Ishmael in the Abrahamic traditions

Ishmael, the firstborn son of Abraham, is honoured in all three of the large Abrahamic traditions, but only in Islam does he stand at the centre of the story. Muslims trace the Prophet Muhammad’s lineage to him, and the rites of the Hajj remember him, his mother Hagar and his father.

In Genesis

Genesis tells how Hagar bore Ishmael to Abraham when Abraham was eighty-six; how God promised to bless Ishmael, make him fruitful and make him a great nation; and how Ishmael, with Isaac, buried their father.¹ It names his twelve sons as princes of their tribes, among them Kedar, whose descendants became the Arabs of the north.² See Kedar, the Arabs and the prophets.

Ishmael in the Qur’an

The Qur’an calls Ishmael, Ismāʿīl (إِسْمَاعِيل), a prophet and messenger, true to his promise, who enjoined prayer and charity on his people.³ With Abraham he raised the foundations of the Kaaba, and together they prayed that God would send a messenger from among their descendants.⁴ Muslims see that prayer answered in the Prophet Muhammad.

The son of the sacrifice

Genesis names Isaac as the son Abraham was commanded to offer, yet calls him ‘your only son’, a description that fits only Ishmael, who was the only son for fourteen years.⁵ The Qur’an leaves the son unnamed in the account of the sacrifice, and announces Isaac only afterwards, as a further blessing; most Muslim scholars therefore hold that the son was Ishmael.⁶

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ ٱلسَّعْىَ قَالَ يَـٰبُنَىَّ إِنِّىٓ أَرَىٰ فِى ٱلْمَنَامِ أَنِّىٓ أَذْبَحُكَ فَٱنظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَىٰ ۚ قَالَ يَـٰٓأَبَتِ ٱفْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ ۖ سَتَجِدُنِىٓ إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ ١٠٢

And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, “O my son, indeed I have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think.” He said, “O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allāh wills, of the steadfast.”

Qur’an 37:102⁷

The verse shows why Islam honours Ishmael so highly. The son consents: ‘do as you are commanded; you will find me, if Allah wills, of the steadfast.’ His submission is the same islām that the religion bears as its name, and Muslims remember it every year at the sacrifice of the Hajj.

Further reading: The stations of the Hajj, The Abrahamic family tree.

Notes

1. Genesis 16:15-16; 17:20; 25:9. ↩
2. Genesis 25:13-16. ↩
3. Qur’an 19:54-55, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
4. Qur’an 2:127-129, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
5. Genesis 22:2; 16:16; 21:5. ↩
6. Qur’an 37:101-113, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
7. Qur’an 37:102, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