In this post and the next, I shall try to explain a couple of the major differences between  Islam and Judaism. It’s worth mentioning here that when Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. started preaching his message, people of the book (i.e. Jews and Christians) split in to two groups. The first group believed in him to be the seal of all prophets, the one whose praise shall fill the earth, and the one whom the preceding prophets described. This group embraced Islam and taught their children that the Qur’an is Allah’s final message and testament to all people, and the second group declined.

First, the Jewish nation:

History books tell us that some of the rabbis living in Arabia recognized Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. They were the most to ask him about things they knew that only a true prophet can answer. Some of them believed that he was the prophet they have been informed of, who would be the seal of all prophets, while others declined. They saw that Ishmael and his offspring are not included in God’s covenant to Abraham. Consequently, they refused the idea that the final promised prophet could come from a different lineage other than that of the “sons of Israel.” Hence, they denied Muhammad’s Prophethood. Working reason and logic, we can realize that our “Creator” could not be an exclusive God for a certain lineage from among His creation. Prophethood itself is not some kind of an honorary position, but it’s a heavy burden, a responsibility and a tough tribulation that only the most patient of all pious people can carry and deliver to the rest of mankind, and those do not belong to a certain race, or lineage aside other human beings. Let’s analyze what the Old Testament says about this issue:

The Book of Genesis 22:2 says: “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

A question arises in one’s mind when reading this verse, how come that God would call Isaac in the previous verse: “thine only son”, when Abraham already had an older son, Ishmael from Hagar?! The answer that is mostly given by rabbis and priests is that the meaning intended is: “thine only legitimate son,” and Ishmael was not a legitimate son for he was the son of a concubine.

Well, let’s see what the Bible says about this explanation. From Genesis, just a few pages earlier, we read the following verses:

{16:3} And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. {16:4} And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived …………………
{16:15} And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. {16:16} And Abram [was] fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram ……………………………………………………..
{17:4} As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with you, and you shall be a father of many nations …………………………………………………………………………..
{17:7} And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an EVERLASTING COVENANT, to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you. {17:8} And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God  ……………………………………………
{17:10} This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you, Every man child among you shall be circumcised …………….
{17:21} But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year  ……………………………………………………
{17:23} And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him  ……………………………………………………………..
{17:25} And Ishmael his son [was] thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. {17:26} In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son  ………………………………………………………

Working reason in the above verses: Hagar was Abraham’s wife, and Ishmael seems pretty legitimate as Abraham’s son and seed. He was born to Abraham when he was 86 years old. He was circumcised with his father when he was 13 and Abraham was almost 99. Abraham was promised by God himself to be the father of many nations, and that God shall keep an everlasting covenant in Abraham’s seed. Please note now how verse No. {17:21} seems inconsistent between the above verses and doesn’t make any sense. Try to read the above again neglecting this verse and you will understand what I mean. According to this verse, God’s “EVERLASTING COVENANT” was abrogated when Sarah (Israel’s grandmother) gave birth to Isaac, Genesis says:

{21:2} For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. {21:3} And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. {21:4} And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. {21:5} And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. …………………………………………….
{21:8} And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the [same] day that Isaac was weaned. {21:9} And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. {21:10} Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac. {21:11} And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. {21:12} And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad, and because of your bondwoman, in all that Sarah has said unto you, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall your seed be called .…………………………………

From the above, it is obvious that Isaac was born to Abraham when he was 100 years old to become his second son. He was circumcised as a baby. Now concentrate with the following please: According to the “Babylon Talmud” a child is weaned at the end of 24 months of suckling. According to the bible between our hands today, after Isaac was weaned, Sarah ordered Abraham to cast out Hagar and her son, for Ishmael who was almost 16 at that time mocked Isaac who was almost 2 years old! Abraham hated to do so for it was not right to cast out his wife and his almost 16 years old first born son just to satisfy his other wife, but amazingly God’s orders came to Abraham that he should hearken to Sarah’s orders, for in Isaac shall his seed be called. Well now God is taking sides and despising Hagar and her son, “Abraham’s first born son”, for being the son of an Ex-bondwoman. Then, for the sake of Abraham God continues:

{21:13} And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he [is] your seed.

Though Hagar was Abraham’s wife and Ishmael his seed, as an Ex-bondwoman, she and her son were despised and cast out as ordered by God himself. My personal opinion is that this is either racism against his own creation, or pure corruptions in the real story and the words of God. In order to get to the truth about this alleged story, let’s continue reading Genesis:

{21:14} And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave [it] unto Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. {21:15} And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. {21:16} And she went, and sat down over against [him] a good way off, as it were a bow-shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against [him,] and lift up her voice, and wept. {21:17} And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth you, Hagar? fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he [is. ]{21:18} Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand, for I will make him a great nation. {21:19} And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. {21:20} And God was with the lad, and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. {21:21} And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

Now the “almost 16 years old son” who was described earlier to be mocking his younger 2 years old baby brother, and brought upon himself and his mother the wrath of his stepmom, is first described as a child, then being cast under a shrub, and being described by his mother again as a child, then God orders Hagar to lift him up and to hold him in her hands!
Reason and logic could never get this picture…not at all. The previous is a description of a baby, not a teenager. The inconsistency and distortion in the story is crystal clear. Sixteen years old boys could never be described this way. Sixteen years old boys are more likely to carry their mothers, and physically endure much more. By all means, having faith is a bliss, but only when it coincides with reason.

For a brief explanation of what the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad’s traditions state about this issue, kindly read Comparative Religion Part II.

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Written By: Ehab Shawky