Part 59

The Prophet ~ said: Thi s is the source of the tradit ion of

the walking of peopl e be lween them (i.e. As-Safa and AI-

Ma rwah). Whe n she reached A I-Marwah (for the last li me) she

heard a vo ice and she asked herself 10 be qui et and liste ned

atten ti ve ly. She hea rd th e voice aga in a nd said, "0 , (whoever

yo u Illay be)! YOLI have made me hear your vo ice; have you

go t something to help me?" And behold! She saw an angel at

the pl ace of Zamzow, digg ing the eart h with hi s heel (or hi s

win g), ti ll water fl owed frol11 that place. She start ed to l11 ake

something like a basi n around ii, lIsi ng her ha nd in thi s way.

and started fill ing her wa te rskin with water with he r hands, and

the water was flo wing out after she had scooped some of it."

The Prophet ~ added, "May All ah bestow Me rcy on ISl11a 'eel's

moth er! I-lad she let the ZOIl1UlIII (flow wit hout trying 10 co ntrol

it) (or had she nOI scooped from that wa ler) (to fill her water-

skin ), Zamzol1l woul d have bee n a stream fl owin g on the

surface of the ea rth ." The Prophet ~ furt he r added, "Then she

drank (wa te r) and suck led he r child. The angel said to he r, "Do

not be arraid or be ing neg lected, ror thi s is the House or A ll ah

whi ch will be built by this boy and hi s fa ther, a nd Allah never

neg lects Hi s peopl e." The I-Ioll se (i.e. the Ko·bol1) at tha t limc

wa s on a hi gh place resemb lin g 11 hill ock, and when torrent s

ca me, they flowed to its ri ght and left. She li ved in that way till

so me peo pl e fro m th e tri be of Jurhu m or a famil y frolll Jurhum

passed by her and her child , as they (i.e. the Jurhulll peop le)

were comi ng through the way o f Kada'. They la nded in the

lower part of Makkah, whe re th ey saw a bi rd that had the habil

of fly ing around water and not leaving it. They said , " Th is bird

must be flying around wmcr, thou gh we know that there is no

water in thi s valley." They se nt one or two messengers who

di scovered th e so urce of water, and renll11cd to infonll them of

the wnter. So, th ey a ll came (toward the water). The Prop het

~ added: [sma 'cc l's mo ther was sitting ncar th e water. They

asked he r, " Do you allow LIS to Sl ay with you?" She repli ed,

" Yes, but Y OLI wi ll have no right to possess th e water. " They

agreed to that. The Prophet It furt her sa id: Isma'ee l's mothe r

was pleased with the whol e situation as she llsed to love to

enjoy the company of people. So, they se ttl ed lhere, and late r

on they sen t for their fam ilies who came and settled with them

so that some fami lies became permanent residen ts the re. The

child (i.e. Isma" ee l :-&B.) g rew up and lea rned Arabic from them

and (his virtues) ca used thcm to love and admire him as he

grew up, and when he reached the age of puberty they made

him marry a woman fro m amongst th em.

After Isma ' eel 's mother died, Ibraheclll ~ g came afte r

Isma'ee l's marriage in o rder to see his family tha t he had left

be fore, but he did not fi nd ISl11a'ee l ~ there. When he ask ed

Isma'ee l's wife about him , she replied, " I-Ie has gone in search

of our li ve lihood." The n he asked her about th e ir way of li ving

and their cond itio n, and she replicd, "We are livi ng in m isery;

we arc liv ing in hards hip and des titut ion," com plaining to hi m.

I-Ie said, "W hen your husba nd returns, convey my salutation

10 him and tell him to change the thresho ld of the gale (o f

hi s house). " Wh en Isma 'ce l ~ came, he seemed to have felt

something unusua l, so he asked hi s wife, " Has anyon e visit ed

you?" She repl ied, "Yes, an old man of so-and-so descript ion

ca me and asked me abo ut you and I informed him , and he

asked about ou r state of li ving, and I to ld him that we we re

livi ng in hardship and pove rty." On hearing that , Isma'eel .

said, "Did he adv ise you anyt hing?" She repl ied, "Yes, he told

me to co nvey hi s salut ati on to you and to tell you to change the

th reshold of your gate." Isma'eel ~ sa id, " It was my father,

and he ha s ordered me to d ivorce yo u. Go back to yo ur fa mily."

So, Isma 'eel ~ di vorced her and marri ed another woman from

amongst th em (Le. Jurhum).

