Abraham in Canaan & Egypt
Abraham stayed in Canaan for several years going from
city to city preaching and inviting people to God until a famine forced him and
Sarah to migrate to Egypt. In Egypt was a despotic Pharaoh who had the passionate
desire to take possession of married women.[1]
This Islamic account is strikingly different than Judeo-Christian traditions,
which say that Abraham claimed that Sarah[2]
was his sister in order to save himself from the Pharaoh[3].
The Pharaoh took Sarah into his harem and honored Abraham for it, but when his house
was stricken with severe plagues, he came to know that she was the wife of
Abraham and chastised him for not telling him so, thus banishing him from Egypt.[4]
Abraham had known that Sarah would catch his attention,
so he told her that if the Pharaoh asked her, that she should say that she is
the sister of Abraham. When they entered his kingdom, as expected, the Pharaoh
asked about his relationship with Sarah, and Abraham replied that she was his
sister. Although the answer did alleviate some of his passion, he still took
her captive. But the protection of the Almighty saved her from his evil plot.
When Pharaoh summoned Sarah to act on his demented passions, Sarah turned to God
in prayer. The moment Pharaoh reached for Sarah, his upper body stiffened. He
cried to Sarah in distress, promising to release her if she would pray for his
cure! She prayed for his release. But only after a failed third attempt did
he finally desist. Realizing their special nature, he let her go and returned
her to her supposed brother.
Sarah returned while Abraham was praying, accompanied by
gifts from the Pharaoh, as he had realized their special nature, along with his
own daughter Hagar as well, according to Judeo-Christian traditions, as a handmaiden[5].
She had delivered a powerful message to the Pharaoh and the pagan Egyptians.
After they had returned to Palestine, Sarah and Abraham
continued to be childless, despite divine promises that he would be granted a
child. As the gifting of a handmaid by a barren woman to her husband in order
to produce offspring seems to be a common practice of that day[6],
Sarah suggested to Abraham that he take Hagar as his concubine. Some Christian
scholars say of this event that he actually took her as his wife[7].
Whichever case it may be, in Jewish and Babylonian tradition, any offspring
born to a concubine would be claimed by the concubine’s former mistress and be
treated exactly the same as a child born to her[8],
including matters of inheritance. While in Palestine, Hagar bore him a son,
Ishmael.
Abraham in Mecca
When Ishmael was still nursing, God yet again chose to
test the faith of his beloved Abraham and commanded him to take Hagar and Ishmael
to a barren valley of Bakka 700 miles southeast of Hebron. In later times it
would be called Mecca. Indeed it was a great test, for he and his family had
longed for such a time for offspring, and when their eyes were filled with the
joy of an heir, the commandment was enacted to take him to a distant land, one
known for its barrenness and hardship.
While the Quran affirms that this was yet another test
for Abraham while Ishmael was still a babe, the Bible and Judeo-Christian
traditions assert that it was a result of the rage of Sarah, who requested Abraham
to banish Hagar and her son when she saw Ishmael “mocking”[9]
at Isaac[10] after he
was weaned. Since the typical age for weaning, at least in Jewish tradition,
was 3 years[11], this suggests
that Ishmael was approximately 17 years of age[12]
when this event occurred. It seems logically impossible, that Hagar would be
able to carry a young man on her shoulders and take him hundreds of miles until
she had reached Paran, only then laying him, as the Bible says, down under a
bush[13].
In these verses Ishmael is referred to by a different word than the one used
describing his banishment. This word indicates that he was a very young boy,
possibly a baby, rather than a youth.
So Abraham, after having sojourned with Hagar and Ishmael,
left them there with a skin of water and leather bag full of dates. As Abraham
began walking away leaving them behind, Hagar became anxious as to what was
happening. Abraham did not look back. Hagar chased him, ‘O Abraham, where
are you going, leaving us in this valley where there is no person whose company
we can enjoy, nor is there anything here?’
Abraham hurried his pace. Finally, Hagar asked, ‘Has
God asked you to do so?’
Suddenly, Abraham stopped, turned back and said, ‘Yes!’
Feeling a degree of comfort in this answer, Hagar asked,
‘O Abraham, to whom are you leaving us?’
‘I am leaving you to God’s care,’ Abraham replied.
