in al-ʿAbbās and his children, who draw its water for the pilgrims and also provide them with sweet drinks; drinking from it is a Sunnah.
Allah, exalted is He, said about Ishmael:
“I will surely make him into a great, greatly exalted nation.”
This magnification, reinforced by the wording (jiddan jiddan—“very, very”), indicates an extraordinary degree of honor. Had it been the case that the House he built attracted no pilgrims, and that no prophet would arise from his descendants—as many from the People of the Book claim—there would be nothing to justify such lavish praise; at most, he would simply have offspring. Yet the mere fact that a man has descendants brings no distinction unless among them are believers obedient to Allah.
Likewise, His statement, “I shall make him into a great nation”: if that nation were disbelieving, it would not be great at all; he would merely be the forefather of an unbelieving nation. Hence it is evident that this nation