Over Eighty Years Old, and Twelve Princes

In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī it mentions that Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) circumcised himself. He received the commandment of Allah (swt) to fulfil this sunnah of fiṭrah, and Ibrāhīm did it when he was over eighty years old. He circumcised himself, without any anaesthesia, without any painkiller; he did it himself. Immediate following of the commandments of Allah (swt), even though he was over the age of eighty.

And up to that moment, Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) had no children. He reached the age of eighty: no believers, no children, leading a lonely life. He is patient: ṣabr. Sārah told Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) that you can have Hājar as a wife. Sārah is the one who gave Ibrāhīm the permission. So Ibrāhīm married Hājar, with the hope that they would have a child.

And then Ibrāhīm was given the bishārah of ghulāmin ḥalīm. Allah (swt) has described Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) with ḥilm, which is mild and gentle and forbearing; while Isḥāq (peace be upon him) has been described in the Qur'an as ʿalīm, knowledgeable. So the ayat that say ghulāmin ḥalīm, a forbearing, mild, gentle child, are talking about Ismāʿīl. And the ayat that say ghulāmin ʿalīm, a knowledgeable child, are the ayat talking about Isḥāq (peace be upon him).

There is an interesting verse in the Bible that I want to recite to you, because it not only gives the glad tidings of Ismāʿīl, but it goes even further. This verse in the Bible is in Genesis 17:20. It says: And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

So the Bible is saying that Ismāʿīl is blessed, and that Allah (swt) will multiply his children — and his children are the Arabs — and twelve princes. Out of the descendants of Ibrāhīm will be twelve princes. There is a hadith where the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: there will be on this Ummah twelve khulafāʾ, all of them from Quraysh. Twelve. And Quraysh are from the direct descendants of Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him).

And this verse in the Bible is talking about twelve princes, and the twelve princes are twelve khulafāʾ. Four of them already passed: Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān and ʿAlī. Some would include ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. For sure we know about the four; and then al-Mahdī is one also; and there are a few others left. Not only is the Bible giving us the glad tidings of Ismāʿīl, but it's also talking about the twelve khulafāʾ that will rule on this Ummah. If we have only four or five or six of the khulafāʾ that passed, we have more than half left. And that's the good news for this Ummah.