PART 2 : Ibrahim AS: Khalil Allah, The Friend of Allah

5 min readJun 12, 2024

The Prophet’s Hadith on Migration

The Prophet (ﷺ) said,

“The Prophet (AS) Abraham emigrated with Sarah and entered a village where there was a king or a tyrant. (The king) was told that Abraham had entered (the village) accompanied by a woman who was one of the most charming women.
So, the king sent for Abraham and asked, ‘O Abraham! Who is this lady accompanying you?’ Abraham replied, ‘She is my sister (i.e. in religion).’
Then Abraham returned to her and said, ‘Do not contradict my statement, for I have informed them that you are my sister. By Allah, there are no true believers on this land except you and I.’
Then Abraham sent her to the king. When the king got to her, she got up and performed ablution, prayed and said, ‘O Allah! If I have believed in You and Your Apostle, and have saved my private parts from everybody except my husband, then please do not let this pagan overpower me.’
On that the king fell in a mood of agitation and started moving his legs. Seeing the condition of the king, Sarah said, ‘O Allah! If he should die, the people will say that I have killed him.’
The king regained his power, and proceeded towards her but she got up again and performed ablution, prayed and said, ‘O Allah! If I have believed in You and Your Apostle and have kept my private parts safe from all except my husband, then please do not let this pagan overpower me.’
The king again fell in a mood of agitation and started moving his legs. On seeing that state of the king, Sarah said, ‘O Allah! If he should die, the people will say that I have killed him.’
The king got either two or three attacks, and after recovering from the last attack he said, ‘By Allah! You have sent a satan to me. Take her to Abraham and give her Ajar.’ So she came back to Abraham and said, ‘Allah humiliated the pagan and gave us a slave-girl for service.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 2217

Hajar and the Birth of Isma’il

As the months went by, Sarah realized she couldn’t bear children and offered Hajar to Ibrahim AS. Ibrahim AS and Hajar married, and Sarah prayed for them to have descendants. As Ibrahim AS aged, Hajar gave birth to Isma’il AS, their first child.

The Journey to the Desert

Sensing Allah SWT’s command, Ibrahim AS took Hajar and Isma’il into the desert, leaving them with minimal provisions. Hajar ran after Ibrahim AS and asked him why he was leaving them alone in an empty place.

Ibrahim AS remained silent and continued to leave. Hajar realised that Allah SWT had commanded Ibrahim AS to do this. She put her trust in Him.

The Miracle of Zamzam

As Isma’il began to cry because he needed milk, Hajar went to a hill called Al Marwa, thinking she would meet people. Unfortunately, there was no sign of civilisation.
She ran back and forth seven times from the Marwa hill to the Safa hill.

Arriving at Al Marwa for the last time, Hajar heard a voice and saw an angel digging in the earth until a spring of Zamzam water gushed out.

Bedouins nearby, seeing birds circling, approached, finding Hajar and the water, and settled with her.

They met Hajar and asked if they could drink some water from the spring. Hajar agreed and that’s how people came to settle with Hajar and how civilisation developed there.

Reunion and the Test of Sacrifice

Years later, Ibrahim AS returned to find Hajar had passed and reunited with Isma’il.

To test their love for Allah swt, Allah SWT sent a dream to Ibrahim AS asking him to sacrifyIsma’il AS. Ibrahim AS told Isma’il AS and both understood that this was a request from Allah SWT. Isma’il agreed.

When the time came to kill Isma’il, Allah SWT sent down a sheep from Paradise to replace Isma’il. This was the end of the test, Ibrahim AS was to sacrify the sheep and not his son.

Happy not to have sacrified his son after all, Ibrahim AS organised a celebration where the people were invited to eat the sacrificed sheep.

The birth of the Kaaba

Ibrahim AS continued to spread the message, inviting people to worship Allah SWT. One day Allah swt asked Ibrahim to build a house so that it could become a place of worship.

Together, Isma’il and Ibrahim built the Kaaba. Ibrahim AS asked Ismail to fetch a stone, the best stone there was, to fill the hole left in the Kaaba.

Suddenly, the angel Jibril AS sent down a large black stone (al-Ḥajar al-Aswad) , supposed to have come down through Adam AS directly from Paradise.

And ˹remember˺ when Abraham raised the foundation of the House with Ishmael, ˹both praying,˺ “Our Lord! Accept ˹this˺ from us. You are indeed the All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Our Lord! Make us both ˹fully˺ submit to You1 and from our descendants a nation that will submit to You. Show us our rituals, and turn to us in grace. You are truly the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.
[Surah Al Baqarah — Verse 127–128]

Originally, this stone is said to have been white, but it turned black with all the sins committed by human beings.

The Messenger of Allah SWS said about the (Black) Stone: “By Allah! Allah will raise it on the Day of Resurrection with two eyes by which it sees and a tongue that it speaks with, testifying to whoever touched it in truth.”
[Jami` at-Tirmidhi 961]