Tell Them You're My Sister

The third one: when the king was told that there's a very beautiful woman accompanying Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) — Sārah. They wanted to take Sārah away from Ibrāhīm, and give her as a slave to the king. They came to Ibrāhīm and they asked him. They said: who is this woman with you? He said: this is my sister. He didn't say she's my wife. If he said that she's his wife, they would kill him and take her, because they don't want the husband of this woman to be alive when she's with the king.

And then he went to Sārah and told her: listen, there's nobody on the face of the earth who is a believer except me and you. And they have come and asked me what your relation to me is, and I said you're my sister. So do not disapprove me: tell them you're my sister. So they came to Sārah and said: what is your relation with this man? She said: he's my brother.

They took Sārah, and they took her in to meet the king. And the king wanted to place his hand on her. She made a duʿāʾ to Allah (swt), and said: O Allah, take care of him. His hand was paralysed. So he told her: ask your God, ask Allah to heal me, and I will leave you alone. So she made a duʿāʾ to Allah (swt) to heal him, so his hand was moving again. He extended it again. He betrayed his word; he didn't keep his promise.

She made a duʿāʾ another time; his hand was paralysed another time. He said: make a duʿāʾ for me. She made a duʿāʾ for him a second time, and his hand was released. He tried to grab her for the third time. He requested a duʿāʾ; she made a duʿāʾ for him; his hand was freed.

He said: innamā jiʾtumūnī bi-shayṭān — you have not presented me with a human woman; you have presented me with a devil. He let her go. Not only that, but to ward off her evil, as he thought, he gave her a gift. He gave Sārah a gift: our mother Hājar, as a slave. Sārah now went back to Sayyidunā Ibrāhīm, and she had this gift with her, Hājar. And that is the story of Sayyidatunā Hājar.