Hagar

The dismissal of Hagar, by Pieter Pietersz Lastman

Hagar (Arabic هاجر; Hajar; Hebrew הָגָר "Stranger", Standard Hebrew Hagar, Tiberian Hebrew Hāḡār) is an Egyptian-born handmaiden of Sarah, wife of Abraham. Her history is narrated in the Book of Genesis in the Torah (Hebrew Bible).

Hagar in the Bible

The story of Hagar is found in Genesis 16 and 21. Hagar was an Egyptian slave belonging to Sarah. Being barren, save gives Hagar to her husband Abraham as a second wife, saying "perhaps I can build a family through her." (16:2) After she becomes pregnant, however, Hagar openly despises Sarah. Whe her mistress abuses her in realtiation, Hagar flees to the wilderness The she meets an angel of Yahweh, the first biblical woman to encounter such a being. The angels commands her to return and submit to Sarah. He also prophesies that she will give birth to a son named Ismael, who "will live in enmity with all his brothers." Abraham is delight with his new son, and intends to make him his heir. Later, however, God declares that Sarah herself will bear him a son.

Sarah miraculously conceives and gives birth to Isaac. When the child was weaned, Sarah observes Ishmael, probably a teenager at the time, teasing Isaac in a way she finds threatening. She demands that Abraham to expel Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham protests, but God commands him to listen to Sarah's request.

Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring. (21:12-13)

Abraham provides Hagar and Ishmael with bread and water and sends them back into the wilderness.

Wandering in the desert near Beersheba, Hagar soon runs out of water and despairs. She leaves Ishmael nearby and sinks into a depression, saying "I cannot watch the boy die." God, however, hears the boy crying speaks to Hagar: "Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

Suddenly, a spring of fresh water appears. Hagar and Ishmael are rescued. Mother and child settle nearby, and Hagar eventually finds a wife for Ishmael in Egypt. By the time of the end of the Book of Genesis, Ishmael has grown to become a trading clan. It is thus Ishmaelites who sell the patriarch into slavery in Egypt.

Hagar's grandchildren are listed the the Book of Chronicles (1:29-30): Nebaioth Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

New Testament

Hagar, according to Paul, may symbolize the synagogue, which produces only slaves - the offspring always following the condition of the mother (Galatians 4:24)

In Rabbincal tradition

According to Rabbinic traditional (Midrash Gen. R. 45), Hagar was the daughter of Pharaoh who returned with Sarah and Abraham from Egypt. The rabbis note that while Samson's father was struck with fear when he saw the angel of God (Judges 13:22), Hagar was not frightened by the sight of the divine messenger. Her fidelity is also praised, for even after Abraham sent her away she kept her marriage vow. In one tradition, she is identified with Keturah (Gen. 25:1), the wife Abraham reportedly took later in life. AFter the death of Sarah it was Isaac who brougth Hagar back to Abraham's house. Gen. R. 60).

Other rabbinical authorities, however, take much dimmer view of Hagar's character. In one opinion, Hagar reportedly gossiped about Sarah. (Gen. R. 45). It is further affired that Hagar relapsed into idolatry in the wilderness. Also, the fact that she chose an Egyptian woman as her son's wife is seen as evidence that her belief in the true God was not sincere.(Gen. R. 53) In later Jewish mysticism, Hagar is sometimes even identified in with the succubi Lilith and Naˤmā.

Hagar in Islamic tradition

Thehadith of Abu Huraira, follows a similar line to the rabbinical tradition that Hagar (Hajar) became Sarah's slave as a gift from the "tryant" with whom Sarah stayed temporarily as Abraham's "sister."

The tyrant then gave Hajar as a girl-servant to Sarah. Sarah came back (to Abraham) while he was praying. Abraham, gesturing with his hand, asked, "What has happened?" She replied, "Allah has spoiled the evil plot of the infidel and gave me Hajar for service." (Abu Huraira then addressed his listeners saying, "That (Hajar) was your mother, O Bani Ma-is-Sama (i.e. the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, Hajar's son)." (Sahih Bukhari 4.578, also Sahih Bukhari 4.577 and Sahih Bukhari 7.21)

Some sources refers to Hagar as being an Ethiopian.