Th en Ibraheem ~ stayed away from th em for a peri od as

long as All ah wished and ca ll ed on th em again but did not

find Isma'ee l f-M.\. So he came to ISI11<1 'eel's wife and as ked

her aboul Isma'ce l &JJ. She sa id, " He ha s gone in sea rch o f

our li ve lihood." lbrabeem ~~ asked her, " I-low are you gett ing

on?" asking her about their sustenance and li vin g. She replied,

" We arc prosperous and welloff (i.e. we have everything in

abundance)." Theil she th anked Allah. lbraheem ~ sa id, " What

kind of food do you ca l?" She sa id, "Meat. " I-I e sa id, "What

do you drink?" She said, "Waler." He sa id, "0 , Allah ! Bless

th eir meat and wa ter." The Prophet ~ added, "A I that lime they

d id not ha ve gra in, and if they had grain, he wou ld have also

in voked Allah to bl ess it. " Th e Prophet :ta added, " If somcbody

ha s onl y these two thin gs as hi s sustenance , hi s hea lth and

d ispositi on wi ll be bad ly affectcd, unless he lives in Makkah."

The Proph et j?; added: Then lbraheem ~ sa id to Isma'ee l's

wife, "W hen your husband comes, give my sa lut at ions to him

and tell him that he shoul d keep firm the threshold of his gate."

When Isma'eel $h9 ca me back, he asked hi s wire, " Did an yone

call on you?" She replied , " Yes, a good-looki ng old man came

to me," so she praised him and added . " He ri sked about you ,

and I informed him , and he asked about Ollr li ve lihood and I

told him th at we were in a good condit ion." Isma ' ee l ;-@. asked

her, " Did he give you any pi ece of advice?" She sa id, " Yes,

he told me to g ive hi s salutations to you and ordered th at you

should kee p fi rm the thresho ld o f yo ur ga te." On hea ring that ,

77,£' SIOI::' ol lbraheem ~

I s ma 'eel :-M.~ said, " It was my fat her, and you are the th reshold

(of the gate). I-Ie has ord ered I11 C to keep you with me."

Thcn Ibrahecm ~ stayed away from them for a pe riod as

long as Allah wished, and called on th em afterward. I-I e saw

Isma'eel ~ under a trec ncar Zam=flIll, sharpcning his arrows.

When hc saw Ibrahecm ~~ , hc rose lip to wc lco mc him (a nd

thcy greeted each other as a father does with his son or a son

docs with his father). Ibra hecm 'i& said, "Oh, Isma'eel! Allah

has given me an order." Isma'cel ~ said, "Do what your

Lord has ordered you to do." Ibrahce m ~ asked, "Will you

help me?" Isma'eel ~ said, " I will help you." Ibrahee m ~

said, "A llah has ordered mc 10 build a hOllse herc," poi ntin g

to a hill oc k higher than th e land surrounding it. The Prophet

~ added, Then they rai sed thc foundation s of thc House (i.c.

the Ka 'balt). Isma'cc l ~ brought the stones and Ibrahecl11

was building, and whcn the walls became high, Isma'cel ~

brought this stone and put it for Ibrahecl11 'f!J!, who stood ove r

it and carri ed on building, while ISl11a 'cel ~ was handi ng him

the stones, and bot h ofthcm wc rc saying, " 0, our Lord! Acccpt

(this sc rvice) from liS, Vcrily, YOli are the All-H ea ring, the AII-

Knowing." The Prophet :ts: add ed: Then both of them we nt on

bui lding and going rollnd the Ka·bah. saying, L "0, our Lord !

Accept (this sClVice) from us, Veril y, You arc Ih l! A II · J-I cari ng.

th e AllKnowing." ) (Soorah AI-IJaqarah 2: 127 ). (I)

It has been confirmed in thc /tadeelh narrated by AI-Bukhari,

on the authority of Abu Hu rairah ~ that he said: The Prophct

3l saiel, " Jbraheem did his ci rcumcisio n wi th a qaddoom at th e

agc of eighty." (2) A {Joddoolll is an implcme nt (an adz). It was

also said that it was a place. The wordi ng of this !wdee,II docs

(I) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (3364).

(2) Narrated by AI+Bukhari (3356).

n IL' SIOI:I' ollbroltcclII ' 269

not negate the possibility that he was over eighty years o f age.

The StOIJl of the Sacrificial Offering

Allah, rvlost Hi gh, says . .. And he said (after his resc ue from

th e fire). "Ve rily, I al11 goi ng to my Lord . l ie wi ll guide me! My