Continuation of my Contentions Series.

Link to Shaykh Abd al Hakim Murad’s Contentions part 1.

32. Hagar is the matriarch of liberation because, unlike Sarah, she fends for herself.

Another Contention dealing with Hajr (RA), the hand maiden and child-bearer for Ibrahim (AS). First thing is first, I find the name Hagar so much of mangling of the actual name I am surprised the Shaikh used it. There is so much beauty in the name Hajr, and I feel none of it when saying the name Hagar.

It is most likely a weakness in myself, and an important example of why we need to filter the media to our kids. My problem is that I can’t help myself associating the name with an idiotic cartoon that I read when I was a child in the Sunday newspaper. It is quite insulting and therefore I don’t want to repeat the name lest you suffer the same fate as me and recall it at every mention.

I’m a bit curious as to the actual Hebrew / Aramaic pronunciation of the name, and I wonder how far back does this mangling of the name go. I have a few friends who are knowledgeable in that area so I will ask.

On to the contention:

I delved a bit deeper into the meaning of the word matriarch, as I know how it is commonly used but I wondered if there was more to it. And there is! Within Christian and Jewish traditional teachings, Sarah (RA) is titled as the ‘First Matriarch’.

What the Shaykh, in my opinion, is reminding us about is that Sarah (RA) was a matriarch in the old sense of the word. Meaning, that her honor and title really comes from her continuing relationship with Ibrahim (AS).

On the other hand, Allah’s honoring of Hajr(RA) really began with her separation from Ibrahim (AS). She was forced to fend for herself in the desert, running from mountain to mountain looking for support, until Zamzam was untapped by the miracle of Allah through Ishmael (AS).

She remained separate from Ibrahim (AS) from that point and although (according to Shaykh Hamza’s Sirat tapes) Ibrahim (AS) did visit and maintain a relationship with Ishmael (AS), for a large part Hajr was ‘on her own’ in the raising of her son and maintaining her own welfare (and she was greatly successful in that manner).

The story of Hajr (RA) is significant in this way, as a liberation (from man) story, especially for western women who might tend to look to the holy books as forms of ‘male oppression’. So while Sarah (RA) is the “First Matriarch”, which is quite an honor, Hajr is a matriarch which today’s women would find more appealing.