Isma'il

Ismā'īl (إسماعيل‎ Ishmael) was the son of Abraham from the Egyptian concubine Hagar. He is recognized in Islam as an important prophet and patriarch. The Bible describes him as a "wild donkey of a man" whose hand will be "against everyone" and "he will live in hostility toward all his brothers".^[1] Islamic traditions consider Isma'il to be the ancestor of Arab people,^[2] excluding Arabs who are descendants of Ya'rub. Arabs who are from Isma'il-descendant tribes are occasionally referred to as "Arabized-Arabs" to highlight their ancestry. The Prophet Muhammad was of these Arabs. However, there is no evidence that Isma'il was the ancestor of the Arabs. It is conjecture based upon writings some 2000 years after his death.