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Chapter II

The Question of the Birthright and the
Covenant

There is a very, very ancient religious dispute

between the Ishmaelites and the Israelites about the
questions concerning the Birthright and the Covenant.
The readers of the Bible and the Quran are familiar with
the story of the great Prophet Abraham and his two sons
Ishmael (Ismá’íl)and Isaac (Isháq) (pbut). The story of
Abraham (pbuh) s call from the Ur of the Chaldees, and
that of his descendants until the death of his grandson
Joseph (pbuh) in Egypt, is written in the Book of Genesis
(chapter›s xi.-1). In his genealogy as recorded in Genesis,
Abraham is the twentieth from Adam and a contemporary
of Nimrod, who built the stupendous Tower of Babel.

The early story of Abraham (pbuh) in the Ur of
Chaldea, though not mentioned in the Bible, is recorded
by the famous Jewish historian Joseph (pbuh) Flavius in his
Antiquities and is also confirmed by the Quran. But the
Bible expressly tells us that the father of Abraham (pbuh),
Terah, was an idolater (Jos. xxiv. 2, 14). Abraham (pbuh)
manifested his love and zeal for God when he entered
into the temple and destroyed all the idols and images
therein, and thus he was a true prototype of his illustrious
descendant Muhammad (pbuh). He came out unhurt and
triumphantly from the burning furnace wherein he was
cast by the order of Nimrod. He leaves his native land
for Haran in the company of his father and his nephew
Lot. He was seventy-five years old when his father died
at Haran. In obedience and absolute resignation to the
divine call, he leaves his country and starts on a long
and varied journey to the land of Canaan, to Egypt and
to Arabia. His wife Sáráh is barren; yet God announces
to him that he is destined to become the father of many