his family whom he had left near Zam-zam. Ismail (alayhis salam) was
not at home when Ibrahim (alayhis salam) arrived, buthis wife was. She
did not know who Ibrahim (alayhis salam) was. When Ibrahim (alayhis
salam) asked her about how they were managing, she started complaining
abouthow difficult life was and how poor they were. Ibrahim (alayhis
salam) told her to give her husband greetings from him and to tell him
to change the threshold of the gate to his house.
When Ismail (alayhis salam) returned, he sensedthat something unusual
had happened and he asked his wife if anyone had been there. Then she
told him what had happened and what Ibrahim (alayhis salam) had said
to her. Ismail (alayhis salam) told her that the stranger had beenhis
father, and that he had ordered Ismail to divorce her.
How did Ismail (alayhis salam) know what Ibrahim (alayhis salam) was
talking about? A threshold is the sill of a door or gate, the part
that one steps on when one enters a house. If the threshold is rotten,
the house is not strong. Ismail's (alayhis salam) wife was the rotten
threshold because of her whining, complaining ways. Had she remained
asIsmail's (alayhis salam) wife, his entire household would have been
weakened. The wife, as mother of a man's children, is the foundation
of his family for many generations to come, and she must be made of
goodmaterial in order to fulfill her purpose well.
Sometime after Ismail (alayhis salam) had taken another wife, his
father Ibrahim (alayhis salam) again came visiting and again found no
one but the wife at home. However, this time when he asked her how
they were doing, she cheerfully answered that they were prospering and
she gave thanks to Allah for all their blessings. She offered Ibrahim
(alayhis salam) meat and water, and he asked for Allah's blessing on
all their meat and water. When he left, he told her to give his
regardsto her husband and to tell him to keep the threshold of his
gate.
When Ismail (alayhis salam) returned home he asked if anyone had
visited. She told him all about the nice old man and the piece of
advice he had given in his message to Ismail (alayhis salam). From
this message Ismail (alayhis salam) knew that his father approved of
the new wife and had advised Ismail (alayhis salam) to keep her with
him.
Again some time had passed when Ibrahim (alayhis salam) wished to see
his son. He found Ismail (alayhis salam) sharpening his arrows at the
Zam-zam well, and they exchanged a warm father-son greeting. This time
Allah had given Ibrahim (alayhis salam) an order and Ibrahim
(alayhissalam) needed Ismail's (alayhis salam) help to fulfill it.
Ismail (alayhis salam) agreed immediately to help, before he even knew
whatwas required of him. Allah had ordered Ibrahim (alayhis salam) to
build a house on the hillock where Ismail (alayhis salam) had been
left as a baby with his mother, a place which was higher than the land
surrounding it. And so it was that Ibrahim (alayhis salam) and Ismail
(alayhis salam) built the Ka'ba. Ismail (alayhis salam) brought the
stones and Ibrahim (alayhis salam) put them in place. When the walls
became too high, Ibrahim (alayhis salam) stood on a rock and Ismail
(alayhis salam) handed the stones up to him. As they worked they kept
repeating: "Our Lord! Accept this service from us, for Thou art the
All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." (al-Qur'an 2:127). That is how the
Ka'ba came to be built.
You can read about Ismail (alayhis salam) and his father in Sahih
al-Bukhari IV: 583-584 and in the Qur'an 2:125-129.
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