Obviously, no great nation could ever live or remain concealed or confined within the so-called Wilderness of Paran in the Sinai Peninsula, as propounded by the Genesis. Hence, the promise of God about exceedingly multiplied progeny from 12 princes of Ishmael must have been fulfilled in making the Ishmaelites a great nation.
We know that the word of God is an accomplished fact. There can be no denial of the fact that the Ishmaelites had been an overwhelming majority among the descendants of Abraham, as foretold by the Lord Himself in the following words:Īnd as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
We find in the Genesis that God responded to the petition of Abraham about his children, in the following manner:Īnd he (God) brought him (Abraham) forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Most of the Ishmaelites stationed within the present Hijaz province of Saudi Arabia or other lands adjoining Hijaz, such as Nafud, Tehama, and parts of the Jordan of the present.
All the Arab historians agree with the tradition that Ishmaelites had been the overwhelming majority among the descendants of Abraham, and the descendants of Abraham from his wives Ketura or Hajun occupied various parts of the Arabian Peninsula.