homeward.” This leaves no doubt that Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael in Makkah and returned to Canaan.
Abraham on the Way to Canaan. Pieter Lastman (1614).
Later in the same hadith, Prophet Muhammad goes on to inform:
After Ishmael’s mother had died, Abraham came after Ishmael’s marriage in order to see his family that he had left before, but he did not find Ishmael there…
Now here in this segment of the hadith, one more becomes clear that Abraham lived most of his life in Canaan with his younger son Isaac and he came to meet Ishmael after Ishmael had already married and his mother Hagaar had been passed away. It shows that Ishmael was not the son to be sacrificed because Quran Chapter 37 verse 102 says:
“And, when ‘he’ was old enough to work with him…” (That is, the time when Abraham was to sacrifice his son).
The above tradition demonstrates that Abraham was not with Ishmael until Ishmael had married. So, the tradition affirms that Ishmael was not the son to be sacrificed. However I will discuss this sacrifice issue in another episode with comprehensive details.
Thank you.
Naveed Anjum, a pro-Israel, Zionist Muslim, is the founder and owner of this blog. He also is the founder of several Facebook groups and pages. To learn more about Naveed, continue to his About page…