Surah Maryam Tafseer

Mentioning Ismail

وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ إِنَّهُ كَانَ صَادِقَ الْوَعْدِ

And mention in the Book, Ismail. Verily, he was true to what he promised,

Here Allah has commended Ismail, the son of Ibrahim, the Friend of Allah. He (Ismail) is the father of all of the Arabs of the Hijaz because he was true to what he promised.

Ibn Jurayj said,

"He did not make any promise to his Lord, except that he fulfilled it."

He never obligated himself to do any act of worship with a vow, except that he fulfilled it and carried it out, giving it its full due.

Some said,

صَادِقَ الْوَعْدِ

((he was) true to what he promised),

"This was said about him because he said to his father,

سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاء اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ

(If Allah wills you will find me of the patient), (37:102). So he was truthful in that."

Being true to one's promise is one of the praiseworthy characteristics, just as breaking one's promise is of the detested characteristics.

Allah, the Exalted, says,

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لاأَ تَفْعَلُونَ

كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ

O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do! Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do. (61:2-3)

The Messenger of Allah said,

ايَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلَثٌ

إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ

وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ

وَإِذَا ايْتُمِنَ خَان

The sign of the hypocrite is three things.

When he speaks, he lies;

when he promises, he breaks his promise; and

when he is entrusted with something, he is disloyal to his trust.

Thus, if these are the characteristics of the hypocrites, then behaving contrary to these is a characteristic of the true believer. For this reason, Allah commended His servant and Messenger Ismail, for he was true to his promise.

Likewise, the Messenger of Allah was true to his promise. He did not promise anyone anything, except that he fulfilled his promise to that person. He also commended Abu Al-`As bin Ar-Rabi, the husband of his daughter Zaynab, by saying,

حَدَّثَنِي فَصَدَقَنِي وَوَعَدَنِي فَوَفَى لِي

He spoke to me and he told me the truth, and he promised me and he fulfilled his promise to me.

When the Prophet died, the Khalifah (his successor), Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said,

"Whoever received any promise from the Messenger of Allah or was owed any debt by him, then let him come to me and I will fulfill it on his behalf."

So Jabir bin Abdullah came and related that the Messenger of Allah said,

لَوْ قَدْ جَاءَ مَالُ الْبَحْرَينِ أَعْطَيْتُكَ هَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا

If the wealth of Bahrain comes (to me), then I would give you such and such and such.

This meant that he would fill his hands with wealth.

Therefore, when the wealth of Bahrain came (to them), Abu Bakr commanded Jabir to come and fill his hands from that wealth. Then, he commanded him to do so again, until he collected five hundred Dirhams.

Then, Abu Bakr gave him its double along with it. (i.e. one thousand extra Dirhams).

Concerning Allah's statement,

وَكَانَ رَسُولاً نَّبِيًّا

and he was a Messenger, (and) a Prophet.

In this is a proof of Ismail's favored status over his brother, Ishaq.

Ishaq was only described as being a Prophet, but Ismail was described with both Prophethood and Messengership.

It is confirmed in Sahih Muslim that the Messenger of Allah said,

إِنَّ اللهَ اصْطَفَى مِنْ وَلَدِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِسْمَاعِيل

Verily, Allah chose Ismail from the sons of Ibrahim...

Then, Imam Muslim mentions the rest of the Hadith in its entirety.

However, this statement proves the correctness of what we have said.

Allah said,

وَكَانَ يَأْمُرُ أَهْلَهُ بِالصَّلَةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ

وَكَانَ عِندَ رَبِّهِ مَرْضِيًّا