Prophets Stories In Islam

The Story Of Prophet Yaqub/Israel (as)

Ishaq married Rifka Bint Bethuel, Ibn Nahor, and she gave birth to a set of twins, Ees and Yaqub. They have also mentioned that when Ishaq grew old and his eyesight became weak, he told his son Ees that he desired food. He asked Him to go out and hunt, and then cook it for him so that He could give him his blessings and pray for him. Ees was a hunter, so he left immediately to obey his father.
.
However, Rifqa overheard what Ishaq (as) had said. She conveyed Ishaq's instructions to Yaqub and asked him to go out to the flock and bring two of her best young goats in order to prepare food for his father. He was to do this before his brother had returned from his hunt. Yaqub quickly slaughtered goats and gave it to His mother. She prepared as like her husband desired. Then she clothed Yaqub with the best clothes of Ees, who had hairy skin unlike Yaqub. To disguise this, she covered his hands and his neck with goatskin.
.
When Yaqub (as) brought the food to his father, His father asked him: "Who are you?"
He said: "I am your son."
He hugged him and said: "Your voice is like Yaqub and the body and clothe is like of Ees."
He ate the food and supplicated for him to be higher in level than his brothers. He also supplicated for his authority to extend over all the Nations, and for him to get an abundance of provision.
.
When Yaqub left his father, Ees came after preparing the food that his father had desired.
His father asked him: "what is this my son?"
Ees said: "The food which you asked."
Ishaq (as) said: "Did you not come to me a short time back with the food that I ate from and then supplicated for you?"
Ees said: "No".
Just then, Ees realized that his brother was the one who had come first. As a result, he held a grudge against his brother and threatened to kill him after their father passed away. Ees requested that his father make another supplication for him, that his dwelling be away from the earth's richness and that he be given an abundance of provisions.
.
When their mother came to know about the threat of Ees against Yaqub (as), she asked Him to leave and go to her brother Laban in Harran and to stay there until his brother became calm. She also asked him to marry one of his daughters and asked her husband, Ishaq (as) to order him to do as she had suggested, to give him appropriate advice and to make supplication for him. So he did.
.
Towards the end of that day, Yaqub (as) left his family. As the night fall he stopped at a place, he put his head one of the stones, using it as pillow and lay down there for a night. He dreamt of staircase, which was going from the earth to the heaven. Angels were ascending and descending. He also saw that His Lord (swt) addressing him and saying: "I will bless you and increase the number of your children, and give you the land on which you are lying now."
.
When He woke up, he became happy for what He saw in His dream. He vowed that when He returned safely to His family, He would build a house to worship Allah (swt) at the same place, and also that he would give away one-tenth of whatever Allah provided Him in his way. He made a mark on the very stone so that later on when come to this place He recognize the same stone. That place was called Bethel, which means the house of Allah. It is the same place where Bayt al-Maqdis is situated today. He built it Later on, as will be mentioned shortly.
.
When Yaqub (as) arrived in Harran, where His uncle lived, He found that his uncle had two daughters. The elder named Leah and the younger named Raheel, the more beautiful and lovelier of the two. Yaqub (as) asked his uncle if he could marry her. He agreed, but with the conditions that he should have to help him in the farm work for 7 years.
.
When the time elapsed, Laban gathered the people and gave a feast. At night, he took his elder daughter Leah, who was ugly, and had weak eyesight and gave her to him. In the morning, Yaqub (as) saw that it was Leah.
He asked Laban: "Why did you deceive me?"
Laban replied: "It is not in our culture to marry off the younger daughter before the elder one. If you want Raheel, you need to work for another 7 years, and I will make you marry Raheel."
.
Yaqub (as) again completed 7 years of work and then He got married to Raheel. Marrying two sisters at one time was allowed in their religion, but was later abrogated by the Torah. As a side note, this itself is enough proof that abrogation occurs because the action of Yaqub (as) shows that it is permitted. Laban gave a slave girl to each of his daughters. To Leah, he gave Zilfa, and to Raheel he gave Bilha.
.
