Hazrat ismaeel AS The Prophet Stories in English

  Assalamu Alaikum!

Walaikum Assalam!

Didn’t you say that you will tell me

the story of Prophet Ishmael (as) today?

Yes my son,

 Insha Allah!

I will tell you his story now.

Shall I start?

Yes Baba

Bismillah!

The story of Prophet Ishmael (as)

A long long time ago, 

Prophet Ibrahim (as)

 and his wife Sarah were travelling

 through a desert.

They had been travelling for many days,

and one day,

they happened to enter the

territory of an evil king.

The evil king came to know about

the beautiful wife of the prophet,

and he wanted to take her.

 So he send one of his soldiers

to bring the prophet to him.

The soldier brought the prophet

before the king.

“Who is the lady accompanying you?”

asked the evil king

The prophet replied that

 she was his sister.

The evil king then asked the prophet

to bring Sarah to his court.

He said that he wanted to meet

 this beautiful woman

that everyone in his kingdom was

talking about.

The prophet went to his wife and said

 “The king wants to meet you”

“Do not ever tell him that you are

my wife, because I’ve told him that you

are my sister” the prophet

 told his wife.

When Sarah went to the King’s palace,

the king was struck by her beauty,

and he tried to take hold of her

 with his hands!

But the moment his hand 

got near Sarah,

it became stiff,

and he could not move it!!

The evil king was scared,

and he requested Sarah

“Please pray to Allah(swt) for me,

 and I will never harm you”

When Sarah prayed to Allah(swt),

his hands got cured miraculously!!

But the moment he realized that

 his hands were cured,

the foolish king tried

to take hold of Sarah again!!

And for the second time,

his hands got stiff.

The king couldn’t move

 his hands at all!!

“Please pray to Allah(swt)

for me..

I shall never harm you again!”

said the King

Sarah prayed to Allah again,

 and his hands got cured

for the second time.

This time the King realized that

Sarah was no ordinary woman!

So he gave Sarah a gift!

 He gave her one of his 

Egyptian maid servant,

and her name was Hajar!

She was then sent home.

When Sarah returned home, the prophet

asked her what happened?

“Allah(swt) taught that evil king a lesson,

and he gave me maid- Hajar” 

replied Sarah

Years passed and the 

prophet grew old.

His hair grayed, but he continued to

 call people back to Allah (swt).

Sarah too had grown old and

 she realized that

she would no longer be able to give

 birth to a child.

So she asked the prophet to marry

 their servant Hajar.

She then prayed to Allah(swt) to

 bless them with a child!

After a few months,

Hajar gave birth to a child,

and they named him 

Ishmael(as)!

By now, the prophet had 

grown very old!

One day the prophet woke up,

he felt like Allah(swt) wanted

him to do something.

So he went to Hajar.

“Get Ishmael” 

He said

 “Get  ready for a long journey”

Ibrahim (as) and his wife with

 the baby in her arms

kept travelling for a

 long long time.

They walked for many days till they

 reached a dry valley of the desert

 near the Al-Marwah mountain.

There were no fruits, no trees, no food,

 and no water either

No signs of any life could be

found in the valley.

The Prophet then left his wife and son

with a small amount of food and water,

This was hardly enough for both of them

 to last for two days.

The Prophet then turned around

 and started walked away

His wife hurried after him

Where are you going

leaving us in this barren valley?

She cried to him

But the prophet didn't answer her

and kept walking away.

She called him again

But the prophet remained silent 

and walked away

Finally she understood that the prophet

 was not acting on his own.

She realized that Allah (swt) had 

commanded him to do this.

Did Allah (swt) command to do so?

She asked him

The prophet shook his head

 and continued walking

Then his great wife said,

"We are not going to be lost"

Since Allah(swt) who commanded 

you is with us

The prophet was very sad,

 as he had left his wife and his son

in a barrren desert, where there

 were no other people

He prayed to Allah(swt) to give his wife 

and son enough food

and he asked Allah(swt) to send people 

with good hearts to them

Hajar (ra) drank the water

that the prophet had left,

so that she could feed her son.

The water got over very soon,

and both of them started

getting very thirsty.

After sometime, the baby

started getting thirsty,

and started to cry!

She ran to a hill closeby

called Al Marwah

hoping that she might

find somebody.

She stood there hoping to find

somebody, but she did not!!

Then she ran to the next

mountain called Al Safa,

hoping to find

someone from there!

But she couldn’t find

anyone from there either!

She kept running between

these mountains seven times!

When she climbed Al

Marwah for the last time,

she was very tired.

She got so tired that she

sat next to her baby.

It was then that

she heard a voice

She kept quiet,and waited

to hear the voice again

When she heard the voice

for the second time,

she said “O, whoever

you might be,

you have made me

hear your voice!

Have you got something

to help me?”

That was when she saw an

angel digging the earth!

The angel kept digging till

the water flowed from it!

