In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

As for the Quran, it relates Abraham's pray:::r:

a my Lord! J have made some of my offspring dwelt in a vanc}' without

cultivation, by Your sacred House; in order, 0 our Lord, that they may

estabhsh regular prayer: so fill the hearts of some among men with lu\'l'

toWllrd them, and feed them with fruits, so that they rna)' give thanks. 0

our Lord! Truly Yo u know what we conceal and what we reveal: fo r noth-

ing whatever is hidden fro m God, whether on earth o r ill heaven. Praisc be

to God, Who has granted me in old age Ishmael and Isaac: for truly my

Lord is He, the Hearer of Prayet1^6

3

On a purely facruallcvcl, th e Prophet Muhammad is a descendant o f

Ishmael's children and is therefore part of that "great nation" announced

by th e Scriptures. Abraham is hence his "father" in the p rimary sense, and

Islamic tradition understands that the blessings of this father's p rayers

extend to his descendant the LaSt Prophet as well as to the p lace where

he left H agar and Ishmael, where, a few years later, he was [0 undergo the

terrible trial of his son's sacrifice, and w here he was finally to raise with

him God's sacred House (the Kaba). Quranic Revelation recounts:

And remember that Abra ham was tried bv his Lord with certain com-

mands, which he fulfilled. [God! said: " I will make you a gillde fo r the peo-

pit." [Abraham] said: "And also for my offspring?" [God] said: "But My

promise is not within the reach of e\'i ldo~rs. Remember We made the

H ouse a place o f assemblr for men and women and a place of safety. And

take the station of Abraham as a place of prayer. And We co\'enam ed with

Abraham and Ishmael, that they should sanctify ]\ {y I lo use for those who

go round it, or use it as a retreat, o r bow, o r prostrate themseh-es [there in

pnlyerJ." And remember Abraham said: "]\·Iy Lord, make [his a cit}' of

p eace, and feed irs people with fruits-such o f them as believe in God and

the LaSt Day.,, 7

This is the millenary teaching of Islamic tradition: there is a God and

a line of prophets whose central figure is Abraham, the archetype of the

Muslim, the blood father of this lineage of Ishmael leadmg up to

Muhammad. Abraham and Ishmael sanctified this place in Bacca (Mecca)

by building God 's House (h'!J'f Allab) with their own hands. And this is