Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
7. The Revolution of the Prophet
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Ishmael grew up and married a girl of the Jurham
tribe, which had settled in Makkah after the water
of Zamzam had sprung up. Abraham was in Syria
at the time. One day he came on horseback when
Ishmael was not at home; only his wife was there
and she did not recognize her father-in-law. “Where
has Ishmael gone?” Abraham asked. “Hunting,” she
replied. “How is life treating you?” Abraham went
on, and Ishamel’s wife complained to him about the
poverty and hardship they had to endure.
Abraham, as he was leaving, told her to convey his
greetings to Ishmael and tell him to “alter his
threshold.” When Ishmael returned, she told him
the whole story. Ishmael realized that the visitor
had been his father, who had come to see how
things were going. By “altering his threshold,”
Ishmael knew what his father had meant: he was to
marry a new wife, for this one was not suitable for
the creation of the progeny that God had in mind.
So he divorced that wife and married someone else.
After a period of time Abraham made another
appearance on horseback. Again Ishmael was not at
home. Abraham asked his new daughter-in-law the
same questions as he had put to the previous one.
This time, however, Ishmael’s wife was all praise