It was a miracle!

When she saw the water,

she ran toward it,

and started to build

a basin around it.

She scooped the water with

her hands and drank from it.

Then she filled the water bag

and ran towards her child.

This place where the water

rose is called Zam Zam.

After a few days, some people

were travelling through Mecca.

They saw the birds

flying around Al Marwah,

and they thought the birds might

be flying around the water.

They started walking

towards Al Marwah

When they arrived,

they were surprised

to find the woman

with a baby sitting

near the water!

“Shall we stay here and

use this water please?”

They asked her.

Hajar(ra) said yes,

and they drank water

from the Zam Zam

Like that many others

came to Al Marwah,

and eventually

settled down there.

The whole valley

became alive now,

and she and her child

were not alone anymore!

Ismail (as) grew up and learned

Arabic from the people

who had settled

downat Al Marwah.

He was a good boy,

and his virtues and qualities

made the people admire him.

He kept thinking

about his father,

and knew that his father

will come back someday!

Ismail (as) then

married a local woman,

and lived his life in peace.

In the meantime,

Prophet Ibrahim

(as) was very sad

because he had not seen his

son for a very long time.

One day, he decided to go to Mecca

to meet his wife and his son.

He travelled for many days, and

finally arrived at Al Marwah

But it was very late.

When he arrived,

people told him that Hajar(ra)

had died sometime ago.

The prophet was very

sad to hear this

and then the local people told

the prophet that his son,

Ismail (as) was still alive!

The prophet was very

happy to hear this,

and thanked Allah(swt)!

When Ismail(as) saw his father,

he ran to him and hugged

him very tightly.

He could not believe his eyes!!

He was very happy

to see his father

after a long long time.

It was a very happy

time for both of them

But one day, Allah decided

to test Ibrahim(as)

One night when the

prophet was sleeping,

he saw a dream!

In his dream the

prophet saw himself

killing his son as a

sacrifice to Allah (swt).

The prophet woke up,

and ignored it as

it was just a dream

But the next night,

he saw the same dream again!.

This time he realized that

this was not just a dream,

and that Allah(swt) was asking

him to sacrifice his own son!

The prophet went to his son,

and told him about the dream.

Ismail (as) realized that it

was an order from Allah(swt)

"Do what Allah(swt)

has asked you to”

He told his father.

The next day,

the prophet took a

rope and a knife,

and set out for mount

Arafat, along with his son.

Upon reaching the top

of the mountain,

Ismail (as) asked his father

to tie his hand and legs,

so that he may not struggle

during the sacrifice.

The prophet obliged, and

tied his hands and legs.

Then he blindofolded himself

so that he wont have to

watch his son suffer.

The prophet raised his knife,

but then suddenly, he heard

the voice from the sky.

He took off his blindfold, and saw

a sheep being sent from heaven.

Allah(swt) had sent the sheep to

be sacrified instead of Ismail(as)

The prophet was really happy,

because his son was

going to be alive!

The prophet and his son

had just passed a difficult

test from Allah (swt)

Ibrahim (as)

slaughtered the sheep,

and they had a big celebration.

The prophet and his son kept calling

people to worship Allah(swt)

They didn’t have any place

to worship Allah(swt)

so one day Allah(swt) ordered

the prophet to build a house!!

“Allah(swt) has ordered

me to build a Kabbah”

the prophet said to his son.

And Ismail(as) replied

“Do what your God has

ordered you to do”.

The prophet then asked his son

if he help him build the kabbah,

and Ismail (as) agreed.

They started building the

foundation of the kabbah.

Ismail (as) brought the stones,

while Ibrahim (as)

built the house.

When the walls got tall,

Ismail(as) brought a large stone for the

 prophet to work by standing on it

This stone was called

Maqam-e-Ibrahim.

When they completed

the foundation,

and built the corners,

Ibrahim(as) asked Ismail(as) to

find the stone to fill the corner.

“I feel tired”

Ismail (as) said to his father.

But when the

Ibrahim(as) insisted,

Ismail(as) went searching

for the stone.

While he was gone,

an angel got the

prophet a stone.

The angel told him

that this stone was brought to

earth by Adam (as) from Paradise!

The stone was originally white,

however its color gradually

turned into black

because of the sins committed

 by  people on earth.

Ismail(as) returned

after sometime,

and when he saw the stone

he was surprised and asked his

father where it came from.

“It was brought by someone who never

gets tired” replied Ibrahim(as)

And they finally completed

building the Kabbah

They prayed to Allah (swt)

to accept their work

Allah(swt) was very happy

with the prophet and his son

for spreading his message.

And proclaimed the

pilgrimage among men,

they will come to thee on foot,

and on every kind of camel,

lean an account of journeys through

deep and distant mountain highways.

The prophet grew old,

and so did his wife Sarah.

One day when he was sitting

outside his house,

he saw three men coming

towards his house.

