Hagar who has raised her child alone and without a father in a desert and under the shadow of an abaya (cloak) hanging on a thorn. The safe sanctuary of God, which is a desert, is refined, flows Zamzam water, and has turned this barren desert.
Hagar who has raised her child alone and without a father in a desert and under the shadow of an abaya (cloak) hanging on a thorn. The safe sanctuary of God, which is a desert, is refined , flows Zamzam water, and has turned this barren desert into fertile land due to the resilience of this woman.
In the recitation of Abraham and Ishmael, there is always talk of obedience and servitude, faith and trust, belief and certainty, pride and exaltation in the divine test of two men, father and son, prophet and prophet. How beautiful it is when an earthly human being can reach the position of God’s messenger. What efforts does he take to be chosen? But in this recitation, the role and position of a woman are always empty, silence!
A woman named Hagar, Abraham’s wife, Ishmael’s mother.
A woman who succumbs to fate, a woman who, is although not a prophet like Abraham, in every moment of Abraham’s hard decisions for her life and Ishmael in obedience to God’s order, leaves no less than him.
When Abraham moved Hagar and his son Ishmael to the safe sanctuary of God by the command of God and takes them from the prosperous and nice region of Palestine to a deserted, dry, and barren valley and leaves them in the desert of Mecca surrounded by stony cliffs.
At the moment of farewell, Hagar cries that I am afraid of this place, who told you to bring us here, a land where no plants have grown and not a drop of water is flowing, without children, belongings, and companion, so why are you leaving us?
And when Abraham says, ” My Lord.” Hagar obeys that if it is the command of God, then there is an expedient in it and God will never leave us alone.
This is the ultimate faith, the breadth of belief.
All through history, when retelling the story of Prophet Abraham’s obedience to God, it has been neglected that how lonely a woman was in a desert, unaccompanied, with an infant, and without a shelter. A woman who bears all the burden of this on her shoulders, a mother who for delivering a drop of water to the dry lips of her intolerant child, more impatiently, she roams from one side of the desert to another, but she is pleased with the command of her Lord. And because of her obedience, God flows Zamzam water.
But Hagar’s test is not over yet, when Abraham, by the command of his Lord, cuts the throat of the child, performs the test of obedience and servitude as the prophet’s fatherhood or the father’s prophethood.
Who has spoken of Hagar throughout history? Hagar, who is not a prophet, raised her child alone and without a father in a desert, under the shadow of an abaya (cloak) hanging on a thorn. God’s safe sanctuary is refined owing to this woman’s patience which has turned this desert into a fertilized land and Zamzam flows in it and has been going on for centuries.
Now it is time for another test for the young courageous son to be slaughtered by the father.
Hagar, who is not a prophet but like the prophet of God, Abraham, obeys this time as well. She does not cry, does not tear her collar, throws stones at the devil who says that Abraham will take Ishmael to the altar to sacrifice and at the command of God, she throws stones at Ramy Al-Jamarat (stoning of the devil), saying go away you filthy, that is the command of God. And this is how Hagar succeeds in obedience to her Lord in the test of sacrificing velleity.
But Hagar was overlooked throughout history. Mentioning the greatness of the obedience role of a woman, a wife and a mother, to the command of God in retelling the recitations that are mentioned in the verses of God’s word is practically hardly noticeable, faded, and marginal.
It is good in every Eid al-Adha when Abraham’s unquestioning obedience to God is mentioned, Hagar, who was not a prophet but said “here am I, Yes” to the message of her Lord with all her heart, must be also mentioned.
Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs