Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam)
Our beloved Nabi Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) came from the best of families. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and all the fathers before them, which we call forefathers, were all good people. When other people would do naughty and evil things, then the forefathers of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would not do naughty things with them.
Because Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) came from the best family and had the best forefathers, we will talk about some of his forefathers and look at their good qualities.
The first person that we will look at is Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam), the son of Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam), because he is one of the far forefathers of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).
When Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam) was still a small baby, Allah Ta‘ala told his father, Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) to take him, with his mother, Sayyidah Haajar (‘alaihas salaam), and leave them far away, in a certain place in the middle of the desert. Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) would always listen to Allah Ta‘ala, and he always did what Allah Ta‘ala told him, so he took them and left them in the desert.
When Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) was leaving, Sayyidah Haajar (‘alaihas salaam) became very worried. She was all alone in the desert, with her small baby. It was very, very hot, there was no water or food in the desert, and there was nobody to help them. But she knew that Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) was the Nabi of Allah Ta‘ala, and he always listened to Allah Ta‘ala, so she asked him, “Did Allah Ta‘ala tell you to leave us here?” Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) replied, “Yes, Allah Ta‘ala told me to do this.” When she heard this, she immediately said, “If Allah Ta‘ala told you to leave us here, then Allah Ta‘ala will definitely look after us and take care of us.”
The place where Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) had left them was the place of the Ka’bah, but at that time, the building of the Ka’bah was not there and the city of Makkah Mukarramah was also not there. Instead, the whole area was empty desert, and there was just a small hill in the place of the Ka’bah. After Nabi Ebrahim (‘alaihis salaam) left, Allah Ta‘ala sent an angel to dig the well of Zamzam so that Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam) and his mother would have water and would be comfortable.
Then, after some time, a few people from the land of Yemen, of the Jurhum tribe, who were traveling through the desert, saw some birds flying in the sky in that area, and they knew that these birds only flew near water. They had never found water in this part of the desert before, so they went to search for the water that the birds had found. As they came to the water, which was the well of Zamzam, they found Sayyidah Haajar (‘alaihas salaam) and her small baby, Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam). These people brought their families and also started to live in that place, and that was how the city of Makkah Mukarramah started. These people were Arabs, and Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam) learnt to speak the Arabic language from them.
When Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam) grew up, he got married and had children, and it was from his children in Makkah Mukarramah, hundreds of years later, that our beloved Nabi Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was born.
Lessons:
1. Sayyidah Haajar (‘alaihas salaam) was in the middle of the desert with no food and water and with nobody to help her and protect her, but she was not worried or scared because she knew that she was not alone. She knew that Allah Ta‘ala was with her, and she knew that He would protect her and look after her.
2. When a person is a good Muslim, and always listens to Allah Ta‘ala, then Allah Ta‘ala will always look after him and take care of him. That is why when Sayyidah Haajar (‘alaihas salaam) and Nabi Ismaa‘eel (‘alaihis salaam) needed water in the desert, Allah Ta‘ala sent an angel specially to dig the well of Zamzam for them.
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