Islamic view of Jacob

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Yaqub (in Syriac: ܝܰܥܩܽܘܒ) is a common Syriac and Arabic name.

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The biblical figure Jacob most commonly referred to in Islam as Yaqub, also Yacoub, is a prophet on Islam and mentioned in the Qur'an. The Islamic view of Jacob differs from Judaism and Christianity's view of the same figure.

Yaqub was born to Ishaq (the biblical Isaac), and was thus the grandson of Ibrahim (the biblical Abraham). Yaqub was born in Canaan. Like his father and grandfather he was a prophet of God who preached the oneness of God. Yaqub had twelve sons and a daughter. His sons would go on to father the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Among his sons was another prophet named Yusuf (the biblical Joseph).

Contents 1 Yaqub in the Qur'an 2 Nation of Islam 3 External Links 3.1 References to Jacob in the Qur'an 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Yaqub in the Qur'an

When Abraham felt that his life was drawing to a close, he wished to see Isaac married. He did not want Isaac to marry one of the Canaanites, who were pagans, so he sent a trustworthy servant to Haran in Iraq to choose a bride for Isaac. The servant's choice fell upon Rebekah Bint Bethuel, Ibn Nahor, who was a brother of Abraham. Isaac married her and she gave birth to a set of twins, Esau (Al Eis) and Jacob (Yaqub).

The Qur'an does not give many details of Jacob’s life, though it says he was a righteous prophet, and of the company of the Elect and the Good, who received inspiration from God (38:47, 21:75). God perfected his favor on Jacob and his posterity as he perfected his favor on Abraham and Isaac (12:6). He was a man of might and vision (38:45) and was chosen by God to preach the Message.

The Qur'an stresses that worshiping and bowing to the one true God (Arabic: Allah) was the main legacy of Jacob and his fathers (2:132-133). The Qur'an states that salvation hinges upon this legacy rather than being Jew or Christian (See 2:130-141).

Say (O Muslims): "We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which had been sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and to Al Asbat (the twelve sons of Jacob), and that which has been given to Moses and Jesus and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam)."

Yaqub(Jacob) is also known as Israeel and his people(Israelites) are known as Bani Israeel and mentioned in the Qur'an at several places.

[edit] Nation of Islam

In the mythology of the black nationalist movement the Nation of Islam,( which is not to be confused with Islam, the religion of Muslims)Jacob's name is spelled Yakub. Instead of being seen as the father of the twelve tribes of Israel he is presented as an evil scientist who created the white race by genetic experimentation on an isolated group of the original black peoples of the world, conducted on the island of Patmos. Breeding this white race took six hundred years. Yakub's progeny are destined by God to be the ruling race of the world for an allotted period of six thousand years, before the original black race regains dominance, a process that is supposed to have begun in 1914. Originating with Wallace Fard Muhammad, the prophet of the Nation of Islam, the sources of this idiosyncratic theory have yet to be fully traced, but probably derive from anti-Semitic ideas of the time according to which Jews are an "artificial race". This notion is then generalised to white people, of which Jews are perceived as a sub-group. The teachings of the Nation of Islam are regarded by Muslims as blasphemy.

[edit] External Links

• Yaqub (Alayhis salaam)
• Prophet Yaqub (Jacob)
• The Story of Ya'qub (Jacob)
• Treatment of Cataract from the Qur'ân
• Ishaaq (Isaac) and Yaqub (Jacob)

[edit] References to Jacob in the Qur'an

• Appraisals for Jacob: 6:84, 19:50, 21:72, 21:73, 38:45, 38:46, 38:47
• Jacob's prophecy: 4:163, 6:84, 12:6, 19:49, 21:73
• Jacob's preaching 2:132, 2:133, 2:136, 2:140, 3:84, 21:73
• Food's refusal: 3:93
• Love for Joseph: 12:8, 12:13, 12:84, 12:85, 12:87, 12:94, 12:95
• Jacob's attributes: 12:86, 12:96, 38:45
• Jacob's family: 2:136, 2:140, 3:84, 4:163, 7:160

[edit] See also

• Jacob
• Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
• Prophets of Islam

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Ed. P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.