Prophet Ishaq/Isaac and Yaqub/Jacob (pbut) The Quran does not give details of Isaacs life (pbuh), but reliable Quranic commentators mentioned that when Abraham felt that his life wasdrawing to a close, he wished to see Isaac married. He did not wantIsaac to marry one of the Canaanites, who were pagans, so he sent atrustworthy servant to Haran in Iraq to choose a bride for Isaac. Theservants choice fell upon Rebekah Bint Bethuel, Ibn Nahor, who was abrother of Abraham. Isaac married her and she gave birth to a set oftwins, Esau (Al Eis) and Jacob (Yaqub). Ill feelings developed between the two brothers when they grew intomanhood. Esau disliked the fact that Jacob was favored by his fatherand by Allah with prophethood. This ill feeling became so serious thatEsau threatened to kill his brother. Fearing for his life, Jacob fledthe country. The People of the Book said that when Isaac was forty years old, hemarried Rebekah, Bint Bethuel, during his fathers life. They said shewas sterile, so Isaac prayed to Allah and then she became pregnant. Shegave birth to twin boys. The first one was called Esau whom the Arabscalled Al-Eis. He became the father of Rum. The second one was calledJacob, which means Isreal, (belonging to the people of Israel). The People of the Book claimed that when Isaac (pbuh) grew old andhis eye sight had weakened, he had a desire for food, so he asked hisson Esau to go hunting and bring him some cooked game. Esau asked himto bless the food and pray for him. Esau, a hunter, went out to get hisfather the meat. Rebekah, overhearing this, ordered her son Jacob toslaughter two goats of his best flock and cook them as his father likedand bring it to him before his brother returned. She dressed Jacob inhis brothers clothes and put goat skin on his arms and neck, for Esauwas hairy while Jacob was not. When he approached his father with thefood, his father asked: Who are you? Jacob answered: I am your son.When his father finished eating, he prayed for his son to be the moreblessed brother and to prevail over them and all people, and for Allahto sustain him and his children. When he left his father, his brother Esau, who had carried out hisfathers command, entered. Isaac asked him: What is this my son? Heanswered: This is the food you like. Isaac asked: Did you brin it anhour ago and ask me to pray for you? Esau said: No, I swear I didnot, and he knew his brother had preceded him in this matter and he wassick at heart. The People of the Book said Esau threatened to kill his brother whentheir father was dead. They also said that he asked his father to prayfor him that Allah make the earth good for his offsprin and multiplyhis sustenance and fruits. When their mother knew that Esau threatened his brother Jacob, shecommanded her son Jacob to go to her brother Laban in the land of Haranand abide with him for a time until his brothers anger had abated, andto marry one of the Labans daughters. she told her husband Isaac tocommand him with that advice and pray for him, and he did. Jacob (pbuh) left his family, when night came he found a place torest. He took a stone and put it under his head and slept. He dreamedof a ladder from heaven to earth. Angels were ascending and descendingand the Lord addressed him and said to him; I will bless you and youroffspring and make this land for you and for those who come after you. WHen he awoke he felt joyful from what he had seen in his dream andvowed, for Allahs sake that if he returned to his family safely, hewould build here a temple for Allah the Almighty. He also vowed to giveone tenth of his property for the sake of Allah. He poured oil on thestone so as to recognize it and called the place Ayles House(Bethel), which means House of Allah. It was to be the location ofJerusalem later. The People of the Book also said that when Jacob came to hismaternal uncle in the land of Haran, his uncle had two daughters. Theelder one was called Leah (Lia) and the younger one was Rachel (Rahil).The latter was the better and lovelier of the two. His uncle agreed tomarry his daughter to him on the condition that Jacob pasture his sheepfor seven years. After a period of time, his uncle prepared a feast and gatheredpeople for the wedding. He married Leah, his elder daughter, to him atnight. She was weak-sighted and ugly. When morning came, Jacobdiscovered she was Leah and he complained to his uncle. You deceivedme; I was engaged to Rachel and you married me to Leah. His unclesaid: It is not our tradition to marry the younger