Story of Ishaaq (Isaac) PBUH
Isaac's Sons - from Commentators
The Qur'an does not give details of Isaac's life , but reliable Qur'anic commentators mentioned that when Abraham felt that his life was drawing to a close, he wished to see Issac 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 on 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). Ill feelings developed between the two brothers when they grew into manhood. Esau disliked the fact that Jacob was favored by his father and by Allah with prophethood. This ill-feeling became so serious that Esau threatened to kill his brother. Fearing for his life, Jacob fled the country.
Isaac's Sons - from the People of the Book
The People of the Book said that when Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, Bint Bethuel, during his father's life. They said she was sterile, so Isaac prayed to Allah and then she became pregnant. She gave birth to twin boys. The first one was called Esau whom the Arabs call Al-Els. He became the father of Rum. The second one was called Jacob, which means Israel (belonging to the people of Israel). The People of the Book claimed that when Isaac grew old and his eye-sight had weakened, he had a desire for food, so he asked his son Esau to go hunting and bring him some cooked game. Esau asked him to bless the food and pray for him. Esau, a hunter, went out to get his father the meat. Rebekah, overhearing this, ordered her son Jacob to slaughter two goats of his best flock and cook them as his father liked and bring it to him before his brother returned. She dressed Jacob in his brother's clothes and put goat skin on his arms and neck, for Esau was hairy while Jacob was not. When he approached his father with the food, his father asked: "Who are you?" Jacob answered: "I am your son." When his father finished eating, he prayed for his son to be the more blessed brother and to prevail over them and all people, and for Allah to sustain him and his children. When he left his father, his brother Esau, who had carried out his father's command, entered. Isaac asked him: "What is this, my son?" He answered: "This is the food you like." Isaac said: "Did you bring it an hour ago and ask me to pray for you?" Esau answered: "No, I swear I did not," and he knew his brother had preceded him in this matter and he was sick at heart.
