Ishmael (Moby-Dick) Biblical in origin: in Genesis 16:1-16; 17:18-25; 21:6-21; 25:9-17, Ishmael was the son of Abraham by the servant Hagar. In 16:11-12, the most significant verses for Melville's allegory, Hagar was cast off after the birth of Isaac, who inherited the covenant of the Lord instead of his older half-brother. Melville shapes his allegory to the Biblical Ishmael as follows: And so the name points to a Biblical analogy that marks Ishmael as the prototype of "wanderer and outcast," the man set at odds with his fellows. Wright says that all Melville's heroes—with the exception of Benito Cereno and Billy Budd—are
Ishmael in Islam Ishmael in Islam Ishmael (, ) is the figure known in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as Abraham's (Ibrahim) son, born to Hagar (Hajar). In Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet ("nabi") and an ancestor to Muhammad. He also became associated with Mecca and the construction of the "Kaaba." Stories of Ishmael are not only found in Jewish and Christian texts, such as the Bible and rabbinic "Midrash", but also Islamic sources. These sources include the Quran, Quranic commentary (tafsir), "hadith", historiographic collections like that of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and "Isra'iliyat" (Islamic texts about Biblical or ancient Israelite figures