Ibrahim Receives the News of Ishaq and Ya`qub During His Old Age
Allah states that after Ibrahim became old and he, and his wife, Sarah, lost hope of having children, He gave them Ishaq. The angels came to Ibrahim on their way to the people of Prophet Lut (to destroy them) and they delivered the good news of a child to Ibrahim and his wife. Ibrahim's wife was amazed at the news,
قَالَتْ يوَيْلَتَا ءَأَلِدُ وَأَنَاْ عَجُوزٌ وَهَـذَا بَعْلِى شَيْخًا إِنَّ هَـذَا لَشَىْءٌ عَجِيبٌ
قَالُواْ أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَتُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَـتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَّجِيدٌ
She said (in astonishment);"Woe unto me! Shall I bear a child while I am an old woman, and here is my husband, an old man! Verily! This is a strange thing!"
They said;"Do you wonder at the decree of Allah The mercy of Allah and His blessings be on you, O the family (of Ibrahim). Surely, He (Allah) is All-Praiseworthy, All-Glorious." (11;72-73)
The angels also gave them the good news that Ishaq will be a Prophet and that he will have offspring of his own.
In another Ayah, Allah said;
وَبَشَّرْنَـهُ بِإِسْحَـقَ نَبِيّاً مِّنَ الصَّـلِحِينَ
And We gave him the good news of Ishaq a Prophet from the righteous.(37;112), which perfects this good news and completes the favor.
Allah said,
بِإِسْحَـقَ وَمِن وَرَاءِ إِسْحَـقَ يَعْقُوبَ
(of Ishaq, and after him, of Ya`qub... (11;71),
meaning, this child will have another child in your lifetime, so that your eyes are comforted by him, just as your eyes will be comforted by his father.
Certainly, one becomes jubilant and joyous when he becomes a grandfather, because this means that his offspring will continue to exist.
It was also expected that if an elderly couple had children, due to the child's weakness, he would have no offspring. This is why Allah delivered the good news of Ishaq and of his son Yaqub, whose name literally means `multiplying and having offspring'.
This was a reward for Ibrahim who left his people and migrated from their land so that he could worship Allah alone. Allah compensated Ibrahim with better than his people and tribe when He gave him righteous children of his own, who would follow his religion, so that his eyes would be comforted by them.
In another Ayah, Allah said;
فَلَمَّا اعْتَزَلَهُمْ وَمَا يَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَـقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَكُلًّ جَعَلْنَا نَبِيّاً
So when he turned away from them and from those whom they worshipped besides Allah, We gave him Ishaq and Yaqub, and each one of them We made a Prophet. (19;49)
Allah said here,
وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ كُلًّ هَدَيْنَا
And We bestowed upon him Ishaq and Yaqub, each of them We guided,
Allah said;
وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِن قَبْلُ
and before him, We guided Nuh...,
meaning, We guided Nuh before and gave him righteous offspring, just as We guided Ibrahim and gave him righteous children.
Qualities of Nuh and Ibrahim
Each of these two Prophets had special qualities. When Allah caused the people of the earth to drown, except those who believed in Nuh and accompanied him in the ark, Allah made the offspring of Nuh the dwellers of the earth thereafter. Ever since that occurred, the people of the earth were and still are the descendants of Nuh.
As for Ibrahim, Allah did not send a Prophet after him but from his descendants. Allah said in other Ayat,
وَجَعَلْنَا فِى ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَـبَ
And We ordained among his (Ibrahim's) offspring Prophethood and the Book. (29;27)
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحاً وَإِبْرَهِيمَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِى ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَـبَ
And indeed, We sent Nuh and Ibrahim, and placed in their offspring Prophethood and the Book. (57;26)
and,
أُولَـيِكَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّيْنَ مِن ذُرِّيَّةِ ءادَمَ وَمِمَّنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّةِ إِبْرَهِيمَ وَإِسْرَءِيلَ وَمِمَّنْ هَدَيْنَا وَاجْتَبَيْنَأ إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ ءايَـتُ الرَّحْمَـنِ خَرُّواْ سُجَّداً وَبُكِيّاً
Those were they unto whom Allah bestowed His grace from among the Prophets, of the offspring of Adam, and of those whom We carried (in the ship) with Nuh, and of the offspring of Ibrahim and Israil and from among those whom We guided and chose. When the verses of the Most Beneficent (Allah) were recited unto them, they fell down prostrating and weeping. (19;58)
Allah said in this honorable Ayah here,
وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِ
and among his progeny...
meaning, We guided from among his offspring,
دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ
Dawud, Suleiman...,
from the offspring of Nuh, according to Ibn Jarir.
It is also possible that the Ayah refers to Ibrahim since it is about him that the blessings were originally mentioned here, although Lut is not from his offspring, for he was Ibrahim's nephew, the son of his brother Maran, the son of Azar. It is possible to say that Lut was mentioned in Ibrahim's offspring as a generalization. As Allah said,
أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِيهِ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن بَعْدِى قَالُواْ نَعْبُدُ إِلَـهَكَ وَإِلَـهَ ابَأيِكَ إِبْرَهِيمَ وَإِسْمَـعِيلَ وَإِسْحَـقَ إِلَـهًا وَاحِدًا وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ
Or were you witnesses when death approached Yaqub When he said unto his sons, "What will you worship after me!"
They said, "We shall worship your God, and the God of your fathers, Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, One God, and to Him we submit." (2;133)
Here, Ismail was mentioned among the ascendants of Yaqub, although he was Yaqub's uncle.
Similarly Allah said,
فَسَجَدَ الْمَلَـيِكَةُ كُلُّهُمْ أَجْمَعُونَ
إِلاَّ إِبْلِيسَ أَبَى أَن يَكُونَ مَعَ السَّـجِدِينَ
So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together. Except Iblis -- he refused to be among those to prostrate. (15;30-31)
Allah included Iblis in His order to the angels to prostrate, and chastised him for his opposition, all because he was similar to them in that (order), so he was considered among them in general, although he was a Jinn. Iblis was created from fire while the angels were created from light.
Allah says;
وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَى وَهَارُونَ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَى وَعِيسَى وَإِلْيَاسَ كُلٌّ مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