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The Prophets

Isḥāq (Isaac) — إسحاق

The glad tidings given to Ibrāhīm

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His story

Isḥāq was the glad tiding brought to Ibrāhīm and Sārah by the angels in their old age. Sārah struck her face in astonishment — 'shall I give birth while I am an old woman?' — and the answer came: such is the decree of Allah, whose mercy and blessings are upon the house of Ibrāhīm.

Allah made him a prophet from among the righteous, blessed him and his offspring, and placed prophethood and scripture in his line — a line that continued through Yaʿqūb, Yūsuf, Mūsā, Dāwūd, and ʿĪsā, peace be upon them all.

Mentioned in the Qur'an — with proof

وَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِإِسْحَاقَ نَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

"And We gave him good tidings of Isḥāq, a prophet from among the righteous."

Qur'an, Sūrah al-Ṣāffāt 37:112

وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَىٰ إِسْحَاقَ

"And We blessed him and Isḥāq."

Qur'an, Sūrah al-Ṣāffāt 37:113

فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِن وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ

"So We gave her good tidings of Isḥāq and after Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb."

Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:71

Sources & references

  • • Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr — Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ (Stories of the Prophets)
  • • Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān

Full details

The full account — Isḥāq (Isaac)

The promised son of old age, born to Ibrāhīm and Sārah as glad tidings confirmed by angels, whose own life quietly carries forward the covenant of prophethood into a new generation.

Part 01

Glad tidings brought by the angels

When the angels came to Ibrāhīm on their way to the people of Lūṭ, they gave him news of a son of knowledge — Isḥāq — and, after him, of a grandson, Yaʿqūb. Sārah, standing nearby, laughed in astonishment, for she was old and had long since given up hope of children. She asked how such a thing could be, given her age and her husband's. The angels' answer set the whole matter in its true place: "Do you wonder at the decree of Allah? The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house. Indeed, He is Praiseworthy and Glorious."

The birth of Isḥāq was therefore never framed as an ordinary event of nature; it was framed, from its very announcement, as a sign. Ibrāhīm had asked his Lord for righteous offspring, and the answer came in a form that removed any possibility of attributing the outcome to human planning. What seemed impossible to Sārah was, for her Lord, only a word: "Be," and it was.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:69–73

    “And Our messengers cam unto Abraham with good news. They said: Peace! He answered: Peace! and delayed not to bring a roasted calf. And when he saw their hands reached not to it, he mistrusted them and conceived a fear of them. They said: Fear not! Lo! we are sent unto the folk of Lot. And his wife, standing by laughed when We gave her good tidings (of the birth) of Isaac, and, after Isaac, of Jacob. She said: Oh woe is me! Shall I bear a child when I am an old woman, and this my husband is an old man? Lo! this is a strange thing! They said: Wonderest thou at the commandment of Allah? The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, O people of the house! Lo! He is Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory!”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Dhāriyāt 51:24–30

    “Hath the story of Abraham's honoured guests reached thee (O Muhammad)? When they came in unto him and said: Peace! he answered, Peace! (and thought): Folk unknown (to me). Then he went apart unto his housefolk so that they brought a fatted calf; And he set it before them, saying: Will ye not eat? Then he conceived a fear of them. They said: Fear not! and gave him tidings of (the birth of) a wise son. Then his wife came forward, making moan, and smote her face, and cried: A barren old woman! They said: Even so saith thy Lord. Lo! He is the Wise, the Knower.”

Part 02

A prophet named among the righteous

The Qur'an repeatedly names Isḥāq alongside his father and his son as one of the great line of prophets granted to Ibrāhīm as a reward for his patience and sincerity: "And We gave him Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb, all of them We guided... and every one We made righteous." He is counted among those whom Allah chose with a pure quality — remembrance of the abode of the Hereafter — and among the messengers whose stories confirm one another across the generations.

