In my article, “Academic Response to the Illegalization of Ishmael, the Firstborn of Abraham,” I established that the son Abraham intended to sacrifice could only have been Ishmael, not Isaac. Critics of the article argue that Isaac was, by Biblical standards, Abraham’s only son, suggesting that Ishmael was illegitimate. In this article, I will provide further evidence to refute their arguments. Let us start from the Genesis of the matter.
Genesis 16:1–2:
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai said.”
Everything that occurred between Abraham and Sarah was based on Sarah’s suggestion. Recall that Abraham is said to be the father of faith; therefore, a high degree of righteousness is expected from him. Even though Sarah made the suggestion that Abraham sleep with Hagar, it did not happen immediately, until…
Genesis 16:3–4:
“So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.”
Before Abraham had sexual relations with Hagar, Sarah gave her to Abraham as a wife, not as a concubine—Abraham did not commit adultery. As we can see, Hagar was a wife to Abraham.
When Hagar got pregnant, she was said to have despised Sarah, who reported the matter to Abraham, as we read in:
Genesis 16:6:
“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
While many Christians do not regard Hagar, it is noteworthy that—aside from Eve—Hagar was the first woman God sent an angel to speak to in the Bible. We read:
Genesis 16:7–9:
7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
In Genesis 21:9–11, we also read:
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,
10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.
Even though Isaac had been born by Genesis 21:11, Ishmael was still acknowledged as Abraham’s son. It was only after this event that Hagar and Ishmael were sent into the desert, and Abraham was informed that it was through Isaac his offspring would be reckoned. And today, we see the Zionist narrative stemming from this.
Contrary to the claims of some Gospellers, neither Hagar nor Ishmael was God-forsaken. We read:
Genesis 21:17–18:
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
The manipulation starts in Genesis 22, where we read:
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
If Isaac was truly the only son, why the emphasis on “only son”? If by “only son” they mean Ishmael was illegitimate—where is the evidence?
The way Gospellers and their followers perceive Ishmael in a condescending manner cannot be traced to God’s own perception of him in the Bible. If Abraham ever had an “only son,” it was Ishmael.
Bashir Lucas Samson Lukman