daughter before theelder daughter. However, if you love her sister, work another sevenyears and I will marry you to both of them. Jacob worked for seven years and then married Rachel. It wasacceptable in their time, as described in the Torah, for a man to marrytwo sisters. Laban gave a female slave to each daughter. Leahs slavewas called Zilpah and Rachels slave was called Bilha. Almighty Allah compensated Leahs weakness by givingher sons. the first one was named Rueben (Robel), after whom there wereSimon (Shamun), Levi (Lawi), and Judah (Yahudh). Rachel felt jealousof Leahs having sons, as she was barren. She gave her slave Bilha toher husband and he had relations with her until she became pregnant.she gave birth to a son and named him Naphtali. Leah was vexed thatRachels slave had give birth to a son, so she in turn gave her slaveZilpah to Jacob (pbuh), Zilpah gave birth to two sons, Gad and Asher.Then Leah got pregnant and gave birth to her fifth son, Issaacher, andlater she gave birth to a sixth son Zebulun. After this Leah gave birthto a daughter named Dinah. Thus, Leah had seven sons from Jacob. Then Rachel prayed to Allah to give her a son fromJacob. Allah heard her call and responded to her prayer. She gavebirth to a son, great, honorable, and beautiful. She named him Joseph(Yusuf). All of this happened when they were in the land ofHaran and Jacob (pbuh) was pasturing his uncles sheep, which he did fora period of twenty years. Jacob then asked his uncle Laban to let him go andvisit his family. His uncle said to him: I have been blessed becauseof you; ask for whatever money you need. Jacob said: Give me eachspotted and speckled goat born this year and each black lamb. But at Labans command his sons removed their fathersgoat that were striped, spotted or speckled, and the black lambs, lestothers should be born with those traits. They walked for three dayswith their fathers goats and sheep while Jacob tended the remainingflock. The People of the Book said that Jacob (pbuh) took freshrods of poplar, almond, and plane. HE peeled streaks in them and castthem into the water through for the goats to look at. The young insidetheir abdomens were terrified and moved and they were born striped,spotted or speckled. When the sheep were breeding, he set their facestowards the black sheep in Labans flock and put the rods among them.Their lambs were born black. This was considered an example ofsupernatural powers, a miracle. Jacob had many goats, sheep, beast andslaves. His uncle and his sons faces changed as if they the sheep andgoats) had been stolen from them. Allah the Almighty inspired Jacob to return to thecountry of his father and people, and He promised to stand by him.Jacob told his family that, and they responded and obeyed him. Jacobdid not tell Laban of his plans, however, and left without biddingfarewell. Upon leaving, Rachel stole her fathers idols. AfterJacob and his people had fled for his country, Laban and his peoplefollowed them. When Laban met with Jacob, he blamed him for leaving himwithout his knowledge. He would have liked to know so that he couldhave made them leave with celebration and joy, with drums and songs, andso that he could have bidden his daughters and sons farewell. And whyhave they taken his idols with them? Jacob had no knowledge of his idols, so he denied thathad taken them from him. Then Laban entered the tents of his daughtersand slaves to search, but he found nothing, for Rachel had put theidols in the camel saddle under her. She did not get up, apologizingthat she had her menses. Thus, he could not perceive what they haddone. Then they sat on a hill called Galeed and made acovenant there. Jacob would not ill treat Labans daughters nor marryothers. Neither Laban nor Jacob would pass the hill into the otherscountry. They cooked food and their people ate with them. Each badethe other farewell as they departed, each returning to his own country. When Jacob approached the land of Seir, the angelsgreeted him. He sent a messenger ahead with greetings to his brotherEsau, asking forgiveness and humbling himself before him. The messengerreturned greetings and told Jacob that Esau was riding towards him withfour hundred men. This made Jacob afraid and he entreated and prayedto Allah Almighty. He prostrated in humiliation and asked Him tofulfill His promise which He had made before. He asked Him to stop theevil of his brother Esau. then Jacob (pbuh) prepared a great presentfor his brother: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, twohundred