Understanding Islam: Abraham, Ishmael and the Kaaba

Understanding Islam: For Such A Time As This
Abraham, Ishmael, and the Kaaba 1
A Special Topic Course
Presented by:
www.IslamicStateOfAmerica.com
Understanding Islam:
For Such A Time As This
Lesson 3: Abraham, Ishmael, and the Kaaba

Abraham, Ishmael, and the Kaaba
Lesson 2 Review
• God’s word and the Qur’an
– False angels will proclaim a gospel that is not God’s.
– Condemnation for those who follow the false gospel
• What are we called to do?
– Witness about Jesus. Watch for God at work in Muslim’s lives
• The spectrum of Islam… not all Muslims are the same
– Secularist
– Modernist
– Traditionalist
– Fundamentalist
– Jihadist
2
>50% are Islamists who seek Sharia
law for all people

Lesson 2 Review: The Quran and Jesus
• Jesus is referred to 97 times in the Qur'an
– Jesus is: Messiah, word of God, spirit of God, speech of truth
– He performed miracles, healed the sick, raised the dead
• The Qur'an teaches that Jesus was born of virgin Mary (Surah 3:42-49)
– She was pure and chosen above all women
– Jesus was Allah’s messenger to the children of Israel
• The Qur'an teaches that those who follow Jesus will be made dominant over
those who reject Him, until the day of Judgment. (Surah 3:55-57)
– Jesus has been given a special place with Allah in heaven
– Those who disbelieve in Jesus will be chastised severely in eternal torment.
• The Qur'an teaches that everyone will one day stand before God in judgment.
(Surah 17:13-14)
• Islam teaches that Jesus will return during a period of global upheaval to
conquer the anti-Christ, then rule the world (Hadith: Sahih Muslim 2/58)
3

Lesson 2 Review: The Layers of Islam
4
Jihadist
Islamist
Secularist Islamist:
Emphasize the
implementation of Sharia
(Islamic law); of pan-
Islamic political unity,
including an Islamic state;
and of the selective
removal of non-Muslim,
particularly Western
military, economic,
political, social, or cultural
influences in the Muslim
world that they believe to
be incompatible with Islam.
Source: Wikipedia
> 50%

Father Abraham – In the Bible
• Genesis 11:31
– Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and
his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and
together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.
But when they came to Haran they settled there. Terah lived 205
years and he died in Haran.
• Genesis 12:1-5, also Chapters 12-14
– The Lord said to Abram “Leave your country, your people and
your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will
make you into a great nation…” (Circa 2085 BC)
• From Haran, to Canaan. Built altar at Bethel. To Negev, then to
Egypt during famine. Wife = sister, then expelled by Pharaoh.
• Back to Negev, then to Bethel. Lot and Abram split. Abram to
Hebron, Lot takes Jordan valley and area of Sodom. Rescues Lot.

Abraham Follows God’s Call
7

Abraham’s Journey
8

God’s Covenant with Abraham
• Genesis 15
– ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and your very great
reward.’ But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give
me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my
estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said ‘You have
given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my
heir.’
– ‘I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldean to give
you this land to take possession of it.’
– ‘Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own,
and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.’
– ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the rivers of Egypt to
the great river, the Euphrates.’

Hagar and Ishmael
• Genesis 16
– “Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family
through her.’
– ‘Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the
Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring
that is beside the road to Shur.’
– ‘Then the angel of the Lord told her ‘Go back to your mistress
and submit to her.’ The angel added ‘I will so increase your
descendants that they will be too numerous to count.’ The angel
of the lord also said to her; ‘You are now with child and you will
have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard
of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will
be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him,
and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.’

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
• Genesis 21
– ‘Sarah became pregnant and bore a son.’
– ‘Sarah saw that (Hagar) was mocking, and
she said to Abraham ‘Get rid of that slave
woman and her son.’
– ‘Abraham was distressed… but God said to
him… ‘I will make the son of the
maidservant into a nation also, because he
is your offspring.’
– ‘She went her way and
wandered in the desert
of Beersheba.’

God’s Promise to Hagar
• Genesis 21:15-21
– Out of water, Hagar starts to cry.
God hears her cry and visits her
with an angel.
– ‘Lift the boy up and take him by
the hand, for I will make him into a
great nation.’
– ‘God was with the boy as he grew
up. He lived in the desert and
became an archer. While he was
living in the desert of Paran, his
mother got him a wife from
Egypt.’

