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Part II. Ishmael Or Isaac
The True Heir Of Abraham

Ishmael’s Covenant?

According to the Qur’an, there is a covenant for Ishmael. Unlike the covenant with Israel, it does not involve land, nation or people. The covenant concerns a house for prayer and worship (2:125).

Abraham’s prayer concerning this house was that the city around it have peace and therefore prosper (2:126). He also prayed for Ishmael’s children to be Muslims [i.e. to submit to God] (2:129).

2:126 And remember Abraham said: “My Lord, make this a City of Peace, and feed its people with fruits,-such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day.” He said: “(Yea), and such as reject Faith,-for a while will I grant them their pleasure, but will soon drive them to the torment of Fire,- an evil destination (indeed)!”

The Qur’an gives no indication whether this prayer was answered. The “yea” in 2:126 is in brackets. It was not a part of the original text. Indeed, if God did answer “yea”, this presents a serious problem. Ishmael’s descendants quickly forgot the “one God” to worship a pantheon of deities. Mecca was not a city of peace until Muhammad brought Islam and fought several wars. From the time of Abraham (approximately 2000 B.C.) till Muhammad, there are roughly 2600 years of silence.

The only way this can be understood is if this covenant with Ishmael was not the main covenant, or not the only covenant. If there was a true covenant elsewhere in force, the house of prayer in Mecca would only be a reminder or place holder pointing to the real one. This would explain why for such a long time there was no spiritual activity at this house.

The Main Covenant

Was there another covenant? The Qur’an is clear that Muslims are to believe all the prophets from Abraham to Jesus (2:136, 3:84, 42:13, 4:150-152). This line of prophets, from Abraham to Jesus, is “the line of Israel.” This is the other covenant. As long as this line was active, the house at Mecca remained quiescent. (This also explains why Ishmael was not in the first rank of saints [6:84-87].)

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