The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 98
Seal of the Prophets - Volume I 98 a transposition of words. Similarly, the Bible states that after God proscribed Abraham as from slaying his son, He addressed Abraham as saying, “Since you have not hesitated in slaying your only son in the way of God, I shall now bless your offspring abundantly, and all the nations of the world shall be blessed through your progeny. ” 1 It is apparent from these words that the actual sacrificial offering was the son, from whose progeny that magnificent prophet was destined to be born, who without the distinctions of nationality and country was to be sent for the whole world. Of course, it is obvious that this covenant was fulfilled by the advent of the Holy Prophet sa , because, it was this very prophet who was commissioned to the entire world. Therefore, the Holy Prophet sa states, “Prior to me, prophets were commissioned to their particular nations alone, but I have been sent to all the nations of the world. ” 2 As compared to this proclamation, the statement of the last prophet of the Banī Isrā’īl, Jesus Christ is worthy of mention, in which he says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” 3 and also that, “I have not come to cast the children’s [i. e. , children of Isaac] bread before the dogs [i. e. , other nations]. ” 4 The limited jurisdiction of the Israelite prophets and in comparison, the universal prophethood of the Holy Prophet sa is categorical evidence of the fact that the promise of giving blessings to all the nations which was bestowed upon Abraham as as a reward for the sacrifice of his son, was not fulfilled through the progeny of Isaac as , rather by the children of Ishmael as. Therefore, the sacrificial offering was in fact Ishmael as and not Isaac as. Prior to the conclusion of this discussion, it is necessary to respond to another allegation which is levelled against the person of Hagar as by various prejudiced Christians. The accusation is that Hagar as was merely a slave-girl and that the actual wife of Abraham as was Sarah as , thus, the Holy Prophet sa is the descendant of a slave-girl. In relation to this accusation, the first aspect which should be kept in mind is that this allegation is levelled merely on the foundation of malice and enmity. The same mouth, at the same time, cannot possibly level both these charges, namely that the Holy Prophet sa is not the 1 Refer to Genesis (22:16-18) (Publishers ) 2 Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitābuṣ-Ṣalāt, Bābu Qaulin-Nabī sa Ju‘ilat liyal-Arḍu, Ḥadīth No. 438 3 Matthew (15:24) 4 Mark (7:27)