The three men were actually

angels sent by Allah (swt).

The prophet welcome them

inside to have food.

The strangers went in

and sat down for food.

The Prophet served

them a roasted calf!

But the strangers did not

touch the food at all.

The prophet started to fear.

Then the angels

comforted the prophet

and asked him not

to fear at all.

They told him that they were actually

the angels sent by Allah (swt).

They informed him that

they came to his house

to deliver a good news.

They said that Allah (swt)

was going to give them a son,

and that he should

name him Ishaaq.

They also told him that his

son would be a prophet.

Sarah could not

believe her ears!

How could that be true”

 she wondered.

“I am so old”

Then the angels said, all these things

are possible with Allah (swt).

After a few months,

Sarah got pregnant and

gave birth to a child!

The prophet named

him Ishaaq(as),

as the angels told him.

After a few years,

Prophet Ibrahim missed his

son Ismail (as) badly,

so he went to see him.

But when the prophet reached

the house of Ismail (as),

he was not at home.

His wife came out,

and when the prophet asked

her about Ismail(as),

she replied

“He has gone in search

of livelihood”.

He then asked her how was

their living conditions,

to which she started

complaining about everything!

She complained that they were

living in misery and hardship,

and many other things.

She was not at all grateful to

the blessings of Allah (swt)

The prophet realized

that she was not at all

a suitable wife for his son,

so left her a message that

his son would understand.

“When your husband returns

convey my salutations to him”

he said

“and also tell him to change the

threshold of the gate”.

The prophet then went

back to his home.

When Ismail(as) returned

home in the evening,

he felt something unusual

“Did anyone visit us today?”

he asked her.

She replied, yes, and

passed on the message.

When Ismail(as)

heard the message,

he realized that

it was his father

who visited him that day,

and he understood the

message that he gave her.

“It was my father,

and he has advised

me to divorce you.

You can go back to your family”

He told her.

His wife went back to her house,

and Ismail (as) married

another woman.

After a long time,

Prophet Ibrahim (as) again

missed his son badly,

so he visited his new

house once again.

When he arrived,

it was his new wife who

answered the door.

The prophet asked

the same questions

he had asked his former wife.

But this time when she answered,

the prophet realized that she was

a very grateful and kind woman.

She kept thanking Allah(swt)

for the wonderful

things going on around,

and the prophet was very happy.

“When your husband comes home,

give him my regards”

The prophet told Ismail’s wife.

He also added

“And also tell him that he should keep

the threshold of this gate firm”.

He left after asking her to

deliver this secret message

In the evening, when

Ismail (as)came back,

he asked his wife if anyone

had come to visit him.

When his wife told him about

the prophet and the message,

Ismail (as) was very happy.

“it was my father” 

said Ismail

“and you are the

threshold of the gate.

He asked me to keep

you with me forever”

said the prophet happily!!

Prophet Ibrahim (as) lived for One

hundred and seventy five years!

He lived a life full of trials

but he had a strong

faith in Allah (swt)!!

The life of Prophet Ibrahim (as)

teaches us to love Allah

(swt) unconditionally.

Even though there are more than 

25 prophets mentioned in the Quran

Allah mentions only two prophets

ideal for whole humanity,

and they were: Prophet

Muhammed (as),

and Prophet Ibrahim (as)

Masha Allah!

That was such an amazing story!

Hmm.. So you liked the

story of Ibrahim(as)?

I loved it Baba!

Ha haa.. Alright, now let me ask you

a few questions from the story.

Shall I?

Go ahead

Tell me the names of the mountains

that Hajar (ra) ran across?

Hmmm.. They were Al

Safa and Al Marwah

That’s the right answer.

Now tell me how the travelers

found the prophet's wife.

I’ll give you three options.

Option A) They saw animals

running towards the mountain.

Option B) They saw water

flowing down the mountain.

Option C) They saw birds

flying above the mountain

It was option C!

Hmm..! The travelers saw the

birds flying above the mountain!

Haha..That’s right again!

The next question.

How did God test Ibrahim (as)?

I know that one.

God asked Ibrahim (as) to sacrifice

his only son Ismail (as)

And did he sacrifice his son?

No! Just before the sacrifice,

God told the prophet

that he was testing him,

and God send a sheep

instead for the sacrifice

Masha Allah, that’s

the right answer.

You are doing great my son.

Thank you baba

Why did the color of the stone

that the angels brought

turn from white to black?

Hmm.. It was because of the sins

commited by the people on earth.

Excellent!

And now for the last question,

what was the name of the

second son of the prophet?

It was Ishaaq (as)!

Isn't that right baba?

Yes my son, that’s

the right answer.

That’s all for today.

Insha Allah! I will tell you the

story of another prophet tomorrow

Which story are you going

to tell me tomorrow?

Insha Allah!I will tell you the story

of Prophet Ismail (as) tomorrow

Thanks Baba!

Good night!

Good night!