Zemmzem spring
“Discussing the treachery of step mothers, you might recall The Arabian
story of Abraham and his two queens, who had a son each. Sarah, the favourite queen,
the mother of Isaac was jealous of Hagar, the second queen who had a son by the
name Ishmael.
One day, Sarah complained to her husband that Hagar was always despising
her and frightening her that when Ishmael grew up he would be the heir to the
throne. She wanted the King to promise that her son Isaac would be his
successor and demanded that Hagar and Ishmael should be sent into the desert.
The King did as the first and favourite queen dictated. Carrying the
small boy on her shoulders, Hagar reached the Red sea, where tired and very
thirsty, she seated herself on a rock and wept in fear lest her son and she
should die in the desert of thirst.
The boy kicked the sand below his feet, and a spring of fresh water
gushed out of the sand. This spring is now known as Zemmzem. Abraham heard of
the miracle and rushed to the spot and built a temple.
The descendants of Ishmael built the sacred city Mecca around the
temple.
The children of Isaac multiplied in the course of years and came to be
known as Jews.
In the same way, the children of Ishmael multiplied into a big race
known as Arabs.
The old jealousy and rivalry seem to thrive still in spite of thousands
of years.
(This is a part of the excerpts
of the speech of Mr. Ramachandra, the highly esteemed Editor of the
internationally famous ‘Religious Digest’, who delivered this speech to sixty
four Roman Catholic Nuns, belonging to different Orders, at the Aquinas University
College, Colombo in 1971.)
No comments:
Post a Comment