The roots of Islam go all the way back to Abraham (called Ibrahim in Islam) in the land of Canaan, around 1900 B.C., before Abraham’s son Isaac was born.

The Old Testament describes how Abraham’s wife, Sarah, who was very old and had never had a child, finally gave birth to Isaac. Abraham did have a son before Isaac, however, whose mother was a servant woman named Hagar. This child’s name was Ishmael. The Old Testament Book of Genesis (Chapters 16 and 17) tells the story of Ishmael’s birth when Abraham was 86 years old.

Abraham’s wife grew jealous of Hagar and Ishmael, and God told Abraham to bless the child and his mother and send them away into the desert. Ishmael and Hagar wandered until they ran out of water. In her desperation, Hagar ran back and forth by a rock seven times, and as she did so, an angel told her not to be afraid. Where Ishmael’s heels touched the desert sand, water spouted up and quenched their thirst. In this place, much later, the city of Mecca was born, and there remains a famous well on the exact spot where Ishmael’s heels touched. This well is called Zamzam.