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The
Question Of The Birthright And The Covenant
There is a very, very ancient religious
dispute between the Ishmaelites and the Israelites about
the questions con- cerning the Birthright and the
Covenant. The readers of the Bible and the Qur'an are
familiar with the story of the great Prophet Abraham and
his two sons Ishmael (Isma'il) and Isaac (Ishaq). The
story of Abraham's call from the Ur of the Chaldees, and
that of his descendants until the death of his grandson
Joseph in Egypt, is written in The Book of Genesis
(chapters xi.-l). In his genealogy as recorded in Genesis,
Abraham is the twentieth from Adam, and a con- temporary
of Nimrod, who built the stupendous Tower of Babel.
The early story of Abraham in the Ur of
Chaldea, though not mentioned in the Bible, is recorded by
the famous Jewish historian Joseph Flavius in his
Antiquities and is also confirmed by the Qur'an. But the
Bible expressly tells us that the father of Abraham,
Terah, was an idolater (Jos. xxiv. 2, 14). Abraham
manifested his love and zeal for God when he entered into
the temple and destroyed all the idols and images therein,
and thus he was a true prototype of his illustrious
descendant Prophet Muhammad. He came out unhurt and
triumphantly from the burning furnace wherein he was cast
by the order of Nimrod. He leaves his native land for
Haran in the company of his father and his nephew Lot. He
was seventy-five years old when his father died at Haran.
In obedience and absolute resignation to the divine call,
he leaves his country and starts on a long and varied
journey to the land of Canaan, to Egypt and to Arabia. His
wife Sarah is barren; yet God announces to him that he is
destined to become the father of many nations, that all
the territories he is to traverse shall be given as an
inheritance to his descendants, and that, "by his
seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed"!
This wonderful and unique promise in the history of
religion was met with an unshaken faith on the part of
Abraham, who had no issue, no son. When he was led out to
look at the sky at night and told by Allah that his
posterity would be as numerous as the stars, and as
innumerable as the sand which is on the shores of the sea,
Abraham believed it. And it was this belief in God, that
"was counted righteousness," as the Scripture
says.
A virtuous poor Egyptian girl, Hagar by
name, is a slave and a maid in the service of Sarah. At
the bidding and consent of the mistress the maidservant is
duly married by the Prophet, and from this union Ishmael
is born, as fore- told by the Angel. When Ishmael is
thirteen years old, Allah again sends His Angel with His
revelation to Abraham; the same promise is repeated to
Abraham; the rite of Circumcision is formally instituted
and immediately executed. Abraham, at his ninetieth year
of age, Ishmael, and all the male servants, are
circumcised; and the "Covenant" between God and
Abraham with his only begotten son is made and sealed, as
if it were with the blood of circumcision. It is a kind of
treaty concluded between Heaven and the Promised Land in
the person of Ishmael as the only offspring of the
nonagenarian Patriarch. Abraham promises allegiance and
fealty to his Creator, and God promises to be forever the
Protector and God of the posterity of Ishmael.
Later on - that is to say, when Abraham
was ninety- nine years old and Sarah ninety, we find that
she also bears a son whom they name Isaac according to the
Divine promise.
As no chronological order is observed in
the Book of Genesis, we are told that after the birth of
Isaac, Ishmael and his mother are turned out and sent away
by Abraham in a most cruel manner, simply because Sarah so
wished. Ishmael and his mother disappear in the desert, a
fountain bursts out when the youth is on the point of
death from thirst; he drinks and is saved. Nothing more is
heard of Ishmael in the Book of Genesis except that he
married an Egyptian woman, and when Abraham died he was
present together with Isaac to bury their dead father.
Then the Book of Genesis continues the
story of Isaac, his two sons, and the descent of Jacob
into Egypt, and ends with the death of Joseph.
The next important event in the history
of Abraham as recorded in Genesis (xxii.) is the offering
of "his only son" a sacrifice to God, but he was
ransomed with a ram which was presented by an angel. As
the Qur'an says, "That was indeed a clear trial"
for Abraham (Qur'an, Ch. 38:106), but his love for God
surpassed every other affection; and for this reason he is
called the Friend of Allah, "Allah has taken Abraham
for a Friend". (Qur'an)
Thus runs the brief account of Abraham
in connection with our subject of the Birthright and the
Covenant.
There are three distinct points which
every true believer in God must accept as truths. The
first point is that Ishmael is the legitimate son of
Abraham, his first-born, and therefore his claim to
birthright is quite just and legal. The second point is
that the Covenant was made between God and Abra- ham as
well as his only son Ishmael before Isaac was born. The
Covenant and the institution of the Circumcision would
have no value or signification unless the repeated promise
contained in the Divine words, "Throughout thee all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed," and
especially the expression, the Seed "that shall come
out from the bowels, he will inherit thee" (Gen. xv.
