as "cousins".[129][130][131][132][133] The Book of Genesis narrates that God promised Hagar to beget from
Ishmael twelve princes and turn him to a " great nation" .[134][135][136][137][138][139] Ya'rub is the grandson
of Abir being the son of Qahtan/Joktan is an ancestor of the Ishmaelites and the Israelites according to
the "Table of Nations" in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 10– 11 ) and the Books of Chronicles (1 Chronicles
1 ). Qahtan/Joktan mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, he descends from Shem, son of Noah. Joktan's sons
in the order provided in Genesis 10:26– 29 ,
were Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havil
ah, and Jobab.[140] Keturah was a wife of Abraham, according to the Book of Genesis, Abraham married
Keturah after the death of his first wife, Sarah. Abraham and Keturah had six
sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Genesis and First Chronicles also list seven of
her grandsons (Sheba, Dedan, Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah).[141][142] Keturah's sons were to
have represented the Arab tribes who lived south and east of Palestine (Genesis 25:1– 6 ).[143]
Ishmael was considered the ancestor of Muhammad the founder of Islam, was linked to him through the
lineage of the patriarch Adnan. Ishmael also have been the ancestor of the Southern Arabs through his
descendant Qahtan.[144] "Zayd ibn Amr" was another Pre-Islamic figure who refused idolatry and
preached monotheism, claiming it was the original belief of their [Arabs] father Ishmael.[145] The tribes of
Central West Arabia called themselves the "people of Abraham and the offspring of Ishmael."[146] Ibn
Khaldun an Arab scholar in the 8th century described the Arabs were divided into two groups: ‘Adnan
and Qahtan, both of which were attributed to Ishmaelite origins. He provided a definition of who the
Arabs were, stating that they were a large nation occupying territories from the Atlantic
Ocean (Maghreb) in the West (Mashriq) to Yemen and the Indian border in the East. According to him,
most Arabs descending from the Qudā‘a, Qahtan, and ‘Adnan tribes (Ishmaelite).[147]
The genealogy of Shem to Abraham according to the Genesis, showing the
origin of the Moabites, Israelites, Amonites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Midianites, Assurites, Leturites and
Leumites.
The Hebrew Bible occasionally refers to Aravi peoples (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab". The
scope of the term at that early stage is unclear, but it seems to have referred to various desert-dwelling
Semitic tribes in the Levant and Arabia. And the Book of Jubilees claims that the sons of Ishmael
intermingled with the 6 sons of Keturah, from Abraham, and their descendants were called Arabs and
Ishmaelites: "And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt
from Paran to the entering in of Babylon in all the land towards the East facing the desert. And these
mingled with each other, and their name was called Arabs, and Ishmaelites".[148][149][150][151]
The Biblical texts mention Ishmael, son of Abraham, as the ancestor of twelve nomadic tribes who
settled in the desert lands between North Arabia, Egypt, and Palestine (Genesis 25: 13 - 16 ).[152] The
Ishmaelites denoted a broad confederation of people, including sub-groups such as
the Midianites, Amalekites, and Hagarites (Genesis 37: 25 , 27; 39:1).[153][154][155] Chapter 25 lists his sons
as: And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the