Isma'il in MakkahThe patriarch Ibrahim (Abraham) u, came down to the valley of Makkah surrounded by
mountains, naked rocks and bare and rugged crags. Nothing to sustain life, neither water
nor verdure, nor food grains, was to be found there. He had with him his wife Hajjar (Hagar)
and their son Isma'il (Ishmael) u. Ibrahim (u) had wandered through the deserts of Ara-
bia in order to move away from the wide-spread heathen cult of idol-worship and to set up
a centre for paying homage to the One and Only God where he could invite others to bow
down before the Lord of the world. He wanted to lay the foundation of a lighthouse of
guidance, a sanctuary of peace which should become the radiating centre of true monothe-
ism, faith and righteousness!
God blessed the sincerity of Ibrahim (u) and the dry valley of this wild country. Ibrahim
(u) had left his wife and his infant son in this inhospitable territory. Here, in the midst of
rugged hills, the Master of all the worlds manifested His grace by causing water to issue
forth from the earth which is called the well of Zamzam to this day.
When Isma'il (u) was a few years old, Ibrahim (u) went to visit his family in Makkah.
Ibrahim (u) now made up his mind to sacrifice Isma'il for the sake of God, for the Lord had
commanded him in a dream: 'Offer up Your son Isma'il'. Obedient to the Lord as he was,
Isma’il at once agreed to have his throat cut by his father. But, God saved Isma’il, and insti-
tuted the 'day of great sacrifice', in order to commemorate the event for all times, since, he
was destined to help Ibrahim (u) in his mission and become the progenitor of the last
Prophet (r) as well as of the nation charged to disseminate the message of God and to
struggle for it to the end of time.
Ibrahim (u) came back to Makkah again and assisted by his son Isma'il (u), built the
House of God. While the father and the son occupied themselves in the work, they also
beseeched God to confer His grace; cause them to live as well as die in Islam; and help their
progeny to keep a watch over their patrimony of monotheism, not only by protecting their
mission against every risk or peril but also by becoming its standard-bearers and preachers,
braving every danger and sacrificing everything for its sake until their call reached the far-
thest corner of the world. They also supplicated God to raise up a Prophet amongst their
offsprings, who should renovate and revive the summons of Ibrahim (u) and bring to
completion the task initiated by him.
"And when Ibrahim and Ismael were raising the foundations of the House, (Abraham
prayed); Our Lord! Accept from us (this duty). Lo! You, only You, art the Hearer, the
Knower.
"Our Lord! and make us submissive unto You and of our seed a nation submissive un-
to You, and show us our ways of worship, and relent toward us. Lo! You,' only You, are
the Relenting, the Merciful.