Isaac the Prophet

Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac is one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was beyond childbearing years. Compared to those of Abraham and Jacob, Isaac's story relates fewer incidents of his life. He died when he was 180 years old, making him the longest-lived patriarch. Ishaq (Isaac) is a prophet in Islam, mentioned in a number of Qur'anic ####passages. Like many other Hebrew prophets, the Qur'anic references to Isaac assume the audience is already familiar with him and his stories. There is little narrative of Isaac in the Qur'an. The Qur'an recalls that Isaac was given to Sarah, when she and her husband Abraham were both old (11:70–74).[2] God gave Abraham the good news of the birth of Isaac, "a prophet, one of the Righteous" (37:112), via messengers sent against the people of Lut. In some instances, the Qur'an joins together Isaac and Ishmael and "Abraham praises God for giving him the two although he was old" (14:39–41). In other instances Isaac's name occurs in lists (12:38, 2:127–133, 4:161–163). Isaac is also mentioned alongside the twelve tribes, who were the descendants of Isaac from Jacob. The Qur'an states that Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son. Muslim scholars came to endorse that it was Ishmael. The argument of those early scholars who believed it was Isaac rather than Ishmael was that "God's perfecting his mercy on Abraham and Isaac" (12:6) referred to his making Abraham his friend and saving him from the burning bush, and to his rescuing Isaac. The other parties held that the promise to Sarah was of a son, Isaac, and a grandson, Jacob (11:71–74), excluded the possibility of a premature death of Isaac. The early dispute was more concerned with Persian rather than Jewish rivalry with Arabs, since the Persians claimed to be of descendants of Isaac.

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