Hagar in Islam

Though Hagar does not appear in the Qu’ran, she is important in the traditions (hadith) as the mother of Ishmael (Sahih Al-Bukhari 4:372–76) and the matriarch of the Abrahamic descendants who founded Islam. Later generations of Muslims developed the idea that Ishmael was the beginning of the Arabs. Islam believes Hagar to be a woman of true faith, “the matriarch of monotheism” (Trible, “Unto the Thousandth,” 9–10). Her name is frequently linked with hajara, which means “true faith,” or hijara, signifying the journey she made to the Arabian Peninsula (Trible, “Unto the Thousandth,” 10). The root of her name may be related to the Hegira, Mohammed’s flight from Mecca to Medina (Harris, Theological Wordbook). Islam tradition also holds that her tomb is near the Ka’bah, where Ishmael was later buried; her tomb is one of the holy places of Islam (Trible, “Unto the Thousandth,” 10).