Abraham Sacrifices Isaac
• Genesis 22
– ‘The God said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you
love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’
– ‘Do not lay a hand on the boy’…
and he saw a ram caught by its
horns. He went over and took the
ram and sacrificed it as a burnt
offering instead of his son.’
– ‘I will surely bless you and make
your descendants as numerous
as the stars in the sky and as the
sand on the seashore.’
– Note: Mt. Moriah = Temple Mount in Jerusalem

The Rest of the Story…
• Ishmael had 12 sons… including one named Kedar
– Became 12 tribal chiefs (Genesis 25:13, I Chronicles 1:28-31)
– Settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur (Assyria to Egypt)
• The tribe of Kedar was a nomadic tribe that lived in a
place called Meshech (east end Black Sea? Arabia?)
– Psalm 120:5-6 “Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live
among the tents of the Kedar. Too long have I lived among those
who hate peace. I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are
for war.”
– Isaiah 21:16-17 “… all the glory of the Kedar shall fail: And the
residue of the number of archers… shall be diminished.”
• Ishmael had a daughter Mahalath who married Esau
– Esau’s grandson = Amalek (father of Amalekites, battle of Exodus)
• Ishmael was with Isaac at the burial of Abraham

Islamic Tradition
• Ibrahim born in the house of an idolater, in the
kingdom of Babylon. He was repulsed by his
father’s work with idols.
• Mountaintop experience “Submit! Be a Muslim!”
• Attempted to convert his father, then left him.
Destroyed idols. Sentenced to death by fire.
Walked out unscathed, not a trace of smoke.
Debated Nimrod, king of Babylon.
• Sarah and Lot believed in Allah and followed him,
beginnng long travel and calling people to Allah.
• No children for Sarah. Moved to Egypt, given
servant Hajar, who gave birth to Ismail. Later,
Sarah bore Ishaq (Isaac).

Zamzam
• Ibrahim asked Hajar to prepare for a long
travel with her baby
• She and Abraham departed on a long walk
through the Arabian desert, to a high hill
named al-Marwa (near modern Meccca)
• Abraham left her with a bag of water and a
supply of dried fruit (dates)
• Hajar nursed the baby until all her food
was used up. Desperately thirsty, infant
crying, she ran to the nearest hill (al-Safa)
• Ran between hills 7 times until she again reached al-Marwa, exhausted.
• Saw angel Jibreel digging in the earth until water flowed. The holy water
of Zamzam sprang forth, near the old foundations of Adam’s shrine.

Ibrahim Returns to Makkah
• Many years later, Abraham returned to see his son. Hajar had died.
He found Ismail sitting under a tree near the spring of Zamzam,
sharpening his arrows.
• Ismail recognized his father and hugged him.
• Ibrahim had a dream of sacrificing his son and shared it with Ismail.
They departed for Mt. Arafat (12 miles southeast of Mecca)
– Surah 37:99-113
– At Mina, the devil tried to talk
Ibrahim out of the sacrifice. He
turned his back on devil.
– At Mt. Arafat, a sheep was sent
to him as an alternate sacrifice
• Ibrahim/Ismail called others to Allah

The Kaaba
• Allah ordered Muhammad to rebuild
a house of worship originally
established by Adam, but destroyed
in the flood
– Ismail helped his father rebuild the
“Kaaba” on Adam’s foundations
• When completed, the angel Jibreel
descended from heaven and gave
Ibrahim instructions for the “Hajj”
• Ibrahim stepped on a stone (Makam
Ibrahim) and called his people to
worship
• Islamic scholars date construction
circa 2130 BC, about 1000 yrs
before Solomon’s temple

The Black Stone of the Kaaba
The angel Jibreel
led Ibrahim to the
black stone on
nearby mountain.
A meteorite-like
stone worshipped
by early tribes
Today this is believed to
be the only remaining
stone fragment from the
Kaaba raised by Ibrahim.
Now in 7 fragments.
Broken in 930 AD.
Revered during
pilgrimage to the Kaaba

The Center of Worship
20
The Kaaba is the focal point of Islamic worship, central to the Hajj and the
direction toward which all Muslims face during their daily prayers.
The Kaaba is the most sacred point within the most sacred mosque, located in
Mecca. The well of Zamzam is within the mosque. Mina (where Ibrahim turned
his back on devil), the twin hills, and Mt. Arafat are nearby
The Well at
ZamZam

History of the Kaaba
21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACuB35PR40
Video: Constructing the Kaaba

In the Next Lesson
• Lesson 4
– The origins of Muhammad
• Who was the man they call “The
“Prophet?”
– Revelations in the cave of Hira near
Mecca
– Establishment of early Islam
– Peace in Medina, war in Mecca
– Origins of the Qur’an and the Hadith
• Watch the news
– Articles that relate back to The Prophet
and Islamic reverence for Muhammad
• Pray for wisdom and insight
22

Understanding Islam: Abraham, Ishmael and the Kaaba

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