It has also been said by the Jews and the Christians that Allah, the exalted, gave Leah many children to make up for her average looks. Yaqub (as) had sons from her named Roobeel, Sham'oon, Lavee and Yahoodha. When Raheel saw that she couldn't bear any children, she became jealous of her sister, and offered her slave girl Bilha to Yaqub (as). Bilha gave birth to a son named Dan. She conceived again and after birth named him Nayftali.
.
Leah also gave her slave girl Zilfa to Yaqub (as), who then had sons named Jad and Asheer. Leah conceived again and gave birth to fifth son named Eesakhar, and after that, a sixth son named Zabaloon. Some time later, she delivered a girl child named Deena. Total, Leah had 7 children from Yaqub (as).
.
Raheel then supplicated to Allah, the exalted, to grant her a son from Yaqub (as). Her prayer got answered and gave birth to a handsome and beautiful son, Whom she named Yusuf (as). All these children were born to Yaqub (as) when he was still in Harran. He continued his work for his uncle's farm long after the term to marry Laban's daughter had passed. In fact, He stayed there for 20 years.
.
After completing his duration, Yaqub (as) asked permission from Laban to return to his family.
Laban said: "I have been blessed because of you, so ask me anything you want from my property."
Yaqub (as) said: "Ok then, give me every spotted lamb born this year, and every spotted dark colored goat."
Laban agreed to the request. Then Laban's sons removed all the spotted male and female lambs, along with all the dark colored goats. They traveled with the flocks to a distance of three days journey from their uncle's farm.
.
Upon noticing this, Yaqub (as), devised a plan. He took freshly cut branches from certain types of trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. He then placed these branches in the watering troughs so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks came to drink, they mated in front of the branches, and the young they bore were spotted.
.
Yaqub's (as) flocks multiplied until he had plenty of goats, cattle and slaves. Laban and his sons became jealous of him.
.
Allah (swt) then revealed to Yaqub (as) that he should return to his home. He (as) promised that He would be with his family. He spoke to his wives regarding this matter and they agreed to accompany him without delay. He thus left and took with him all the property that he had with him. Raheel stolen the idols of her father.
.
When Laban heard of this departure, Laban and his people followed Yaqub (as). When they caught up with him, Laban got angry because of uninformed. If he had been informed, he could have suitably bid farewell to his daughters. He also asked him why he had stolen his idols.
.
Yaqub (as) had no idea that his idols were with them, so he denied the allegations. Laban went into the tents of his daughters in order to search for the idols but didn't find anything. Raheel, who had stolen the idols, hid them under the camel's saddle and sat down on them. When asked to move for search, she made an excuse that she could not move as she was menstruating. Therefore, her father did not search that area.
.
Laban asked Yaqub (as) to make a covenant that he would not mistreat either of his daughters, or take any more wives besides them, and that neither of them would trespass into the territory of the other. Once that was settled, Laban and Yaqub (as) had meals prepared and invited their people to a feast, which they all ate. Then, they bade farewell to each other and returned to their homes.
.
When Yaqub (as) approached the land of Saeer, the Angels welcomed him to his homeland. He sent Messengers to his brother Ees, so that they could meat without any problems. When the Messengers returned, they told him that Ees was coming to meet him, accompanied by 400 men.
.
Upon hearing that, Yaqub (as) got frightened and prayed to Allah (swt) for help, reminding Him of His promise. He asked Allah to save him from the evil of his brother.
.
Then, He prepared a magnificent gift for his brother, which included: 200 Goats, 20 Sheeps, 200 Ewes, 20 Rams, 30 Female Camels, 40 Cows, 10 Bulls, 20 Female Donkeys and 10 Male Donkeys. He handed them over to his servants and ordered them to guide each herd. They were to walk in such a way as to leave some space between the herds. If they met Ees, and he asked him: "Who are you and to whom do you belong?"
The slaves were to reply: "They belong to your servant, Yaqub and they are a gift sent to my Lord Ees."
Each and every one of the servants was instructed to say this upon meeting Ees.
.
