Now
Sarai, Abram’s wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian,
whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, “Behold now, God hath
restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be
that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of
Sarai. And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, and
gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar,
and she conceived.
Genesis 16:1-4
The
son of Abram (soon to be renamed Abraham by God) and Hagar was named Ishmael. Ishmael’s half-brother would be Isaac, whose
son would be called Jacob and renamed Israel by God. While Israel’s bloodline would go on to include
David and Jesus, Ishmael’s decedents would include the Prophet Muhammed. So all of us - Jews, Christians and Muslims –
are the sons and daughters of Abraham. There
are nearly four billion adherents of the Abrahamic faiths. In all our beautiful, empowering diversity, we
represent over half the global population.
Ramadan began this evening. I wish any Muslim
who may find him- or herself reading this blog, and every child of Abraham, a Ramadan
Mubarak.
Photo: Sheikh
Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
