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
Abraham in Islam Jacob and Ishmael. In the later chapters of the Quran, Abraham's role becomes yet more prominent. The Quran mentions that Abraham and Ishmael were the reformers who set up the Ka‘bah in Mecca as a center of pilgrimage for monotheism The Quran consistently refers to Islam as "the Religion of Abraham" ("millat Ibrahim") and Abraham is given a title as "Hanif" ("The Pure", "true in Faith" or "upright man"). The Quran also mentions Abraham as one whom God took as a friend ("Khalil"), hence Abraham's title in Islam, "Khalil-Allah" ("Friend of God"). The term is considered by some to be