Ibrahim, by God's command, accepted Sara's request to send Hagar away. Under the guidance of God, they entered the land of Mecca. With her suckling baby, Hagar was left alone in a waterless and bare desert far from any city or town. But Hagar had learned the way of trust in and reliance on God from Ibrahim , so with faith in Allah, she followed the path of patience and tolerance.

Hoping to find water to save her baby's life, Hagar began to search in the desert but found nothing. Finally, she returned to Ishmael and found him crying. Seeing her baby in this condition broke her heart. She, too, began weeping; she didn't know what to do.

The baby was overcome with weakness; it seemed that he was passing the last moments of life. Hagar ran seven times back and forth in the scorching heat between the two hills of Safa and Marwa, trying to mount a higher ground to spot any water in the area, until, completely disappointed and with tear-filled eyes, she returned to her baby. The agony of Hagar in her search for water is remembered by Muslims by imposing an act of ritual walking (sa`i, Arabic: سَعِي) that would signify her journey between the two hills in their pilgrimage at Mecca. Standing beside her baby, weeping and wailing, Hagar was watching that heartbreaking scene.

God then sent the Angel Gabriel. He scraped the ground and from that spot, a clear spring gushed out from the ground and began to flow under Ishmael's feet. Little by little, birds came to use the water of the spring. The tribe of Jorhom, who dwelt in the area, discovered the spring because of the birds flying overhead and the tribe then settled beside it. They asked her permission to use the spring and she agreed. Hagar became acquainted with them, and her fear and loneliness were removed. In this way, the prayer of Abraham was answered. From time to time, Abraham would go to see Hagar and his child. Visiting them made him happy and reinvigorated him.

The spring that burst forth when Gabriel struck the ground on the orders of God still exists today and is called the Zamzam Well زمزم.

According to Islamic traditions, Ishmael was a fully legitimate son of Abraham and inherited equally from his father the legacy of prophethood and religion of Allah. From Ishmael descended the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad is traced to Adnan, believed to be a descendant of Ishmael through his son Kedar.

Inhumane Treatment

Many readers may feel sorry for Hagar and her infant son when reading the story in Genesis. How could Abraham accept sending them to an unknown and waterless place? Was it a homicide? The later issues between Jews and Arabs cannot be projected back to such an early time (when all were one family). Ishmael was Abraham's son as much as Isaac. Both attended the burial of their father according to Genesis - no one fought the other. Later struggles may have projected the (pre-exilic) troubles with the Arab nomads to the time of Abraham and his sons. Ammon, Esau, Moab, and Canaan are just few examples when later issues gave birth to supposedly old stories.

Hagar in contemporary Israel

The story of Hagar's expulsion to the desert has acquired some political connotations in modern Israel, being taken up as a symbol of the massive expulsion and exodus of Palestinians during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, being depicted as such by some Israeli writers and artists. It was also the subject of a famous debate on the floor of the Knesset between two women parliamentarians - Shulamit Aloni, founder of Meretz (Civil Rights Movement) and Geulah Cohen of Tehiya (National Awakening Party) - who argued about the right interpretation which the Bible in general and Hagar's story in particular should be given in curriculum of Israeli schools. Since the 1970's the custom has arisen of giving the name "Hagar" to newborn female babies. The giving of this name is often taken as a controversial political act, marking the parents as being left-leaning and supporters of reconciliation with the Palestinians and Arab World, and is frowned upon by many, including nationalists and the religious. The Israeli Women in Black movement has unofficially renamed Jerusalem's Paris Square, where the movement has been holding anti-occupation vigils every Friday since 1988, as "Hagar Square". The name commorates the late Hagar Rublev, a prominent Israeli feminist and peace activist, who was among the founders of these Friday vigils.

A figure for contemporary times

Contemporary readings often discuss the tension between women that is induced by linking women's status to the male heirs they produce. Hagar is often used as example of the silently victimized, since her only recorded statement is a plea for death. Later Liberation and Womanist traditions find identity with Hagar for these reasons. The conflict between Sarah and Hagar is often shown as a classic example of conflicts between women under patriarchal systems.

See also

• Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, a book discussing the origins of Islam.

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