Part 74

you did not fear th e hum iliation, Thi s is why he said , ( " Theil

how can [ sorrow... '!" ) (SoO/"oll AI-A 'raf7: 93) Th at is, how

can I be sad for a di sbe lievi ng peopl e, i,e, a peop le who do not

acce pt the truth and do not rct urn to it or even look toward it.

So Allah infl ic ts His Punishment upon the m - a puni shmcnt

which ca nnot be resc inded, nor can it be prevented or avoided

by anyone for w hom it is intended?

We shall embark at (hi s point on a detailed di scuss ion

regardi ng the progeny o f Ibra heem ~ , becau se Allah placed

Prophets among hi s offspring and reveal ed Sc riptures to them;

so every Prophet who ca me ancr him was from his progeny.

Men/ion of Isma 'eel ~\

All ah, Most Hi gh , pra ises hi m and describes him as being

gentl e and patient , and the one who fulfi ll ed hi s pro mi ses and

offered hi s prayers regularl y and ordered hi s famil y to do

likewi se, in ord er 10 protect them from Allah's Pu nishment ,

along with those olhcr acls o f worship of thc Lord o f lords to

which he call ed, as He, Mos t High, says , ( So We gave hillll he

g lad ti dings o f a forbe'l ri ng boy. And, when he (hi s so n) \yas

Melllirm a/ fhe Progel/Y a/ lbralteem 331

old e nough to wa lk with him , he said, "0, my son! I ha ve seen

in a dream that I am s laught ering you (offe ring you in sac rifice

to A ll ah) , so look what you think !" He sa id, "0, my father! Do

that which you are comman ded. III sha 'Allah (if Al1ah wi ll s),

you sha ll find me of As-SabireclI (the pa ti cnt ones, etc. )." )

(Saara" As-Saffat 37: 10 1, I 02) So he obeyed his fa the r in that

matIeI' and he promi sed hi m that he wo ul d be pat ient and he

ful fi lled th at promi se and was pa ti cnt.

A ll ah, Most High, says, ( And ment ion in the Book (the

Qur ' an) Isma'eel ( Ishmae l), Verily! He was true to what he

prom ised, and he \Vas a Messe nger, (and) a Proph et. And

he used to enjo in on hi s fa mily and hi s people a.\·-soloh (the

praye rs) and ::akah, and his Lord was plensed with hi m )

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( And remc mbcr O ur slaves, Ibmh ecm,

Ishaq , and Ya'qoob, (a ll ) owners of stre ngth (in wo rship ping

Us) and (also) of relig ious understa nd ing. Ve ri ly, We did choose

th em by gra nting them (a good thing, i.e.) the re mcmbra nce of

the home (in the Hereafter and they lIsed to make the people

remember it. and also they used to in vite the peo ple to obey

All ah and to do good deeds for the Herea fte r) . And they are

with Us, veri ly, of the chosen and the bcst! And re mcmbe r

Ism a' eel (Ishmael) , AI-Yasa'. (E lisha) . and Dhu l-KiA (Isa iah),

all are among the best. ) (Saara" Sad 38:45-48)

He, Most High, says, ( And (rcmember) Isma 'eel, and Idrees

(Enoch) and Dhul-Kifl. all were from among As-Sabiree11.

And We admitted them to O ur Mercy. Vcri ly, they were of the

righteous. ) (Saarah AI-Anbi),a' 2 1:85,86)

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( Ve ri ly. We havc inspi red you (0,

Muhammad) as We inspired Noah and the Prophets nfte r

332 ,\/elllivlI oflhe 1'1'01;('11.1' o/'hmheelll ~

him: We (a lso) in spircd Ibrahcem, Isma 'ee l (lsma'cel ). Ishaq.

Ya'qoob, and AI-As/)at (the twe lve sons ofYa'qoob), ) (Soora"

He, Most High, says, ( Say (Musl ims), "We bcl ieve in All ah

and thm which has becn scn t down to us and that whic h has

been senI down to lbrahcem , lsma'cel. Ishaq, Ya'qoob, and to

A/-Ashtlf (the twe lve son s of' Ya'qoob).) (Soorah A/-Baqarah

2: 136) So methin g similar was re lated in another SoO/'al1, ( I~ )

He, Most High, says, ( Or say you that Ibraheem, Isma'ce l,

Ishaq, Ya'qoob and AI-As/wI (the twe lve sons of Ya'qoob)

wc re Jcws or Christians? Say, " Do you know better or docs

All ah (know bett er. ,. thaI Ihey all were Muslims)? ) (SoO/'ali

AI-Baqarah 2: 140), So All ah ha s descri bed him as possessin g a

ve ry fi ne qua lity and He made him a Prophet and a Messe nger

and decl ared him innocent of all th at the ignoran t people have

attributed to him. He comm anded His be lievi ng slaves to

be li eve in what was revea led 10 him .

