The Hagar-Sarah Conflict

Following orders from God, Abraham leaves Haran and settles in modern Israel with his wife Sarah. God admires this devotion, and promises Abraham prosperity for him and his descendants. However, Abraham becomes distraught, for Sarah is aging and unable to conceive a child. To avoid dying heirless, Sarah offers Abraham her maidservant, Hagar. Then, God acknowledges his covenant with Abraham, and God increases Sarah's fertility. Unfortunately, Hagar already bears Ishmael. Although the new mother succeeds in her designated task, Sarah mistreats Hagar. Eventually, Hagar becomes exasperated, and she runs away from Abraham and Sarah. She and Ishmael only returned based upon the words of an angel. Abraham and Sarah raise Isaac, but pay no regard toward Ishmael. Seeing their neglect, God blesses ishmael and his descendants with prosperity, which leads to the birth of the prophet Mohammed and the Muslim culture. Likewise, Isaac is considered the father of the Hebrews, for he was Abraham's other heir. Hagar and Sarah clash when birthing Abraham's heir, yet two nations are the heed of this conflict.

Is Ishmael really less worthy than his half-brother? Sure, Isaac is a blessing from God, but Ishmael precedes God's intervention and is no less Abraham's child than Isaac. Additionally, Hagar simply follows Sarah's orders to lay with Abraham, yet Sarah feels disgraced by her conception. How can Hagar, a servant, be at fault for obeying her mistress? By unknown means, it is evident Hagar was taken into custody by Sarah. Does it make Hagar less worthy than Sarah? The Torah also describes Hagar as Egyptian, implying her skin is a darker tone than Sarah. Does this imply race defines one's worthiness? Since Ishmael is multi-racial, is he less worthy of Abraham's attention? In the Avot V'emihot, the Jews proclaim how God is the God of Sarah. Based on the current situation, is Sarah a righteous anscestor to admire?

In my opinion, Ishmael and Hagar are just as valuable as Issac and Sarah. No human should be automatically neglected. I use the word automatically because humans start off as equals but deteriorate this privilege. For instance, two boys enter high school. One is Christian and the other is a Jew. Even though their English teacher is a devout Christian, she can not judge the Jew for anything other than his academic performance. Each child must originally receive the same attention at the start of the school year. If one boy turns in an essay personally attacking the teacher, then she can proceed to judge him. Similarly, Ishmael and Isaac should remain equal in Abraham's eyes until one of them supersedes the other. Racism, ageism, and sexism are all forms of prejudice and strangely stem from the Bible itself. Occasionally, I feel the Bible teaches the opposite of what the story tells. Such anecdotes highlight immorality in order to distinguish the opposite. Therefore, instead of following Sarah's path toward prejudice one should embrace people of all backgrounds until an individual is proven inadequate otherwise.