The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 228
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH with Abraham before the birth of Isaac and after Ishmael had been born, which shows that it applied to Ishmael and his children. (2) "And the angel of the Lord said unto her (Ishmael's mother), I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man (it appears that here some expression like "Arab" or the dweller of a desert country, has been translated as "wild"); his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren"; i. e. , although all will constantly oppose him and be jealous of him, yet he will succeed (Gen. 16:10-12). (3) Further evidence of Ishmael and his posterity being included in the covenant which God established between Himself and Abraham and his seed after him is furnished by Gen. 17:6-8 which says, "And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. " Now, has not the land of 228 PT. 1 Canaan remained in the possession of the Ishmaelites for over 1,300 years? If the Arab Muslims are not the seed of Abraham, why has Canaan continued in their possession for so long? (4) Again in Gen. 17:18-20, we read: "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! and God said,. . . And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. " It will thus be seen that the promises made for Ishmael similar to those made for Isaac; nay, they are even greater in number, for, with regard to Ishmael, God says, (a) "I have blessed him"; (b) "I will make him fruitful"; (c) "I will multiply him exceedingly"; (d) "twelve princes shall he beget"; and (e) "I will make him a great nation". are (5) Further evidence of the fact that Ishmael was included in God's covenant is furnished by the fact that circumcision which was instituted by God as a token of His covenant with Abraham and his seed after him, has continued among the descendants of Ishmael. Though Islam also enjoined it, yet it was already in vogue among the Arabs, which shows that they were the seed of Abraham and were consequently included in the covenant of which circumcision was instituted as a symbol. In order to exclude Ishmael from God's covenant, Christian writers