Ishmael - the name translates as "God will hear" {Strong's Dictionary} - was Abraham's eldest son, born by his wife's handmaiden Hagar. He is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the eldest son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah's female Egyptian maid-servant or slave. The Qur'an considers him to be one of the prophets of Islam. The Bahá'í writings consider him a lesser prophet.
In the Old Testament, Ishmael's life is described in the Book of Genesis chapters 16 and further. In Genesis 16, Sarah (Abraham's wife) gives Abraham her maid-servant Hagar so that she can have a son of her own by using her maid-servant as a birth mother, since she believed that God had kept her from having children (16:2). Hagar became pregnant and despised Sarah, who then out of anger expelled Hagar from Abraham's home in retaliation. Hagar fled from Sarah and ran into the wilderness, where an angel appeared to her.
The angel of the Lord told her to return, adding
"I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."
The angel also said to her:
You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers. (NIV, Genesis 16)
So Hagar returned to Abraham's house, and had a son whom she named Ishmael. Fourteen years after this, Abraham's wife Sarah, herself became pregnant with his son, Isaac. When Ishmael was about 16 years old, he angered Sarah, and she asked Abraham to expel him and his mother.
Isaac grew, and on the day he was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that Ishmael was mocking Isaac, and she said to Abraham; "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." (NIV, Genesis 21:8-10)
While Abraham was very uneasy over the whole thing, he finally gave in to his wife's request when God told him that He would take care of Ishmael, due to the fact that the child is Abraham's descendant. The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." Hagar, with her son, wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, and when reduced to great distress, a voice from heaven said "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." (Genesis 21:11-13) They lived in the wilderness of Paran, where Hagar's son became an expert in archery. His mother married him to an Egyptian woman.
Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." (Genesis 17)
These twelve rulers, the twelve sons of Ishmael, were named Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah (See Genesis 25). Each of Ishmael's sons was a tribal chief and settled everywhere from Havilah to Shur, i.e. from the Persian Gulf to the border of Egypt. From the twelve sons of Ishmael are derived the twelve tribes of the Arabians. Jerome says that in his time they called the districts of Arabia by the names of the tribes. Ishmael also had a daughter named Mahalath or Bashemath (Gen 36:3). Esau married her since he wanted to displease his parents (Gen 28:9). His father Isaac had specifically forbidden his brother Jacob from marrying Canaanite women. Ishmael also appears with Isaac at the burial of Abraham at the cave at Machpelah (Genesis 25:9 NRSV).
In Islam, Ishmael is known as the first-born son of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) from his second wife Hagar, and as an appointed prophet of God. Islamic belief holds that Abraham married Hagar, the mother of Ishmael. As a result, Ishmael was the first son of Abraham. Islam asserts that he was the one nearly sacrificed by Abraham, and not Isaac (Iss'haq in Arabic) as is told in the Old Testament. In Islamic beliefs, Abraham had prayed to God for a son ('Isma' in Arabic means 'to listen' ie answer prayer, and 'ell' is derived from the Hebrew word 'elle', meaning God). God delivered this child to Abraham, and later tested Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his only son at the time. However, just as Abraham was to kill his only son, God halted him, praised him for his loyalty, and commanded him to sacrifice a ram instead. This leads to the Muslim practice of sacrificing domesticated animals such as sheep, goats or cows, on the celebration to mark this event known as Eid ul-Adha.
Muhammad is considered to be one of the many descendants of Ishmael. The oldest extant biography of Muhammad, compiled by Mohammed Ibn Ishak, and edited by Abu Mohammed Abd el Malik Ibn Hisham, opens:
This book contains the life of the Apostle of God: Muhammad was the son of Abd Allah, son of Abd-ul-Muttalib, son of Hashim, son of Abdu Manaf, son of Qusay, son of Kilab, son of Hakeem, son of Kaab, son of Luayy, son of Ghalib, son of Fihr, son of Malik, son of Qays, son of Kinanah, son of Khuzaymah, son of Mudrikah, son of Ilyas, son of Mudhar, son of Nizar, son of Maad, son of Adnan, son of Udd, son of Muqawwam, son of Nakhour, son of Tahir, son of Yarub, son of Yashyub, son of Nabit, son of Ismail (ishmael), son of Ibrahim, the Friend of God, son of Tarikh, son of Nakhour, son of Sarukh, son of Rau, son of Falih, son of Hud, son of Salih, son of Arphakhshad, son of Sham, son of Nuh, son of Lamekh, son of Matushalakh, son of Akhanukh, - who, as is believed, was the prophet Idris, the first prophet, and the first who wrote with the reed, - son of Aded, son of Mahlaleel, son of Kaynan, son of Anoush, son of Shays, son of Adam, to whom may God be gracious!
The Qur'an, however, does not have any geneologies. It was well-known among the Arabs that Quraysh were the descendants of Ishmael. Believing in one supreme God, circumcision, and other traditions such as pilgrimage common among Arabs as far as Yemen all point to the same conclusion. The story of the sacrifice is also more valuable when the Quranic version, in opposion to the biblical, affirms that Abraham was willing to offer his only son at a very old age and that this son was old enough at that time to speak and understand. The birth of Is-Haq was looked at as an extra blessing subsequent and a reward to the obedience of Abraham.
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