4). This promise was fulfilled when Ishmael was born (Gen.
xvi.), and Abraham had the consolation that his chief
servant Eliezer would no longer be his heir. Consequently
we must admit that Ishmael was the real and legitimate
heir of Abraham's spiritual dignity and privileges. The
perogative that "by Abraham all the gene- rations of
the earth shall be blessed, "so often repeated -
though in different forms - was the heritage by
birthright, and was the patrimony of Ishmael. The
inheritance to which Ishmael was entitled by birthright
was not the tent in which Abraham lived or a certain camel
upon which he used to ride, but to subjugate and occupy
forever all the territories extending from the Nile to the
Euphrates, which were inhabited by some ten different
nations (xvii. 18-21). These lands have never been subdued
by the descendants of Isaac, but by those of Ishmael. This
is an actual and literal fulfillment of one of the
conditions contained in the Covenent.
The third point is that Isaac was also
born miraculously and specially blessed by the Almighty,
that for his people the land of Canaan was promised and
actually occupied under Joshua. No Muslim ever thinks of
disparaging the sacred and prophetical position of Isaac
and his son Jacob; for to disparage or to lower a Prophet
is an impiety. When we compare Ishmael and Isaac, we
cannot but reverence and respect them both as holy
Prophets of God. In fact, the people of Israel, with its
Law and sacred Scriptures, have had a unique religious
history in the Old World. They were indeed the Chosen
People of God. Although that people have often rebelled
against God, and fallen into idolatry, yet they have given
to the world myriads of prophets and righteous men and
women.
So far there could be no real point of
controversy between the descendants of Ishmael and the
people of Israel. For if by "Blessing" and the
"Birthright" it meant only some material
possessions and power, the dispute would be settled as it
has been settled by sword and the accomplished fact of the
Arab occupation of the promised lands. Rather, there is a
fundamental point of dispute between the two nations now
existing for nearly four thousand years; and that point is
the question of the Messiah and Prophet Muhammad. The Jews
do not see the fulfillment of the so-called Messianic
prophecies either in the person of Christ or in that of
Prophet Muhammad. The Jews have always been jealous of
Ishmael because they know very well that in him the
Covenant was made and with his circumcision it was
concluded and sealed, and it is out of this rancor that
their scribes or doctors of law have corrupted and
interpolated many passages in their Scriptures. To efface
the name "Ishmael" from the second, sixth, and
seventh verses of the twenty-second chapter of the Book of
Genesis and to insert in its place "Isaac," and
to leave the descriptive epithet "thy only begotten
son" is to deny the existence of the former and to
violate the Covenant made between God and Ishmael. It is
expressly said in this chapter by God: "Because thou
didst not spare thy only begotten son, I will increase and
multiply thy posterity like the stars and the sands on the
seashore," which word "multiply" was used
by the Angel to Hagar in the wilderness: I will multiply
thy offspring to an innumerable multitude, and that
Ishmael "shall become a fruitful man" (Gen. xvi.
12). Now the Christians have translated the same Hebrew
word, which means "fruitful" or
"plentiful" from the verb para - identical with
the Arabic wefera - in their versions "a wild
ass"! Is it not a shame and impiety to call Ishmael
"a wild ass" whom God styles
"Fruitful" or "Plentiful"?
It is very remarkable that Christ
himself, as reported in the Gospel of St. Barnabas,
reprimanded the Jews who said that the Great Messenger
whom they call "Messiah" would come down from
the lineage of King David, telling them plainly that he
could not be the son of David, for David calls him
"his Lord," and then went on to explain how
their fathers had altered the Scriptures, and that the
Covenant was made, not with Isaac, but with Ishmael, who
was taken to be offered a sacrifice to God, and that the
expression "thy only begotten son" means
Ishmael, and not Isaac. Paul, who pretends to be an
apostle of Jesus Christ, uses some irreverent words about
Hagar (Gal. vi. 21-31 and elsewhere) and Ishmael, and
openly contradicts his Master. This man has done all he
could to pervert and mislead the Christians whom he used
to persecute before his conversion; and I doubt very much
that the Jesus of Paul was Jesus, the son of Mary who
according to Christian traditions was hanged on a tree
about a century or so before Christ, for his Messianic
pretensions. In fact, the Epistles of Paul as they stand
before us are full of doctrines entirely repugnant to the
spirit of the Old Testament, as well as to that of the
humble Prophet, Jesus of Nazareth. Paul was a bigoted
Pharisee and a lawyer. After his conversion to
Christianity he seems to have become even more fanatical
than ever. His hatred to Ishmael and his claim to the
birthright makes him forget or overlook the Law of Moses
which forbids a man to marry his own sister under the pain
of capital penalty. If Paul were inspired by God, he would
have either denounced the Book of Genesis as full of
forgeries when it says twice (xii. 10-20, xx. 2-18) that
Abraham was the husband of his own sister, or that he
would have exposed the Prophet to be a liar! (God forbid).
But he believes in the words of the book, and his con-
science does not torment him in the least when he
identifies Hagar with the barren desert of the Sinai, and
qualifies Sarah as the Jerusalem above in heaven! (Gal.
iv. 25, 26). Did ever Paul read this anathema of the Law:-
"Cursed be he that lieth with his
sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his
mother. And all the people say: Amen"? (Duet. xxvii.
22).
Is there a human or divine law that
would consider more legitimate one who is the son of his
own uncle and aunt than he whose father is a Chaldean and
his mother an Egyptian? Have you anything to say against
the chastity and the piety of Hagar? Of course not, for
she was the wife of a Prophet and the mother of a Prophet,
and herself favored with Divine revelations.
The God who made the Covenant with
Ishmael thus prescribes the law of inheritance, namely: If
a man has two wives, one beloved and the other despised,
and each one has a son, and if the son of the despised
wife is the first-born, that son, and not the son of the
beloved wife, is entitled to the birthright. Consequently
the first-born shall inherit twice that of his brother.
(Duet. xxi. 15-17). Is not, then, this law explicit enough
to put to silence all who dispute the just claim of
Ishmael to birthright?
Now let us discuss this question of the
birthright as briefly as we can. We know that Abraham was
a nomad chief as well as a Messenger of God, and that he
used to live in a tent and had large flocks of cattle and
great wealth. Now the nomad tribesmen do not inherit lands
and pastures, but the prince assigns to each of his sons
certain clans or tribes as his subjects and dependents. As
a rule the youngest inherits the hearth or the tent of his
parents, whereas the elder - unless unfit - succeeds him
to his throne. The great Mongol conqueror Jenghiz Khan was
succeeded by Oghtai, his eldest son, who reigned in Pekin
as Khaqan, but his youngest son remained in his father's
hearth at Qara- qorum in Mongolia. It was exactly the same
with Abraham's two sons. Isaac, who was the younger of the
two, inherited the tent of his father and became, like
him, a nomad living in tents. But Ishmael was sent to
Hijaz to guard the House of Allah which he, together with
Abraham, had built as referred to in the Qur'an. Here he
settled, became Prophet and Prince among the Arab tribes
who believed in him. It was at Mecca, or Becca, that the
Ka'aba became the center of the pilgrimage called al-hajj.
It was Ishmael that founded the religion of one true Allah
and instituted the Circumcision.
His offspring soon increased and was
multiplied like the stars of the sky. From the days of
Prophet Ishmael to the advent of Prophet Muhammad, the
Arabs of Hijaz, Yemen and others have been independent and
masters of their own countries. The Roman and Persian
Empires were powerless to subdue the people of Ishmael.
Although idolatry was afterwards introduced, still the
names of Allah, Abraham, Ishmael, and a few other Prophets
were not forgotten by them. Even Esau, the elder son of
Isaac, left his father's hearth for his younger brother
Jacob and dwelt in Edom, where he became the chief of his
people and soon got mixed with the Arab tribes of Ishmael
who was both his uncle and father-in-law. The story of
Esau's selling his birthright to Jacob for a dish of
pottage is foul trick invented to justify the
ill-treatment ascribed to Ishmael. It is alleged that
"God hated Esau and loved Jacob," while the
twins were in their mother's womb; and that the
"elder brother was to serve his younger one"
(Gen. xxv Rom. ix. 12, 13). But, strange to say, another
report, probably from another source, shows the case to be
just the reverse of the above-mentioned prediction. For
the thirty- third chapter of Genesis clearly admits that
Jacob served Esau, before whom he seven times prostrates
in homage, addressing him "My Lord," and
declaring himself as "your slave."
Abraham is reported in the Bible to have
several other sons from Qitura and "the
concubines," to whom he gave presents or gifts and
sent them towards the East. All these became large and
strong tribes. Twelve sons of Ishmael are men- tioned by
name and described, each one to be a prince with his towns
and camps or armies (Gen. xxv.). So are the children from
Qitura, and others, as well as those descended from Esau
mentioned by their names.
When we behold the number of the family
of Jacob when he went to Egypt, which hardly exceeded
seventy heads, and when he was met by Esau with an escort
of four hundred armed horsemen, and the mighty Arab tribes
submitted to the twelve Amirs belonging to the family of
Ishmael, and then when the last Messenger of Allah
proclaims the religion of Islam, all the Arab tribes
unitedly acclaim him and accept His religion, and subdue
all the lands promised to the children of Prophet Abraham,
we must indeed be blind not to see that the Covenant was
made with Ishmael and the promise accom- plished in the
person of Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace).
Before concluding this article I wish to
draw the atten- tion of the students of the Bible,
especially that of the Higher Biblical Criticism, to the
fact that the so-called Messianic Prophecies and Passages
belong to a propaganda in favor of the Davidic Dynasty
after the death of King Solomon when his kingdom was split
into two. The two great Prophets Elias and Elisha, who
flourished in the Kingdom of Samariah or Israel, do not
even mention the name of David or Solomon. Jerusalem was
not longer the center of religion for the Ten Tribes, and
the Davidic claims to a perpetual reign was rejected.
But Prophets like Ishaia and others who
were attached to the Temple of Jerusalem and the House of
David have foretold the coming of a great Prophet and
Sovereign.
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