4 IlIlhI J'tJorslrp! oj fix Prophetprecisely where the last of God's messengers to humankind was born:
Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who bore the message reminding people o f the
One, of the prophets, and o f the sacred H ouse. A God, a place, a prophet.The Trial of Faith: Doubt and Trus t
These simple facts alone illumate the remarkable ho nd linking Muham-
mad's life to Abraham's. Yet it is th e spirituaJ lineage that even more dear-
ly reveals the exceptional nature of this bond. T he whole Abrahamic
experience unveils the essential dimension of faith in th e One. j\ braham,
who is already very old and has only recendy been blessed with a child ,
must undergo the trial of separation and abandonment, which will take
Hagar and thelr child, lshmad, vcry close to death. His faith is trust in
God: he hears God's command-as does Hagar-and he answers it
despite his suffering, never ceasing [ 0 invoke God and rely on Him. Hagar
questioned Abraham about the reasons fo r such behavio r; finding it was
God's command, she willingly submined to it. She asked, then tru sted ,
then accepted, and by doing so she traced the steps of the profo und
"active acceptance" of God's will: to question with one's mind , to under-
stand with one's intelligence, and to submit with one's heart. In the course
o f those trials, beyond his human grief and in fact through the very
nat1lre of that grief, Abraham develops a relationship with God based on
faithfulness, reconciliation, peace, and trust. God tries him hut is always
speaking to him, inspiring him and strev..jng his path with signs that calm
and reassure him.
Several years after this abandonment in the desert. Abraham was to
experience another trial: God asked him to sacrifice his first-born son,
Ishmael.s T his is how th e Quran reco unts the story:
So \'(1t gave him [Abraham] the good ntws: the birth o f a sweet-tempered
son. T hcn, when [the son] was old tnough to walk with him, he said: " 0
my son l 1 have seen in a dream that I offtr you in sacrifice. Now sec what
rou think!" [The son] said: "0 my fatherl D o as you are commanded; you
will find me, if G od so WIlls, one of the steadfaSL" So when they had both
submitted Ito Godl, and he had laid him prostrate on his forehtad, \'('e
called OUI to him: " 0 Abraham! Yo u ha\·c already fulfilled tht dream!-