Unlike the dramatic trials that mark the accounts of some prophets, Isḥāq's own narrated life is one of quiet continuity: he inherited the covenant, married within the righteous line as his father had arranged, and became, in turn, the father of Yaʿqūb. His significance in the Qur'an lies less in singular episodes and more in the unbroken chain of guidance he represents, linking Ibrāhīm's household to the prophets of the Children of Israel.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Anʿām 6:84–87

    “And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob; each of them We guided; and Noah did We guide aforetime; and of his seed (We guided) David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the good. And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elias. Each one (of them) was of the righteous. And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot. Each one (of them) did We prefer above (Our) creatures, With some of their forefathers and their offspring and their brethren; and We chose them and guided them unto a straight path.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Ṣād 38:45–47

    “And make mention of Our bondmen, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men of parts and vision. Lo! We purified them with a pure thought, remembrance of the Home (of the Hereafter). Lo! in Our sight they are verily of the elect, the excellent.”

Part 03

The father's bequest and the son's inheritance

Ibrāhīm did not leave his sons without direction. The Qur'an records that both he and, later, Yaʿqūb charged their children with the same single testament: "O my sons, indeed Allah has chosen this religion for you, so do not die except while you are Muslims." Isḥāq stood within that chain as both recipient and transmitter — he received the covenant from his father and passed the same core creed to his own son.

This continuity is presented in the Qur'an as proof against later communities who claimed exclusive ownership of Ibrāhīm's legacy. The believers are told that Ibrāhīm, Ismāʿīl, Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb, and the tribes were neither Jews nor Christians in the sectarian sense later attached to those names, but were rather submitters to the one God — and that no distinction is made between any of them in faith.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:132–136

    “The same did Abraham enjoin upon his sons, and also Jacob, (saying): O my sons! Lo! Allah hath chosen for you the (true) religion; therefore die not save as men who have surrendered (unto Him). Or were ye present when death came to Jacob, when he said unto his sons: What will ye worship after me? They said: We shall worship thy god, the god of thy fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac, One Allah, and unto Him we have surrendered. Those are a people who have passed away. Theirs is that which they earned, and yours is that which ye earn. And ye will not be asked of what they used to do. And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Nay, but (we follow) the religion of Abraham, the upright, and he was not of the idolaters. Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Āl ʿImrān 3:84

    “Say (O Muhammad): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.”

Part 04

A blessing extending across generations

When Allah reaffirmed His covenant with Ibrāhīm regarding his household, the mention of Isḥāq's blessing was explicit: "And We blessed him and Isḥāq. And among their descendants is the doer of good and the manifestly unjust to himself." This candid acknowledgment — that not every descendant would walk the straight path — reflects the Qur'an's realism about prophetic lineage: nobility of descent guarantees nothing without personal righteousness.

Even so, the honour given to Isḥāq's line persisted through Yaʿqūb, through the twelve tribes, and through the long succession of prophets sent to the Children of Israel, from Mūsā to ʿĪsā. In this way Isḥāq occupies a hinge position in the Qur'anic narrative: through him the Abrahamic covenant flows toward an entire nation of prophets, even as the Qur'an insists that the covenant was always one of guidance offered, never of guaranteed salvation by lineage alone.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Ṣāffāt 37:112–113

    “And we gave him tidings of the birth of Isaac, a prophet of the righteous. And We blessed him and Isaac. And of their seed are some who do good, and some who plainly wrong themselves.”

Sources & further reading

  • • Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr — Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ, chapter on Isḥāq
  • • Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, on Sūrah Hūd 11:69–73
  • • Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr on Sūrah al-Ṣāffāt 37:112–113

What to learn

Main lessons from the story of Isḥāq (Isaac)

  • Isḥāq was given as glad tidings to Ibrāhīm and Sārah in their old age, a sign of Allah's power over all things.
  • Isḥāq is described in the Qur'an as being 'of the righteous,' blessed by Allah alongside his father.
  • Allah blessed Isḥāq and made from his descendants doers of good as well as those who wronged themselves clearly.
  • Isḥāq became the father of Yaʿqūb, continuing the line of prophethood among the descendants of Ibrāhīm.
  • The birth of Isḥāq to elderly parents is a reminder that nothing is difficult for Allah when He wills a matter.
  • Isḥāq's life shows that prophethood in his family was a mercy carried across generations by Allah's grace.

Test yourself

A short quiz — Isḥāq (Isaac)

Ten questions. Answer them, see your grade, and share it with someone you care about.

Question 1 of 10

Score: 0

Who were the parents of Isḥāq?