One day, Abraham woke up and asked his wife Hajar to get her son and prepare for a long
journey. In a few days Abraham started out with his wife Hajar and their son Ishmael. The child
was still nursing and not yet weaned. Abraham walked through cultivated land, desert, and
mountains until he reached the desert of the Arabian Peninsula and came to an uncultivated valley having no fruit, no trees, no food, no water.
The valley had no sign of life. After Abraham had helped his wife and child to dismount, he left them with a small amount of food and water which was hardly enough for 2 days. He turned around and walked away. He wife hurried after him asking: “Where are you going Abrahim, leaving us in this barren valley?”
Abraham did not answer her, but continued walking. She repeated what she had said, but he
remained silent. Finally she understood that he was not acting on his own initiative. she realized that Allah had commanded him to do this. She asked him : “Did Allah command you to do so?”
He replied: “Yes.” Then his great wife said: “We are not going to be lost, since Allah Who has
commanded you is with us.”
Abraham invoked Almighty Allah thus:
“O Our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley with no cultivation, by Your Sacred House (the Ka’ba at Mecca); in order, O our Lord, that they may offer prayers perfectly (Iqamat as salat) so fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and O Allah provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks. O our Lord! Certainly, You know what we conceal and what we reveal. Nothing on the earth or in the heavens is hidden from Allah.” (Ch 14:37-38)
Hajar and Ishmael – Narrated by Ibn Abbas
Ibn Abbas narrated: “The first lady to use a girdle was the mother of Ishmael. She used a girdle so that she might hide her tracks from Sarah (by dragging it). Abraham brought her and her son Ishmael while she was suckling him to a place near the Kaba under a tree on the spot of ZamZam at the highest place in the mosque. During those days there was nobody in Mecca, nor was there any water so he made them sit over there and placed near them a leather bag containing some dates and a small water skin containing some water and set out homeward. Ishmael’s mother followed him saying:
“O Abraham! Where are you going, leaving us in this valley where there is no person whose
company we may enjoy, nor is there anything to enjoy?” she repeated that to him many times, but he did not look back at her. Then she asked him : “Has Allah ordered you to do so?” He said: “Yes.” She then said: “Then He will not neglect us,” and returned while Abraham proceeded onwards. On reaching the Thaniya where they could not see him, he faced the Kaba and raising both hands, invoked Allah saying the following prayers:
“O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House (Kaba at Mecca) in order, O our Lord that they may offer prayer perfectly. So fill some hearts among men with love towards them, and O Allah provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks.” (Ch 14:37)
Ibn Abbas’s narration continued; “Ishmael’s mother went on suckling Ishmael and drinking from the water (she had) When the water in the water skin had been used up, she became thirsty and her child also became thirsty, She started looking at him (Ishmael) tossing in agony.
She left him, for she could not endure looking at him, and found that the mountain of As-Safa was the nearest mountain to her on that land. she too on it and started looking at the valley keenly so that she might see somebody, but she could not see anybody. Then she descended for As Safa and when she reached the valley, she tucked up her robe and ran in the valley like a person in distress and trouble till she crossed the valley and reached the mountain of Al Marwa.
There she stood and started looking expecting to see somebody, but she could not see anybody. She repeated that running between Safa And Marwa seven times.”
Hajar sees Zam-zam -told by Prophet Muhammad
The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “This is the source of the tradition of the Sa’y (rituals of the hajj, pilgrimage) the going of people between them (As-Safa and Al-Marwa). When she reached Al Marwa (for the last time) she heard a voice and she asked herself to be quiet and listened attentively.
She heard the voice again and said: “O whoever you maybe! You have made me hear
your voice; have you got something to help me?” And behold! She saw an angel at the place of Zam zam, digging the earth with his heel (or his wing) till water flowed from that place. She
started to make something like a basin around it, using her hand in this way, and started filling her water skin with water with her hands and the water was flowing out water she had scooped some of it.”
The Prophet (pbuh) added: “May Allah bestow mercy on Ishmael’s mother! Had she let the zam-zam flow without trying to control it, or had she not scooped from that water to fill her water skin, Zam zam would have been a stream flowing on the surface of the earth.”
Makka is Settled – Told by Prophet Muhammad
The Prophet (pbuh) continued: “Then she drank water and suckled her child. The angel said to
her: “Don’t be afraid of being neglected, for this is the House of Allah which will be built by this
boy and his father, and Allah never neglects His people.” The House (Kaba) at that time was on a high place resembling a hillock, and when torrents came, they flowed to its right and left. “She lived in that way till some people from the tribe of Jurhum or a family from Jurhum passed by her and her child as they (the Jurhum people) were coming through the way of Kada.
they landed in the lower part of Mecca where they saw a bird that had the habit of flying around water and not leaving it. they said: “this bird must be flying around water, though we know that there is no water in this valley.” They sent one or two messengers who discovered the source of water and returned to inform them of the water. So they all came towards the water.
Ishmael’s mother was sitting near the water. They asked her: “Do you allow us to stay with you?” She replied: “Yes, but you will have no right to possess the water.” They agreed to that. Ishmael’s mother was pleased with the whole situation, as she used to love to enjoy the company of the people, so they settled there, and later on they sent for their families who came and settled with them so that some families became permanent residents there.
The child (Ishmael) grew up and learned Arabic from them and (his virtues) caused them to love and admire him as he grew up and when he reached the age of puberty they made him marry a woman from amongst them.”