Hagar submitted to her Lord, ‘I am satisfied to be
with God!’[14]
While she traced her way back to little Ishmael, Abraham
proceeded until he reached a narrow pass in the mountain where they would not
be able to see him. He stopped there and invoked God in prayer:
“Our Lord! I have settled some of my offspring in a valley
barren from any cultivation, by you Sacred House, our Lord, so they may
establish the prayer. So make the hearts of people yearn towards them, and
provide them with all types of fruits that they may be grateful.” (Quran 14:37)
Soon, the water and dates were gone and Hagar’s
desperation increased. Unable to quench her thirst or to breastfeed her little
baby, Hagar began searching for water. Leaving Ishmael under a tree, she began
climbing the rocky incline of a nearby hill. ‘Maybe there is a caravan passing
by,’ she thought to herself. She ran between the two hills of Safa and Marwa
seven times looking for signs of water or help, later personified by all
Muslims in Hajj. Fatigued and distraught, she heard a voice, but could not
locate its source. Then, looking down in the valley, she saw an angel, who is identified
as Gabriel in Islamic sources[15], standing
next to Ishmael. The angel dug into the ground with his heel next to the baby,
and water came gushing out. It was a miracle! Hagar tried to make a basin
around it to keep it from flowing out, and filled her skin.[16]
‘Do not be afraid of being neglected,’ the angel said, ‘for this is
the House of God which will be built by this boy and his father, and God never
neglects his people.’[17] This well,
called Zamzam, is flowing to this day in the city if Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula.
It was not long afterwards that the tribe of Jurham,
moving from southern Arabia, stopped by the valley of Mecca after seeing the
unusual sight of a bird flying in its direction, which could only mean the
presence of water. They eventually settled in Mecca and Ishmael grew up among
them.
A similar account of
this well is given in the Bible in
Genesis 21. In this account, the reason for moving away from the babe
was to
avoid seeing him die rather than a search for help. Then, after the
baby had
begun wailing with thirst, she asked God to relieve her of seeing him
die. The
appearance of the well was said to be in response to the crying of
Ishmael,
rather than her supplication, and no effort from Hagar to find help is
reported
there. Also, the Bible tells that the well was in the wilderness of
Paran,
where they dwelt afterwards. Judeo-Christian scholars often mention
that Paran
is somewhere north of the Sinai Peninsula, due to the mention of Mt.
Sinai in Deuteronomy 33:2. Modern biblical archaeologists, however, say
that Mt. Sinai is actually in modern day Saudi Arabia, which
necessitates that Paran be there as
well.[18]
Footnotes:
[1] Fath
al-Bari.
[2] Although
Sarah was his half sister according to Genesis 20:12, making his marriage
incestual, Islamic sources such as al-Bukhari, assert that this was one of the
three times in which Abraham had made a deceptive statement, as Sarah was his
sister in faith and humanity, in order to ward off a greater evil.
[3] In addition
to traditions, a less detailed story is also mentioned in the Bible, Genesis.12.11-20.
[4] Sarah.
Emil G. Hirsch, Wilhelm Bacher, Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, Joseph Jacobs and Mary
W. Montgomery. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=245&letter=S).
Abraham. Charles J. Mendelsohn, Kaufmann Kohler, Richard Gottheil, Crawford
Howell Toy. The Jewish Encyclopedia. See also Genesis: 12:14-20.
[5] Sarah.
Emil G. Hirsch, Wilhelm Bacher, Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, Joseph Jacobs and Mary
W. Montgomery. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=245&letter=S).
Abraham. Charles J. Mendelsohn, Kaufmann Kohler, Richard Gottheil, Crawford
Howell Toy. The Jewish Encyclopedia.
[6] Pilegesh.
Emil G. Hirsch and Schulim Ochser. The Jewish Encyclopedia.
(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=313&letter=P&search=pilegesh).
[7] (http://whosoeverwill.ca/womenscripturehagar.htm,
http://www.1timothy4-13.com/files/proverbs/art15.html).
[8] (http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=ge&chapter=016).
[9] Genesis 21:9.
[10] Ishmael.
Isidore Singer, M. Seligsohn, Richard Gottheil and Hartwig Hirschfeld. The
Jewish Encyclopedia. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=277&letter=I).
[11] 2Mac 7:27, 2
Chronicles 31:16.
[12] Abraham is
86 at the birth of Ishmael (Genesis:16:16), and 100 at the birth of Isaac (Genesis
21:5).
[13] Genesis
21:15.
[14] Saheeh
Al-Bukhari.
[15] Musnad Ahmad
[16] A similar
account is mentioned in the Bible, although its details are quite different.
See Genesis 21:16-19
[17] Saheeh
Al-Bukhari
[18] Is Mount SINAI in the SINAI? B.A.S.E.
Institute. (http://www.baseinstitute.org/Sinai_1.html).
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