Page 44 - Demo

Chapter II40The Question of the Birthright and the CovenantThere is a very, very ancient religious dispute between the Ishmaelites and the Israelites about the questions concerning the Birthright and the Covenant. The readers of the Bible and the Quran are familiar with the story of the great Prophet Abraham and his two sons Ishmael (Ismá’íl)and Isaac (Isháq) (pbut). The story of Abraham (pbuh) s call from the Ur of the Chaldees, and that of his descendants until the death of his grandson Joseph (pbuh) in Egypt, is written in the Book of Genesis (chapter›s xi.-1). In his genealogy as recorded in Genesis, Abraham is the twentieth fromAdam and a contemporary of Nimrod, who built the stupendous Tower of Babel.The early story of Abraham (pbuh) in the Ur of Chaldea, though not mentioned in the Bible, is recorded by the famous Jewish historian Joseph (pbuh) Flavius inhis Antiquities and is also confirmed by the Quran. But the Bible expressly tells us that the father of Abraham (pbuh), Terah, was an idolater (Jos. xxiv. 2, 14). Abraham (pbuh) 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 Muhammad (pbuh). 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 Hārān in the company of his father and his nephew Lot. He was seventy-five years old when his father died at Hārān. 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 Sáráh is barren; yet God announces to him that he is destined to become the father of many