3.3 To Mecca-Bait Al Maqdis

To Mecca
Things became very difficult for Ibraheem and almost everyone was against him. His people, the king, and even his own father were angry about his attitude towards their gods. He decided to travel to a different city where he can worship Allah alone without associating anything to him. He then packaged his belongings, said his farewell to his father, and left his own land Babylonia.

Ibraheem has became aged after spending many years worshiping Allah alone and calling people to follow his way of worship. But he was not yet father because his wife and only follower, Sarah, was sterile. While departing from Egypt to Palestine, Sarah was offered a female-slave, an Egyptian Coptic girl called "Hajar". After spending many years in Jerusalem, his wife Sarah told him, "As Allah deprived me of children, you may marry Hajar, hoping that she begets children to you."

He then married Hajar who became pregnant. She started feeling proud over her mistress Sarah who began to get jealous. Hajar gave birth to a boy that Ibraheem named "Ismael". Sarah became more jealous of Hajar. She complained to Ibraheem and requested that he get Hajar far of her sight. He answered her request and took Hajar and her son Ismael to a far place which is the present Mecca.

3.3 To Mecca-Bait Al Maqdis

He stayed at Mecca for some time and then left his wife Hajar and his son Ismael. It was reported that when he was about to leave, Hajar asked him: "Where are you going? Are you going to leave us here? Are you going to leave us here when there is neither food nor water? As he did not reply to her, she asked him: "Has Allah commanded you to do this?" He said: "yes", and she then concluded that "He will not let us die." Ibraheem walked till he was hidden from her and then faced the House (Ka'bah) and raised his hands supplicating to Allah to take care of his family, "O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Thy Sacred House; in order, O our Lord, that they may establish regular Prayer: so fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them, and feed them with Fruits: so that they may give thanks." (Ch 14: 37). He has left with them a skin of water and a basket of dates.

3.3 To Mecca-Bait Al Maqdis

Zam Zam's well
Hajar and her son Ismael stayed there alone in that uninhabited place. When the water finished, they felt thirsty. The baby began crying of thirst. She then went searching water for her son. She climbed the nearest mountain Mount Safa looking out for any human being around that can help her with water for her baby. She saw no one, so she descended, crossed the valley, reached Mount Marwa and climbed it but saw nobody around. She repeated going forth and back between these two mountains seven times.

Ibn Abbaas reports that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "For this reason people have to walk hastily between them (Safa and Marwa). When she was near Mount Marwa, she heard a sound and said, 'Heatken!' (talking to herself). She then listened attentively and heard the same sound. She then directed her speech to the sound saying, 'I have heard you, so appear if you can help'. She then found the angel in the location of the Well of Zamzam. The angel dug the ground with his heal or with his wing until water sprung out. She went on limiting it from the four directions and took handfuls of water and put it in her container, while water kept gushing out every time she took a handful."

Hajar and her son drank. They lived there for some time before a group of people from a tribe called "Jurhum" passing by and found them. They request her permission to settle down with her near the water. She accepted but told them that she is the one who has the right over the water. They accepted her condition and this was how Mecca was established.

3.3 To Mecca-Bait Al Maqdis

Ibraheem's dream
During the stay of Hajar and Ismael at Mecca, Ibraheem was visiting them from time to time. On the first visit, he was very happy with his son who began to run, play, and go around with his father. Then another struggle totally different from all what Ibraheem has faced in the past came: he dreamed that he sacrificed his son Ismael. While the past struggles were between him and the disbelievers, this one is a true test for Ibraheem himself. Allah chose him as "His Close Friend" but now he loved his son Ismael very much: so Allah wanted to test him and see which one would he sacrifice for the other between his love for Allah and his love for his son.

Ibraheem was a Prophet and the dream of Prophets is truth. So he firmly decided to implement what Allah had commanded him in the dream. He wanted first to see what is the opinion of his son and asked him, "I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you. So what do you think?" His son Ismael replied: "My father, do what you are commanded. Allah willing, you will find me one of the steadfast." Ch 37: 102).

Ibraheem took his son, a knife and went to Mina where Ismael lay down on the ground ready to be sacrificed by his own father in order fulfill Allah's command. Once he put the knife on the throat of his son, Ibraheem has already passed the test because he has proved that he loved Allah more than his son. Then Allah sent the angel Gabriel with a sheep from the Garden which he sacrificed instead of his own son. Allah rewarded him and ordered the Muslims to make a sacrifice annually in remembrance of this pure monotheist family and blessed Ibraheem's descendants from whom there were many Prophets and kings thereafter.

3.3 To Mecca-Bait Al Maqdis

Al Ka'ba
After a long time away, Ibraheem visited Ismael again at Mecca after the death of Hajar. This time he informed his son that Allah has ordered him to build a house "Ka'ba" at Mecca and he needed the cooperation of his son. Ismael assured him that he would give him his assistance in implementing Allah's command. They then started working; they carried stones from around Mecca and built the Ka'ba while remembering Allah and asking him to accept this from them, "Our Lord, accept this from us! You are the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing!" (Ch 2: 127).

Once again, Allah accepted this work from Ibraheem's family and blessed the Ka'ba. Toady, millions of Muslims are facing the Ka'ba in each of the five daily prayers from all parts of the globe. Other millions are traveling to it annually in order to perform the pilgrimage 'Hajj' and go around the Ka'ba in 'tawaf'. They also walk hastily seven times between the mount "Safa" and "Marwa" in remembrance of Ibraheem's wife Hajar while she was looking for water for her son Ismael.

3.3 To Mecca-Bait Al Maqdis

Bait Al Maqdis
When Ibraheem was away from Hajar and Ismael at Mecca, he stayed at 'Bait Al Maqdis-Jerusalem" with his other wife "Sarah". After 13 years of Ismael's birth by Hajar, Allah the Most Merciful granted Sarah a so whose name was Ishaq. Ibrahim, Sarah, and Ishaq lived in Palestine (Bait Al Maqdis-Jerusalem) while Hajar and Ismael lived in Mecca and Ibraheem visited them from time to time.

Ishaq erected a house for Allah in Palestine just as his father and brother had done in Mecca. It is in 'Bait Al Maqdis-Jerusalem' and it is known today as "Al-Aqsa Mosque" which Allah blessed the land around it. Ismael, Ishaq, and their sons were blessed by Allah and there were Prophets and kings among them. Ishaq had a son named Ya'qub who was a Prophet and had twelve sons, including Yusuf ibn Ya'qub whose wonderful story was fully narrated to us in the Holy Quran.