Обсуждение:Исма‘иль
Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān / Ishmael
Pre-Islamic prophet, named in the Bible as the son of Abraham (q.v.) and Hagar and the eponymous father of the Ishmaelites (a confederacy of Arab tribes; see tribes and clans ). Ishmael (Ismāʿīl) is mentioned twelve times in as many verses of the Qurʾān. In most of these, he is listed among other prophets as part of a litany of remembrances in which the pre-Islamic prophets are praised for their resolute steadfastness (see trust and patience ) and obedience (q.v.) to God, often in the face of adversity (see trial ). The subtext of these litanies is Muḥammad's position as authentic prophet (nabī) or messenger (q.v.; rasūl) in the line of authentic prophets or messengers of God (see prophets and prophethood ). Ishmael is generally listed in the following formula: “Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac (q.v.), Jacob (q.v.) and the tribes” ( q 2:136, 140; 3:84; 4:63), and in q 2:133 as “Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac.” In some lists, however, Ishmael is missing from the reference to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ( q 6:84; 12:38; 19:49; 21:72; 29:27; ¶ 38:45) and in others he is found in association with other pre-Islamic prophets: al-Yasaʿ ( Elisha?, q.v.), Jonah (q.v.) and Lot (q.v.; q 6:86); Idrīs (q.v.) and Dhū l-Kifl (q.v.; q 21:85); and al-Yasaʿ and Dhū l-Kifl ( q 38:48). This has led certain Western scholars to suggest, despite some evidence to the contrary, that the lists in which Ishmael is not associated with Abraham represent earlier Meccan material that recognized the prophethood of Ishmael but did not connect him with the Abraham family. Accordingly, the lists in which Ishmael is mentioned in association with the family of Abraham are considered by some to represent later Medinan material that had been more thoroughly influenced by biblical lore and tradition (see chronology and the qurʾān; scripture and the qurʾān).
Little additional information can be gleaned from the few references to Ishmael outside of the lists. He is named specifically as a messenger and prophet in q 19:54, where he is also singled out as being true to his promise ( ṣādiq al-waʿd). The use of this expression suggests that this verse may in fact refer to a personage other than the Ishmael known from the Bible. In the following verse he is said to have ordained worship (q.v.) and almsgiving (q.v.) for his people.
Two verses associate Ishmael and his father Abraham with the Meccan Kaʿba (q.v.). q 2:125 and 127 form part of a larger pericope in which Abraham, known in the Hebrew Bible as a founder of sacred shrines (cf. Gen 12:7-8; 13:3-4; 21:33), purifies with Ishmael the location of God's great Arabian shrine, referred to in the Qurʾān as “the house” (al- bayt, see house, domestic and divine ). Because Ishmael is associated with Abraham's raising up its foundations ( q 2:127) as well as its purification ( q 2:125), he is clearly identified with this shrine — although secondarily — with ¶ Abraham appearing overwhelmingly as the central figure. A third verse, q 14:39, seems to connect both Ishmael and Isaac with the Kaʿba in Abraham's prayer. This verse, however, may have been placed in association with the prayer of Abraham found in q 14:37, which does indeed refer to God's house, during the redaction process (see collection of the qurʾān ) because of its thematic parallel (see form and structure of the qurʾān ).
Contrary to popular belief, Ishmael is nowhere identified in the Qurʾān as Abraham's intended sacrificial victim (al- dhabīḥ, see q 37:99-111; cf. Gen 22:1-18). No name is provided in the qurʾānic narrative itself, while Isaac is mentioned immediately thereafter ( q 37:112-3). Two schools of interpretation developed, one supportive of Isaac and the other of Ishmael as the intended sacrifice. By the early tenth century, the Ishmael school became the most popular.
- Bibliography
- Primary
Masʿūdī, Murūj, ed. and trans. Ch. Pellat, i, 35-6
Ṭabarī, The history of al-Ṭabarī. ii. Prophets and patriarchs, trans. W. Brinner, Albany, NY 1987, 48-131
id., Taʾrīkh, ed. de Goeje, i, 253-351
al-Ṭarafī, Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad, Storie dei profeti, trans. R. Tottoli, Genoa 1997, 232-5
- Secondary
R. Bell, The sacrifice of Ishmael, in Transactions of the Glasgow University Oriental Society 10 (1940-1), 29-31
N. Calder, From midrash to scripture. The sacrifice of Abraham in early Islamic tradition, in Muséon 101 (1988), 375-402
id., The saʾy and the jabīn. Some notes on Qurʾān 37:102-3, in jss 31 (1986), 17-26
R. Dagorn, La geste d'Ismael, Paris 1981
R. Firestone, Abraham's son as the intended sacrifice (al-dhabīḥ, Qurʾān 37:99-113).
Issues in qurʾānic exegesis, in jss 89 (1989), 95-131
id., Journeys in holy lands. The evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael legends in Islamic exegesis, Albany, NY 1990
M. Hayek, Le mystère d'Ismael, Paris 1964
H. Lazarus-Yafeh, Intertwined worlds. Medieval Islam and Bible criticism, Princeton 1992, see Index
Y. Moubarac, Abraham dans le¶ Coran, Paris 1958
R. Paret, Ismāʿīl, in ei2, iv, 184-5
U. Rubin, Between Bible and Qurʾān. The children of Israel and the Islamic self-image, Princeton 1999, see Index
Speyer, Erzählungen, 164-6, 170-2
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