ACADEMIC RESPONSE TO THE ILLEGALIZATION OF ISHMAEL, THE FIRSTBORN OF ABRAHAM.
Christians including their apologists, Bishops, Missionaries etc do not give Ishmael any iota of respect. In this paper, I’ll not be talking about Abraham and Hagar, I’ll rather concentrate on the position of Ishmael. I hope the reader will be calm and patient enough to read and try to understand all points and decode all the analysis in this paper.
To start with, What does the Hebrew name Ishmael means? It means, “GOD LISTENS” while ISAAC on the other hand means “HE LAUGHS (LAUGHTER).
Could the answer be far fetched if we ask why Abraham decided to name his son, ISHMAEL? Apparently, NO!. Abraham had been looking up to God for years. He made supplications to God and when Hagar gave birth to a son, He named him “God Listens (ISHMAEL). If Ishmael was not recognized as a legal son of Abraham, Isaac should have been named Ishmael instead as the name Ishmael tend to speak more and of more importance than Isaac.
I’ll go a little further in this article to give analysis on whom was the “To be sacrificed son” between Ishmael and Isaac as this has led to series of arguments and debates for centuries.
After God gave Abraham a ram instead of his son to be sacrificed, an angel addressed Abraham, he said,
Genesis 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
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The angel made us realise the child to be sacrificed was ABRAHAM’S SON, not just his son but His ONLY SON. Let’s check the relationship between Ishmael and Abraham.
We read,
Genesis 17:25 And Ishmael his SON was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Genesis 17:26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his SON.
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Since the Bible recognizes Ishmael to be Abraham’s son as in the verses cited above, and the angel Said His ONLY SON, Therefore, the child to be sacrificed was Ishmael as there was no time Abraham had an ONLY SON except when he had Ishmael before the birth of Isaac.
The interpolation in Genesis 22 is clear, they only had to remove Ishmael and insert Isaac.
We read,Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Isaac was never at any point in time Abraham’s only son but Ishmael. We hope on times to come, the Christians will open their eyes to clear Evidences instead of playing the holy spirit game.
Bashir LuCas Samson Lukman @ Knowislam.com.ng
English 