ewes and twenty rams, and thirty milch camels, forty cows andtwo bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He commanded his slaves to take the animals, each droveby itself, and pass on ahead of him with a space between the droves. Heinstructed them: When you meet my brother Esau he will ask you, towhom do you belong? where are you going? you shall say, they belong toyour servant Jacob; they are a present to my master Esau. Moreover, heis behind us. Jacob stayed behind with his two wives, his slaves andhis children for two nights, then continued walking by night andresting by day. When the dawn of the second day came one of the angelsappeared in the shape of a man. Jacob began to wrestle with him. Theywere neck and neck until the angel injured his thigh and Jacob becamelame. When the day was breaking, the angel said to him: What is yourname? He answered: Jacob. The angel said: After today you shall notbe called anything but Israel. Jacob asked: Who are you? What isyour name? He vanished. Then Jacob knew that he was one of theangels. Jacob was lame, and for this reason the children of Israel donot eat the thigh muscle on the hip socket. Jacob raised his eyes and saw his brother Esau coming.Jacob prostrated seven times before him for it was their salutation inthat time. It was lawful for them just as the angels had prostration insalutation to Adam. When Esau saw him, he ran towards him, embraced andkissed him and wept. When Esau raised his eyes and saw the women andchildren he asked: Who are these with you? Jacob answered: Those whomAllah has give me, your servant. Leah, Rachel, their slaves, and allthe children approached and prostrated before him. Jacob asked Esau toaccept his gift and insisted until he did so. Esau returned and went in advance before him. Jacoband his family followed with the flocks and herds and slaves to themountains (Seir). When he came to Succoth (Sahur), he built a house forhimself and shades for his beasts. Then he passed by Jerusalem, thevillage of Shechem, and camped before the village. He bought a farmfrom Shcehm Ibn Hamor with one hundred goats and built an altar, whichhe called Ayl, as Allah commanded him. He built the altar whereJerusalem stands today and later Solomon son of David (pbuh) rebuilt it.It is in the place of the stone which he had earlier anointed with oilas was mentioned before. The people of the book tell a story of Dinah, daughterof Jacob and Leah. Shechem Ibn Hamor seized her and lay with her byforce. Then he asked her father and brothers to let him marry her. Herbrothers said : Circumcise all of you, and we will give our daughtersto you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves; but we do notmarry with uncircumcised people. They (the men of the city) agreed tothat, and all of them were circumcised. When the third day came, thepain from the circumcision had increased, Jacobs sons approached andkilled them till the last one. They killed Shchem and his father forthe evil they had committed against them and for their worship of idols.That is why Jacobs sons killed them and seized their money as spoils. Then Rachel got pregnant and gave birth to a son,Benjamin, but she had a hard labor and died after delivery. Jacobburied her in Ephrath (afrath). The tomb of Rachel is there till thepresent day. Jacobs sons were twelve men. From Leah there were Rueben(Robil), Simon (Shamun), Levi (Lawi), Judah (Yahudh), Issachar(isakher), and Zebulun (Zablun). From Rachel there were Joseph (Yusuf)(pbuh) and Benjamin. From Rachels slave there were Dan and Naphtali(Neftali), and from Leahs slave there were Gad and Asher. Jacob came to his father Isaac and settled with him inthe village of Hebron which lies in the land of Canaan where Abraham hadlived. Then Isaac fell ill and died when he was one hundred eightyyears old. his sons Esau and Jacob buried him with his father AbrahamAl Khalil in a cave which he had bought. It was said that Abraham diedat the age of one hundred seventy five. Allah the Almighty declared in the Glorious Quran: Andwho turns away from the religion of Abraham (Islamic Monotheism) excepthim who befools himself? Truly, We chose him in this world and verily,in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous. When his Lord said to him: Submit (be a Muslim)! Hesaid: I have submitted myself (as a Muslim) to the Lord of the Alamin(mankind, jinn and all that exists). And this (submission to Allah, Islam) was enjoined byAbraham upon his sons and by Jacob, (saying): O my sons! Allah haschosen for you the true religion, then die not except in the Faith ofIslam (as Muslims -- Islamic Monotheism). Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob? Whenhe said unto his sons: What will you worship after me? They said:We shall worship you (Ilah (God - Allah) the Ilah (God) of yourfathers, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, One Ilah (God), and to Him we submit(in Islam). That was a nation who had passed away. They shallreceive the reward of what they earned and you of what you earn. Andyou will not be asked of what they used to do. They say: Be Jews or Christians, and then you will beguided. Say (to them O Muhammad): Nay (we follow) only the religionof Abraham, Hanifan (Islamic monotheism, i.e. to worship none but AllahAlone, and he was not of the Al Mushrikeen (those who worshipped othersalong with Allah). Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that whichhas been sent down to us and that which had been sent down to Abraham,Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and to Al Asbat (the twelve sons of Jacob), andthat which has been given to Moses and Jesus and that which has beengiven to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction betweenany of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam). So if they believe in the like of that which youbelieve, then they are rightly guided, but if they turn away, then theyare only in opposition. So, Allah, will suffice you against them. Heis the All Hearer, the All Knower. (Our Sibghah, religion is) the Sibghah (religion) ofAllah (Islam) and which Sibghah (religion) can be better than Allahs.We are His worshippers. Say (O Muhammad, to the Jews and Christians):Dispute you with us about Allah while He is our Lord and your Lord?And we are to be rewarded for our deeds and you for your deeds. We aresincere to Him in worship and obedience (i.e., we worship Him Alone andnone else, and we obey His Orders). Or say you that Abraham, Ishmael,Isaac, Jacob, and Al Asbat (the twelve sons of Jacob) were Jews orChristians? Say: Do you know better or does Allah know better....thatthey all were Muslims? And who is more unjust than he who conceals thetestimony (to believe in the Prophet Muhammad, when he comes written intheir books) he has from Allah? Allah is not unaware of what you do.(Ch 2:130-140 Quran) In another surah Almighty Allah declared: O People ofthe Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Why do you dispute about Abraham,while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him? Haveyou then no sense? Verily, you are those who have disputed about thatof which you have no knowledge. Why do then dispute concerning thatwhich you have no knowledge? It is Allah Who knows, and you know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was atrue Muslim Hanifan (Islamic Monotheism), to worship none but AllahAlone and he was not of the polytheists (he joined none in worship withAllah). Verily, among mankind who have the best claimto Abraham are those who followed him, and this Prophet (Muhammad) andthose who have believed (Muslims). And Allah is the Wali (Protector andHelper) of the believers.(Ch 3:65-68 Quran) Allah the Exalted also affirmed: Then verily! YourLord for those who do evil (commit sins and are disobedient to Allah) inignorance and afterward repent and do righteous deeds, verily, yourLord thereafter to such is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. Verily, Abraham was an Ummah (a leader havingall the good righteous qualities or a nation), obedient to Allah,Hanifan (to worship none but Allah), and he was not one of those whowere Al Mushrikeen (polytheists, idolaters, disbeliveers in the Onenessof Allah and those who joined partners with Allah). He was thankful forHis (Allahs) Graces. He (Allah) chose him (as an intimate friend) andguided him to a Straight Path (Islamic Monotheism, neither Judaism orChristianity). We gave him good in this world and in the Hereafter heshall be of the righteous. Then, We have inspired you (O Muhammadsaying): Follow the religion of Abraham Hanifan (Islamic Monotheism toworship none but Allah) and he was not of the Mushrikeen (polytheists,pagans, idolaters, disbeliveers in the Oneness of Allah and HisMessenger Muhammad, those who worship others along with Allah or set uprivals with or partners to Allah). (Ch 16:119-123 Quran)
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:50:56 +0000
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