“to the land We had blessed for all beings” (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:71) refers to Mecca. Have you not heard His words, “Indeed, the first House established for mankind was that at Bakkah—blessed and a guidance for all beings” (Āl ʿImrān 3:96)? Kaʿb al-Ahbār, however, asserted(1) that the land meant was Ḥarrān.

We have already reported from the People of the Book that Abraham departed from the land of Babylon together with his father, his nephew Lot, his brother Nāḥūr, Abraham’s wife Sarah, and Nāḥūr’s wife Milkah. They settled in Ḥarrān, where Tārikh, Abraham’s father, died.

Al-Suddi(2) said: “Abraham and Lot set out for al-Shām. There Abraham met Sarah—she was the daughter of the king of Ḥarrān—who had censured her people’s religion,(3) and he married her on the condition that he would not alter her.”(4) Ibn Jarīr transmitted this report, though it is unusual.

The prevailing view is that she was his cousin, the daughter of his paternal uncle Hārān, after whom Ḥarrān is named. Anyone who claims—as al-Suhaylī relates from al-Qutaybī and al-Naqqāsh—that she was the daughter of his brother Hārān, the sister of Lot, has wandered far and spoken without knowledge. Such a person maintains that marriage to one’s brother’s daughter was then permissible, yet he offers no proof. Even if it were assumed that this was once allowed, as some Jewish rabbis contend, the prophets themselves would never have practiced it. Allah knows best.

Thus the recognized position is that when Abraham, peace be upon him, migrated from Babylon he left with Sarah, as mentioned earlier; Allah knows best.

The People of the Book further relate that when he reached al-Shām, Allah revealed to him: “I will grant this land to your descendants after you.” In gratitude for this favor Abraham built an altar to Allah and pitched his tent east of Jerusalem. He then journeyed south. A famine—meaning drought, hardship, and soaring prices—struck, so he travelled on to Egypt. They recount Sarah’s encounter with its king: that Abraham told her, “Say: I am his sister”; that the king presented her with Hagar as a servant; and that he subsequently expelled them. They then returned to the southern lands—that is, the territory of Jerusalem and its environs—laden with livestock, servants, and wealth.

Al-Bukhārī relates: “Muḥammad ibn Maḥbūb narrated to us, Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Ayyūb, from Muḥammad, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: ‘Abraham told no lies except three, two of them for the sake of Allah: his words, “Indeed I am ill” (37:89) and his words, “Rather, this largest one did it” (21:63).’ He went on: ‘While Abraham was traveling one day with Sarah, he passed by one of the tyrant kings. It was said to the king, “Here is a man accompanied by a woman who is among the most beautiful of people.” The king sent for him and asked about her.

“He said, ‘Who is this woman?’

“Abraham replied, ‘My sister.’

“He then returned to Sarah and said, ‘O Sarah, there is no believer on the face of the earth today but me and you…’”