Yaqub (as) stayed behind for 2 nights with his wives, two slave girls, and eleven of his children. During this time, he used to travel at night and hide during the day. On the dawn of the third day, an Angel came to Him, disguised as a man. Yaqub (as) thought of him as a normal man and wrestled with him to overpower him. While Yaqub (as) was overpowering him, he (angel) flipped Yaqub (as). They were neck and neck until the Angel injured His thigh and Yaqub became lame. Soon after, when daylight broke, the Angel asked Yaqub (as): "What is your name?"
He said: "Yaqub".
The Angel said: "It is not befitting that you be called Yaqub. After today and from now on, your name will be ISRAEL."
Yaqub asked him: "who are you and what is your name?"
Instead of answering, the man disappeared. Now, He knew that the man was an Angel. Due to the wrestling match, Yaqub (as) started limping.
.
▪️Yaqub (as) was lame that is why the children of Israel don't eat the thigh of muscle on the hip socket.
.
Later in the day, Yaqub (as) saw his brother Ees approaching with his 400 men. He went ahead of his family and bowed down 7 times, which was the permissible and customary way of greeting people at that time. This was similar to how the Angels had bowed down to Adam (as) and also, how Yusuf's parents and brothers had bowed had bowed to him.
.
When Ees saw Yaqub, he hastened to meet him. He embraced and kissed him. Ees then saw the women and children with Yaqub and asked: "Who are these people?"
Yaqub said: "These are the children whom Allah has bestowed on your servant."
The slave girls and their children approached Ees and bowed down, followed by Leah and her children. Lastly, Raheel and her son Yusuf (as) came closer and bowed down. Yaqub (as) offered his gifts to Ees and upon his insistence, he accepted them.
.
On the way back to Saeer, Ees came back before Yaqub (as), who went with his family, cattle and servants.
.
Then, Yaqub (as) set up an alter so that he could remember Allah (swt) in it. It is known now as Bayt al-Maqdis, which was rebuilt later by Sulaiman (as), son of Dawood (as). This place was the same where Yaqub (as) had marked the stone after waking up from his dream.
.
In all, Yaqub (as) had 12 sons.
From Leah, he had Roobeel, Shamoon, Lavee, Yahoodha, Eesakhar, and Zabloon.
From Raheel, he had Yusuf and Binyamin.
From Bilha, the slave girl of Raheel, he had two sons: Dan and Nayftali.
And from Zilfa, the slave girl of Leah, he had Jad and Asheer.
.
Yaqub (as) came to his father Ishaq (as) in Hebron in Kinan where Ibrahim (as) had lived. After some time, Ishaq (as) fell ill, and died at the age of 180 years. His two sons Ees and Yaqub, buried him alongside his father Ibrahim. Peace be upon all of them.
.
Note▪️Ibrahim (as) had two children, Ismail (as) and Ishaq (as). And we know how Ismail (as) came ; He came from Hajar. And then Ishaq; He came from Sarah. And there is a gap between Ismail and Ishaq, about 10-15 years, Ismail is older than Ishaq. Ismail (as) was in Makkah, and Ishaq was with his father in Palestine. Ishaq had a son named Yaqub. Yaqub also live to see his grandfather and grandmother before they died. Yaqub is the son of Ishaq, Ishaq is the son of Ibrahim, Ibrahim had Ismail.
.
From Ismail; Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) comes, and most of the Arabs that way. Now Ishaq, He had Yaqub. Yaqub's other name is Israel. So this is where Israel comes from. Yaqub grew older and He had 2 wives. He had 12 children from them. That twelve children of Yaqub had a lot of offsprings, until at the time of Musa (as), there were upto 600,00 thousands of them. That twelve children are the twelve tribes of Bani Israel.
.
The children of Israel go back to those twelve children. When we say Israel, what is Israel? What is his religion? Muslim! He's a Prophet and a Messenger. The twelve children of Israel, they were Muslim. But later on as time came and they distorted a lot in their religion. Majority of them became Non-Muslims. Ismail; which is branched all the way to Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) and Ishaq (as), then Yaqub, branched all Bani Israel. All the Prophets that we will be speaking about now, most of them or 90% of them come back from Bani Israel.