سيدنا محمد

named Ishmael. Some time later Allah promised Abraham
another son, but this time the mother of the child would be his
first wife, Sarah. This second son would be called Isaac. Allah
also told Abraham that from his two sons-Ishmael and Isaac-
two nations and three religions would be founded and because
of this he must take Hagar and Ishmael away from Palestine to
a new land. These events were an important part of Allah's
plan, for the descendants of Ishmael would form a nation from
which would come a great Prophet, who would guide the
people in the way of Allah. This was to be Muhammad (pbuh),
the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). From the descendants of
Sarah's child, Isaac, would come Moses and Jesus.
So it was that Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael left Palestine.
They traveled for many days until finally they reached the arid
valley of Bacca later to be called Mecca), which was on one of
the great caravan routes. There was no water in the valley and
although Hagar and Ishmael only had a small supply of water
left, Abraham left them there knowing Allah would take care of
them. Soon all the water was gone. The child began to grow
weak from thirst. There were two hills nearby, one called Safa
and the other Marwah. Hagar went up one hill and looked into
the distance to see if she could find any water, but found
none. So she went to the other hill and did the same. She did
this seven times. Then sadly she returned to her son, and to
her great surprise and joy she found a spring of water
bubbling out of the earth near him. This spring, near which the
mother and child settled, was later called Zamzam. The area
around it became a place of rest for the caravans travelling
across the desert and in time grew into the famous trading city
of Mecca.
From time to time Abraham traveled from Palestine to visit
his family and he saw Ishmael grow into a strong young man.
It was during one of these visits that Allah commanded them
to rebuild the Ka'bah-the very first place where people had
worshipped Allah. They were told exactly where and how to
build it. It was to be erected by the well of Zamzam and built
in the shape of a cube. In its eastern corner was to be placed a
black stone that had fallen to earth from heaven. An angel