A I-'Umawi reported on the auth ori ty of' Ali Ibn AI-H usa in,

who reported on the auth ority o f his fa ther (Le. ' Al i Ibn Ab i

Ta lib ..te), from the Prophet ~ that he sa id , "Th e first person

to speak cl ear Arabi c was Isma'eel, when hc was fo urtee n

yea rs o ld. " (I~) Yoon us sa id to hi m (i.e, the narrato r), "Yo u have

spokcn the truth , Abu Yasa r! II was narrated to me in th e same

way by Abu Jurayy," He married an A ma lek ite woman whe n

he was a young man, bu t hi s father ordered him 10 separa te

from her, AI-' Um awi sa id , " Her name was ' Umarah Bint Sa'd

Ibn Usama h Ibn Akee l, the Ama le kite. Then he married another

(14) Sec: SuurahAIi '/1111'(1113:84 .

( IS) AtHafiz Ibn haj ar allribulcd it in Fmh A/-llari (6/488, No. 3365) to Az-

Zubair tbn Bakkar in the book AII-Nasab, on the authority of' Ali .to and

he declared its iSllad to be hason.

Mel/rio/l (?frhe Progeny (!/Ibm/i('em 333

woman and hi s fath er ordered him to keep he r with him and he

did so. Her name was As-Sayy idah Bint Muduad Ibn ' Amr AI-

Jurh umi. It was al so sa id that she was hi s third wife a nd that

she bore him twel ve sons. And Muhamm ad Ibn Ishaq - may

A ll ah have me rcy on him - nam ed them."

Isma'ee l, the Prophet o f A ll a h ~, was buri ed with hi s mother

in Al-H ijr and hi s age on the day o flli s death was one hundred

Mention of !shaq ;,r,;§I, SOli oflbraheem ;,r,;§\, the

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, \ And We gave him the glad tidings

of Ishaq , a Prophe t from the righteous. We blessed him and

Ishaq, and of their progeny arc (some) that do ri ght , and

some tha t plain ly wrong th cmse lves. ) (SoO/·alr As-Sqffat

37: 11 2, 11 3) A ll ah praised him in a number o f Ve rses in His

Nob le Book and we have prev iously menti oned in the hadeelh

of Abu Hurairah ~ from th e Messe nger o f All ah ~ that he sai d,

"Veril y, the nobl e, son of the nobl c, son of th e noble, son of the

noble is Yoosuf (Joscph), son ofYa' qoob, son o f Ishaq. so n of

The People of the Scripture sai d th at when Ishaq &.9 marri ed

Ri fq a, daughte r ofThabwa 'eel, duri ng the Ii fetime o f hi s fath er

(lbrahecm ~ ) , he was forty years of age and she was barren.

So he in voked A Hah on her behal f and she gave birth to twin

boys . The elde r of the m th ey named ' Eesli and it is he who is

known by the Arabs as Al-'Ees and he is held to be the father

of Rome. The second ca me out holdin g onto the hee l o f hi s

(\6) The takhreej of th is Imdeeth has nlrcady beell givclI.

334 Mel1liol1 ojlJte ProgellY of liJrahccm ~

brOl her and so they called hi m Ya' qoob. ( 11) He is also known

as Ism'eel an d the Children of Ism' eel claim descent fro m him.

They (the People of the Scripture) said tha t Ishaq loved Ecsu

more than Ya'qoob, beca use he was his firstborn and that his

wife, Rifqa loved Ya'qoob more, because he was the younger

Melltioll oftile Amazillg Evellts Tllat Took Place

Durillg tile Life of Isra'eel, Ineluding tile Story

of Yoosuf, SOli of Ralleel

Allah reveal ed details of his life and his affairs in a Som'alr

of the Our'an, in order that we mi ght reflect on the wisdoms,

wa mi ngs and manners therein. I seek refuge with Allah from

the accursed Satan (l8) ( Altf Lam Ra. (These letters arc one of

the miracles of the Our'a n and none but Allah (A lone) knows

their meanings). These afe the Verses of the Clear Boo k (the

Our 'nn lha! makes clea r the legal and illcgallhings. legal laws,

a guid ance and a blessing). Verily, We have sent it down as an

Arabic Qur'an in order th at YOlll11 ay un derstand. We rclate unto

you (M uhammad) the best of stori es through Our Revelations

lIIlIO YOli. oflhis Qur'an. And be fore th is (i.e. before the co ming

of Divine Inspi ration to you), YO ll were among those who knew

nOlhing "boul il (Ihe Q ue' , n) ) (SoO/'ali )'00511/ 12: 1-3)

In summ ary, we may say lilat He, Mosl High, praises His

Noble Book , which He se nt dow n to His slave and noble

Messenger, in eloquent and clea r Arabic language, whieh can

([7) The word ror heel is '(ll/i/), which is rrom the rOOI verb 'tlqal)(l, meaning

10 rollow: and it is rrom this Ihnt the name Ya'qoob is derived.

( 18) This is rec ited berore commencing the recilalion or,he Qur'an .