Differences Between the Two Versions
According to the Muslim version:
Hagar and Ishmael were taken away because of a specific divine instruction given to Abraham as part of the divine plan. When the time came, prophethood was to shift from the Israelites to the Ishmaelites, after the rejection of the last Israelite prophet, Jesus, by the Israelites.
Hagar and Ishmael were taken to the wilderness of Arabia, specifically to Makkah (Mecca) and not to Beet Sheba.
This incident took place before the birth of Isaac and not after, when Ishmael was a baby, which is a further confirmation of the real reason for Hagar and Ishmael’s apparent exile as stated in the first difference.
Analysis of Differences
Is reconciliation of these differences possible? Let’s focus on the last difference, namely did this incident take place before or after Isaac’s birth?
If we were to accept the Biblical version, we would encounter a number of inconsistencies and contradictions.
It is abundantly clear from the story in Gen. 21:14-19 that Ishmael was a little baby at the time. Following is the documentation of this statement:
According to Gen. 16:16 Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. And according to Gen. 21:5 Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born. It follows that Ishmael was already fourteen years old when his younger brother Isaac was born.
According to Gen. 21:14-19, the incident took place after Isaac was weaned. Biblical scholars tell us that “the child was weaned about the age of three”.
It follows that when Hagar and Ishmael were taken away Ishmael was a full grown teenager seventeen years old.
The profile of Ishmael in Gen. 21:14-19, however, is that of a small baby and not of a teenager. Why?
First: According to The Interpreter’s Bible, the original Hebrew for Gen. 21:14 was “... and put the child upon her shoulder”. The same reading is rendered in the Revised Standard Edition of the Bible.
How would a mother carry a seventeen year old teenager “upon her shoulder”? Certainly he was strong enough to carry his mother! Ishmael must have been a baby!
Second: In Gen. 21:15 we are told that Hagar “cast” the child under one of the shrubs, Again, according to this Biblical text Ishmael must have been a baby and not a teenager.
Third: In Gen. 21:16 we are told that Hagar sat away so that she may not see the death of the child before her own eyes. Is that a profile of a husky seventeen year old teenager who probably was capable of being worried about his mother dying before his eyes? Or is it obviously a profile of a small helpless baby or at most a small child?
Fourth: According to Gen. 21:17, the angels told Hagar “arise, lift up the lad”. Is a seventeen year old young man a proper object to be “lifted up” by a woman? Or is that a reference to a small child or a baby?
Fifth: In Gen. 21:19, we are told that Hagar went to fill the bottle with water “and give the lad a drink”. One would expect a strong young man of seventeen to go and bring water to his mother instead.
The above analysis leads to the inevitable conclusion that while the Bible contains some truths as explained earlier, there is also evidence of human additions, deletions, and interpolations which only a subsequent authentic revelation (The Qur’an) could clear. The Islamic version of the story is fully consistent and coherent from A to Z; Ishmael was a baby and Isaac was not born yet when this incident took place. This coherence and consistency are confirmed by centuries-old traditions and even actual locations in Makkah (Mecca) where Hagar and Ishmael settled. This clearly implies that the real reason behind their settlement in Arabia (Paran) was not the dictation, jealousy, ego or sense of racial superiority on the part of Sarah. It was rather God’s plan; pure and simple. |