The Holy Prophet Isaac P.B.U.H.

 

His mother is Sarah the daughter of Bethuel ben Nahor which is by turn the brother of Terah and the uncle of Abraham (P.B.U.H.), so she is the daughter of the cousin of Abraham and also his maternal cousin, as it was mentioned before, and Isaac was born after his brother Ishmael by five years, and this is the most famous for us, and in Torah it is mentioned that he was born and Ishmael was fourteen years old, and as Al-Mas`udi mentioned, that Ishmael was born and Abraham was eighty six years old or eighty seven and Isaac was born while he was one hundred and twenty years old, and the angels brought the happy tidings to Abraham about his son Isaac, and Sarah heard the tidings and laughed for it was weird for her to have children from an old man and an old barren woman, so the angels said to her: Do you wonder from the commandments of God? In other phrases God said: And we gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a prophet of the righteous(Al-Sâffât:112). Also God said: And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves(Al-Sâffât:113), and: We gave him Isaac and Jacob. Each of them We made a prophet. And we gave them of Our mercy, and assigned to them a high and true renown(Maryam:49-50). God also said: and gave him tidings of (the birth of) a wise son. Then his wife came forward, making moan, and smote her face, and cried: A barren old woman!(Al-Ðariyat:28-29).

Apparently, in Quran there was nothing about Isaac much more than tidings brought about him, and about him being a prophet. Yes, and we've mentioned before that in Torah and the Bible, the one that was to be saline was Isaac and not Ishmael, and we've mentioned a lot of details about this in the previous section when we talked about the conditions of Abraham (P.B.U.H.) and explained what is true and explained that the one that was to be saline was Ishmael and not Isaac. It is mentioned that Isaac (P.B.U.H.) lived for one hundred and eighty years and was buried in Jirun (Hebron), and it is the city of Al-Khaleel, in the cave of Al-Makfeelah (Machpelah). Isaac got married after his father as in some tales by a woman called Youmhâ' the daughter of Bethuel, and she born him Al-`Ays (Esau) and Jacob as twins, but Esau came first then followed by Jacob, and when they were born Isaac was sixty years old and went blind, this is what was mentioned. He prayed for his son Jacob to have the leadership of his people and the prophecy in his descendants, and prayed for his son Esau to get the kingdom and power and in his descendants as well. He was one hundred and righty five years old when he died and was buried with his father and the places for their toms is famous and they are placed almost like eighteen miles away from Jerusalem in a mosque there called the mosque of Abraham [Arabic: Masjid Ibrâhim], and this is all mentioned in Muruj Al-Ðahab for Al-Mas`udi.

What is mentioned in Torah about his marriage, in summary, is that when Abraham became old and were not able to work anymore, he commanded his servant, Elazar, and told him to work on the marriage of his son Isaac and pick for him a wife from his own tribe and lands in Iraq, and told him to be aware from letting him get married to a daughter of the Canaanites that were in Palestine, and told him to never let Isaac get back again to the land that went out from which is Iraq, and never let him go back there even if his wife denied coming with him to his lands in Palestine. Then Elazar got ready for the travel and took with him everything applicable for the wife and her family, and went to Iraq, to the lands of the family. When he reached that land he stopped his camels before the town which is Padan-Aram and it is the town in which Abraham used to live, and his father there was a carpenter, as it is mentioned in the book of Barnaba, and it is the town in which his tribe lives with his relatives and there lives the desired man which is Nahor ben Terah, the brother of Abraham, but he was dead at that time, and none are left there except his children and their leader was Bethuel ben Nahor, and when Elazar stopped his camels before the city and wanted to get in, he saw a beautiful girl getting out of the city and carrying a jar, so Elazar said to her: get me some water, and so she did and welcomed him, then he asked about her family and he knew she is the daughter of Bethuel ben Nahor, so then when he knew her and her family he became so happy about it and asked about her father and whether he has a place for hospitality, and she said yes, then he presented himself as the servant of Abraham and he wants to take a wife for Isaac, and she is the one desired for this and no one else, then he made her wore some jewels and golden bracelets and she walked in front of him telling her family about the happy tidings and the dear guest from her uncle Abraham, and the girl's name was Refqah (Rebekah). When the girl told her family about the messenger from Abraham their uncle and about his living place, immediately Lâbân ben Bethuel (Laban) went to his place and welcomed him and came with him to his own place and they were all happy for the visit of the messenger of Abraham, their uncle. Then after he stayed for a while with them he told them why he is here and he wants Rebekah for the son of his master and so they answered him with what he desires, then Elazar, Abraham's messenger, gave her vessels made of gold and silver with some clothes and ornaments, and also gave to her brother Laban ben Bethuel and to her mother and distributed the rest over her family, and after the rest he asked them to get her prepared, so they answered his request and made her prepared for such an occasion, and Rebekah then agreed for his request to leave in a hurry, and so he picked her to the lands of his master, and when they arrived and Isaac looked at her, he got so happy for her and she had been a joy for him after the death of his mother Sarah.

Then Rebekah gave birth to a twin, and they are `Eesu (Esau) and Ya`qoob (Jacob), and she born first Esau then Jacob. We say, we can agree on both stories, this and the one before, as one story. The difference are in the names of `Eesu and Al-`Ays and that might be because of expressing in Arabic and Hebrew, and also in whether the marriage was during the life of Abraham or after his death, and in the different names of the wife of Isaac, Youmhâ' [could not trace this name back to any source] and Rebekah, and might be that one is a name and the other is a title, but the story in Torah is more believable for what it contains and it is more closer to reality, and only God knows.

As attributed to Al-Râawandi in his tales, there is one tale that has a connection somehow with out subject, and that is there was at the time of Abraham (P.B.U.H.) a man called Mâriyyah ben Aws, and he was six hundred and sixty years old and he used to live in a place like a peninsula surrounded by waters and swamps, and he used to go out for people once every three years and live in the desert, and he had a mosque and he used to pray to God there and guide people to the religion of God and teach them the goodness, so one day he went out to the desert as he used to do and he saw a cattle and as if they had fat upon them, and he was amazed for that, and saw a young man with it and his face was like the face of the moon, so he asked him about the cattle and about their owner, so he answered: they are for Abraham, then he asked him about himself and he answered: I am his son Isaac. Then Mâriyyah said for himself: O Lord let me see your friend Abraham before I die. Isaac then told his father Abraham about what happened between him and Mâriyyah ben Aws and about his conditions, then after three years he went out as he used to be and found a man in that place that he never saw before and the man asked him about his conditions and his place, so Mâriyyah ben Aws answered him and described his place for him, then the man showed the passion for staying with Mâriyyah to look at his way of living and Mâriyyah answered him that he can't pass over to his place, so then the man asked: why? have you not a bridge? He said: No, but I walk over water, so the main said: maybe the One that exploited water for you will exploit the water for me as well, so then they walked together until they reached the water, then Mâriyyah said: By the name of God, and he passed over the water surface, then the man said: By the name of God, and passed over the water surface, then Mâriyyah looked at him while walking and he was amazed, then they reached the residence of Mâriyyah and the man stayed with him for three days, and Mâriyyah used to live on fruit and dries out some of them for winter season. So when the man wanted to leave him he (Mâriyyah) asked him about his name, so the man said: I am Abraham, the friend of God, and Mâriyyah before that used to pray to God to see His friend, so when he heard his name and knew who he is, he went to him and hugged him adn thanked God for answering his prays, and there are other long matters that no need to mention here and what we've mentioned is enough for now and God knows His servants and creations, and He knows everything.