where she encountered an angel who told her to
return to Abraham’s household to give birth to
their son Ishmael (Gen. 16:1–16). The second
story takes place after Sarah gave birth to her
own child, Isaac, and expelled Hagar and Ishmael
into the desert once again because Sarah did not
want Ishmael to share Abraham’s inheritance
with her son. When Hagar and Ishmael ran out
of food and water, the angel of God provided
them a well of water and promised to make the
descendants of Ishmael “a great nation” (Gen. 21:
8–21). Modern scholars think that these stories
were an attempt by Hebrew authors living in the
10th century b.c.e. to explain the origins of the
bedoUin nomads of Syria-Palestine. These stories
were later commented and expanded upon by
Jewish rabbis.
Islamic narratives about Hagar were included
in qUran commentaries (but not in the Quran
itself), “tales of the prophets” literature (Qisas al-
anbiya), and early histories of mecca. These sto-
ries were transposed to the Arab-Islamicate milieu
from rabbinic Judaism between the eighth and
11th centuries c.e. Reflecting this new context,
Hagar, for example, was called both an Egyptian
and a Copt (an Egyptian Christian). The wilder-
ness where Hagar and Ishmael were exiled was
identified with the ancient site of Mecca in Arabia
and the angel of God with gabriel, the angelic
messenger to Muslim prophets. According to
Islamic accounts, Hagar, in her search for water,
ran between Safa and Marwa, two hills adjacent
to the future site of the kaaba in Mecca, before
Gabriel provided her and her son with water
from the spring of zamzam. Hagar’s search was
memorialized in the seven runnings performed by
pilgrims to Mecca between Safa and Marwa dur-
ing the Greater and Lesser Pilgrimages (the haJJ
and the umra). In a similar manner, the location
of the sacrifice of Abraham was transferred to the
Mecca territory, and in one Islamic version of the
story, satan attempted to recruit Hagar to dissuade
Abraham from sacrificing his son. She steadfastly
refused. Both Hagar and Ishmael reportedly died
in Mecca and were buried next to the Kaaba in a
place called the Hijr, which remains part of the
Sacred Mosque precinct today.
Both Hagar and Ishmael were included in the
genealogies of the Arab peoples and the prophet
Muhammad, thus making them part of the Abra-
hamic heritage. Muhammad was once reported to
have said to one of his companions, “When you
conquer egypt, be kind to its people, for they have
the covenant of protection and are your kinfolk.”
This was because Hagar, the mother of Ishmael,
was an Egyptian.
See also arabic langUage and literatUre; chil-
dren; copts and the coptic chUrch.Further reading: Reuven Firestone, Journeys in Holy
Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Legends
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990);
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Thalabi, Arais al-majalis fi
qisas al-anbiya, or “Lives of the Prophets.” Translated by
William M. Brinner (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2002).hajj
The fifth pillar of Islam is the annual pilgrimage
to mecca, called the hajj, which all Muslims are
required to perform at least once in their lifetimes
if they are able to. This religious journey, which
is forbidden to non-Muslims, involves a series of
ritual activities that pilgrims called hajjis must
perform over a period of six days during the 12th
month of the Muslim calendar, Dhu al-Hijja
(“pilgrimage month”). The rituals are performed
in a sacred landscape that includes the Sacred
Mosque in Mecca, the town of Mina (about three
miles east of the Grand Mosque), and the plain of
araFat (about seven miles east of Mina). In addi-
tion, many pilgrims visit mUhammad’s mosqUe in
medina on their way to or from Mecca.
The qUran and sUnna provide authorization
for the hajj rituals, which are believed to have
been initiated by sacred figures in Islamic history:
adam, abraham, hagar (Abraham’s wife), and
especially Muhammad. The essential hajj ritualshajj 281 J