The Call of the Quran
1. Divine Planning
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His wife told him that they were leading their lives
in a very bad state. Life was full of hardship. As
Abraham took his leave he asked her to convey his
regards to Ishmael and to ask him to change the
doorsill of his home. When Ishmael returned and
heard the message from his wife, he realized that
the visitor must have been his father and that his
message symbolically implied that he should
divorce his present wife and marry another woman
of the Jurhum tribe. To Abraham that woman was
not worthy of mothering the generation under
preparation.
After some time, the Prophet Abraham again
visited Makkah. This time too Ishmael was away,
but his wife was at home. When Abraham asked
her how things were going on, she thanked God for
everything and talked of contentment, saying that
life fared well for them. When he left, Abraham
asked her to convey his regards to Ishmael and to
give him the message that he should keep the
doorsill of his house. On his return, Ishmael
received the message of his father and rightly
understood its symbolism: that this woman was
capable of leading a life in accordance with the
