Hajrah was Abraham’s second wife and she bore him a son, Ismail. As a trait of human nature, Sarah felt jealous as she did not have a child (at that time). There were petty quarrels. So Allah commanded Abraham (peace be upon him) to leave Sarah in Palestine and take Hajrah and her child to Makkah and leave them there. There was no one in the valley of Makkah at that time; No water, no people, no shelter.

It must have been difficult, but  Abraham was courageous to obey Allah’s command and he left his wife and child in a barren valley. Hajrah ran after him and asked him to whom was he leaving them with. He replied, “Allah”. She replied, “I’m satisfied with Allah,” and sat down under the shade of a tree.

 Abraham had left food and water that was enough for only two days. Soon it was finished. Hajrah ran between the mountains of Safa and Marwa in search of water, while keeping an eye on Baby Ismail. Then Zamzam sprung out for them as a blessing. Zamzam has many benefits. It works as a medicine for sick, suffices as food for the hungry, and quenches the thirst, too.

For some time, Hajrah and Ismail (peace be upon him) lived there alone. A Caravan of the tribe Jurhum was passing by. They were thirsty and saw birds flying over an area. They knew that the presence of the birds showed that there was water somewhere. The tribe sent a person to go and verify if there was water. When the man reached there, he was surprised to see a woman and her child alone in the uninhibited valley. He returned back and informed his tribe. The tribe sought her permission to stay around the valley. An agreement was made. They could stay and enjoy the water freely, but could not claim their rights over the zamzam spring. Makkah started growing and Ismail (peace be upon him) got married to a girl from that tribe on reaching puberty. This was the beginning of the Arab race. Ismail (peace be upon him) was the first one to speak eloquent and pure Arabic.

Soon the Arab race spread and was categorised into various tribes.. Ismail (peace be upon him) was a Messenger of Allah,  but there was no other prophet in his lineage till Muhammadﷺ was bestowed with Prophethood. A prophecy of Torah says, “I will not give him death till he straightens the Religion”. It refers to Islamic monotheism, the Religion of Abraham which was to straighten during the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Every prophet has brought the same religion, Islamic monotheism as testified by the Prophet Muhammad, (peace be upon him), “Every prophet is from same brotherhood and same mission. We are ‘brothers by prophethood’.”

There are three types of brotherhood. The first is the real brothers, having the same set of parents. The second is the step-brotherhood; With same father but different mothers. The third is of same mother but different fathers. Such learning of lineage is very important for distinguishing parenthoods during marriage talks. The prophethood is like ‘Al-lati brotherhood’ with same Religion but different Shariah.

Thus, the legacy of Abraham was carried on by various Prophets of Bani Israel, the sons from Sarah and then it was passed on to the sons of Hajrah - the Arabs, after  Muhammad ﷺwas chosen as the last and the final Prophet of Allah.