For other uses of the name Ishmael, see disambiguation.

Ishmael, a person mentioned in both the Tanach and the 'Quran, is in traditional Jewish, Christian and Islamic belief, the ancestor of the Arabs.

Contents

1 Ishmael in Islam 2 Ishmael in Judaism and Christianity 3 See also 4 External links 5 Disambiguation

Ishmael in Islam

Arabic إسماعيل, In the Qur'an, Ishmael is known as the first-born son of Abraham from Hagar and an appointed Prophet of God (also mentioned in the Bible). Islamic tradition holds that Abraham married Hagar, the mother of Ishmael. As a result Ishmael was the first legitimate son of Abraham. Islam asserts that he was the one nearly sacrificed, not Isaac (or Ishaq in the Qur'an). Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God is celebrated in Eid ul-Adha every year by Muslims.

Islamic tradition holds that Ishmael and Hagar were sent to the deserts of Arabia on the orders of God (Allah). He and his mother settled in Mecca (or "Makkah") and were without water. The frantic running of his mother in pursuit of water led to a miraculous spring appearing from the ground (from God) known as the Zamzam Well. Ishmael then helped his father, Abraham, build the House of God, or the Kaaba, in Mecca.

Ishmael is stated to have been buried near the Kaaba on the grounds of the Masjid al Haram.

Ishmael in Judaism and Christianity

In the Old Testament's Book of Genesis (xvi, xvii, xxi, xxv) and later texts, Ishmael or Yishma'el (יִשְׁמָעֵאל "God will hear", Standard Hebrew Yišmaʿel, Tiberian Hebrew Yišmāʿêl) is Abraham's eldest son, born by his second wife Hagar. In Genesis 16 Sarai (Abram's wife) gives Abram her maid-servant Hagar to bear him children, since she acknowledged that God had kept her from having children (16:2).

Hagar became pregnant and was despised by Sarai (16:4) who subsequently ill-treated her. As a result she ran away from home into the desert where an angel found her near a spring. Here the prophecy of Ishmael is recorded in Genesis 16:

11 "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael (God hears), for the LORD has heard of your misery.

12 "He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.

The well of Hagar in Genesis 16 was named Beer lahai-roi ("Well of the Living One who Sees Me" or as some render it, "Well of the Vision of Life")

Sarah became pregnant (Genesis 21) and bore Isaac. Christian and Jewish traditions hold that on the day of his weaning, Ishmael was mocking and so was driven out. They wandered in the desert of Beersheba (well of the oath) and when the water was gone she put the child under a bush and went a distance (a bowshot) away to die. The Bible does not explicitly mention the child crying but does mention Hagar sobbing. Strangely enough, (Genesis 21:17) it says God heard the boy crying (as opposed to the mother who was explicitly mentioned as crying). A well miraculously appears to save both child and mother.

According to Genesis 21, he became a skilled archer and lived in the desert; his mother obtained a wife for him from Egypt.

See also

• List of names referring to El
• Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick is narrated by Ishmael, who introduces himself in the book's famous first line: "Call me Ishmael."

External links

• Islamic QA: Ishmael, with additional information on Islam.
• The Jewish Encyclopedia: Ishmael, with additional legendary Jewish and Islamic material.

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Other Ishmaels:

• Ishmael was Lehi's friend and travel companion in the Book of Mormon.
• Ishmael was also the subject of a like-titled epic poem by Peter Straub.
• One of the main villains of the famous fantasy saga Wheel of Time of the international acclaimed author - Robert Jordan is named Ishamael.
• Barbara Hambly also wrote a Star Trek novel of this title, a "crossover" story between Star Trek and the television series, Here Come the Brides, involving time travel.
• Ishmael is the title of a book by Daniel Quinn. Ishmael is a half ton silverback gorilla. He is a student of ecology, life, freedom, and the human condition. He is also a teacher. He teaches that which all humans need to learn -- must learn -- if our species, and the rest of life on Earth as we know it, is to survive. The book opens with a deceptively ordinary personals ad: "Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world." Seeking a direction for his life, a young man answers the ad and is startled to find that the teacher is a lowland gorilla named Ishmael, a creature uniquely placed to vision anew the human story.

Disambiguation

• Ishmael (novel) is a book by Daniel Quinn
• Ishmael is the protagonist in Moby Dick by Herman Melville