Prophet Isaac (a.s.)
A women's joy is great and she becomes
very happy when she gives birth to her first child especially when she
has become old and was complaining of the bitterness of being deprived
of children. Sarah, Abraham's wife welcomed her first child Isaac with
big joy and unlimited happiness. Isaac's birth was not an ordinary
event, but it had the mark of an outstanding event especially that the
angels predicted it and mentioned at the same time his son Yacoob.
The outstanding feature of such an
event lies in the fact that Sarah became pregnant after she reached old
age and her hair became white. Between dream and reality, pain and
despair, the glad news are achieved and the miracle happens: Isaac is
born after several long years from the birth of his brother Ishmael, son
of Hajar who was the slave girl of Sarah, Hajar whom Abraham married in
order to comply with his wife's desire, Sarah.
Isaac (Peace be with him) grows up in the gardens of prophecy under the
supervision of his father Abraham.
"The faith of your father Abraham (is yours). He hath named you
Muslims of old time..."
hen Isaac reached manhood, so his
father got him married to a woman who gave birth to several children,
then she died. Isaac married after her a woman who is related to him
and gave birth to Yacoob (Peace be with him). Abraham (Peace be with
him) and his wife Sarah witness the life of their son in his childhood,
his youth and his marriage and they live together in the same home and
God confers upon them purity and serenity:
"The mercy of Allah and his blessings be
upon you, O people of the house."
Years passed over and Isaac (Peace be
with him) assumed the responsibility after Abraham's death and he was
entrusted with the continuation of his father's mission. So Isaac
followed the way of his father and was among God's selected prophets,
calling to the reality of faith in God and managing with justice,
guiding people to the right course and filling his time with prayer and
worship until he become old. And when he felt tired unable to bear the
burden of worries, he called his son Yacoob and said to him: "God
gave me a big gift when you were born, and he made you a person of good
character and conferred upon you good qualities that constitute a strong
evidence of his power: Are not cleanliness and purity evidences of the
existence of the Creator? Moreover, God granted me a favor: He made
you intelligent and sociable"
Then Isaac kept silent for a
while, and he continued:
"Such qualities, advantages and
virtue were among the reasons of my unhappiness since your youth... do
not be astonished my son, I am not like other fathers who are happy when
they see their sons enjoy good qualities...Moreover your qualities were
the origin of my fear and unhappiness."
Yacoob could no more bear what he is
hearing, so he bowed to kiss his father's hand and bowed on his
father's chest to fill it with tears saying:
"I am ready to sacrifice my
life for you o tender father! What sin did I commit so that I made your
life uneasy and your mind worrying... Forgive me, o my father! And
tell me about my wrong deed in order to avoid and make you happy."
Isaac was upset to see his son
suffer, so he pulled him towards his heart, holding his tears with his
lips and tranquilizing him with gentle words saying to him:
"You are relieving my distress and
discarding my worries when you are near me. You are the tenderness that
covers me and the hope that accompanies me...
I did not weep for any of your deeds, but the cause lies in your elder
brother who has bad intentions towards you and shows hostility to
you... He feels secure because he is strong and has parents who support
him, but who will help you if he uses violence and treachery against
you? This is the reason of my suffering and it is still destroying me."
"-But I did nothing to make him
hate me."
"-Yes, my son but it is covetousness that tempted him and jealousy
which is about to kill him."
"-In case my brother will do harm to me, I will extend to him the hand
of brotherhood, a hand full of tenderness and affection."
"-O my son! You are a good brother, but your life is in danger and for
this reason I called you to come to me so that I will give you my last
will in this life."
"-O my father! I am at your order and you shall find me always
obedient to you."
"-Listen well to what I say to you"...
Yacoob listened while looking with sadness to his father who said:
" I have reached my last days and God made you a prophet; so I suggest
that after my death, you go to Aramin Iraq; there you will find your
uncle Laban, son of Betwil. You can marry one of his daughters and
remain at his home for a certain time, then return to this land to
continue the mission of your fathers and grandfathers: Guiding people
towards agreement, helping the oppressed, punishing the unjust,
spreading the flags of justice."
"I ask the Most High God to safeguard you... I hope that you will
lead a good life and have a pure posterity better than that of your
brother."
This was Isaac's will as entrusted to
his son Yacoob so that he will leave this life satisfied.
As far as Yacoob is concerned, he was upset to realize the bad
intentions of his brother against him and he was sad to learn that his
father will leave this life in his last days...
Days passed over while Yacoob was hesitating to remain in his land or
to prepare himself for going away. The father felt about the hesitation
of his son, so he calls him and said:
"-O my son! It is the will of
your father and I am sure you will respect such a will so why are you
hesitating? Decide to go with the dawn and God will help you, and the
angels will accompany you"...
"-But o my father!"
"-I know what you want to say, my son... Do not let me die deploring a
hope that helped me to live."
When the sun rose the next day, Yacoob
went away. People came to see his father Isaac who was happy,
satisfied, as though his soul, clinging to a hidden secret, went to swim
in an unknown settlement.
Such is the prophet's life, it is full with pains and perseverance
until it reaches the time when the prophet has to go to heavens, then he
disappears from this world and settles in light and radiance.
This information was extracted from:
1. Samih Atef El-Zein. Isaac, Yacob, Yousef, Ayoub, Shouaib.
Published by Dar Al-Kitab Allubnani. Beirut, Lebanon, 1983. |