Who Was Sayyida Hajar?
Sayyida Hajar (AS) — called Hagar in the Hebrew and Christian traditions — was the wife of Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS) (Prophet Abraham) and the mother of Sayyidna Ismail (AS) (Prophet Ishmael). Her name in Arabic means “she who flees” or “emigrant.”
While the Christian and Jewish traditions treat her as a secondary figure, Islam — and particularly the Bohra tradition — honors her with profound reverence. She is:
- The woman whose trust in Allah caused Zamzam to spring from the earth
- The woman whose desperate run between Safa and Marwah is reenacted by every Muslim who performs Hajj or Umrah
- Buried within the footprint of the original Kaaba
Her story is not a side note. It is embedded in the very fabric of Islamic pilgrimage. Every Muslim who has ever performed Sa’i has retraced her steps.
The Story — Ibrahim’s Command and Hajar’s Trust
Sayyida Hajar (AS) and her infant son Ismail (AS) were brought by Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS) to a barren, uninhabited valley — what is now Mecca. There was no water, no vegetation, no people. Ibrahim (AS) settled them there and prepared to leave.
Sayyida Hajar (AS) asked: “O Ibrahim, where are you going? Are you leaving us in this valley where there is no one and nothing?”
He did not answer. She repeated the question several times. Then she asked: “Has Allah commanded you to do this?”
He said: “Yes.”
Her response stands as one of the greatest moments of tawakkul (trust in Allah) in all of prophetic history:
“Then He will not cause us to be lost.”
Ibrahim (AS) left. He walked until he could no longer be seen. Then he stopped, turned toward the valley, and made a dua that is recorded in the Quran:
رَبَّنَا إِنِّي أَسكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّيَّتِي بِوَادٍ غَيرِ ذِي زَرعٍ عِندَ بَيتِكَ المُحَرَّم · رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ فَاجعَل أَفئِدَةً مِّنَ النَّاسِ تَهوِي إِلَيهِم وَارزُقهُم مِّنَ الثَّمَرَات “Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in a valley with no vegetation, near Your Sacred House, Our Lord, that they may establish prayer. So make the hearts of people incline toward them and provide for them from fruits, that they may be grateful.” (Quran 14:37)
That dua was answered: Mecca became the heart of the world.
Between Safa and Marwah — The Act That Became a Pillar
The food and water Ibrahim (AS) had left soon ran out. The baby Ismail (AS) cried from thirst. Sayyida Hajar (AS) could not bear to watch him suffer, but there was nothing to do except look for help or water.
She placed the infant down and ran to the hill of Safa — the nearest high ground — to look for any caravan, any sign of water, any help on the horizon. Nothing. She ran down Safa and across the valley (running faster through the lower ground, which later became the green-light section where men increase their pace in Sa’i) to Marwah. Again, nothing.
She ran this route seven times — back and forth, Safa to Marwah, Marwah to Safa. Seven times, in desperation and in faith, not stopping, not giving up, continuing to search while trusting that Allah had not abandoned them.
The Quran records the honor Islam gives this act:
إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَالمَروَةَ مِن شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ · فَمَن حَجَّ البَيتَ أَوِ اعتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا “Indeed, Safa and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah. Whoever performs the pilgrimage to the House or performs Umrah — there is no blame upon him for walking between them.” (Quran 2:158)
The phrase “no blame” is understood by scholars as a response to early Muslims who were uncertain whether they could walk between hills that had been associated with pre-Islamic practices. Allah affirmed: yes, walk between them — because Safa and Marwah are sacred not from the pagan past but from Sayyida Hajar’s (AS) act of faith.
Zamzam — Allah’s Answer to Her Search
As Sayyida Hajar (AS) completed her seventh pass at Marwah, she heard a sound. She ran back toward the baby. The angel Jibrail (AS) had struck the earth with his wing (or, in some narrations, with his heel) — and water was gushing from the ground beneath the infant’s heels.
This is Zamzam (زَمزَم). The word is said to derive from the sound of the water, or from the Arabic for “abundant water.” Sayyida Hajar (AS) began to cup the water with her hands, creating a small pool. The Prophet (SAW) said: “May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ismail. Had she left Zamzam, it would have been a flowing stream.”
The water attracted birds. Birds attracted passing tribesmen of Jurhum, who were traveling nearby. They sought permission from Sayyida Hajar (AS) to settle near the water. She granted it, and thus began the first human community in the valley of Mecca.
Zamzam has been flowing continuously for approximately 4,000 years. It is the most blessed water on earth — all because a mother trusted Allah enough to search, and Allah answered.
Sayyida Hajar and Ismail — Building the Ka’ba
Years later, Sayyidna Ibrahim (AS) returned to Mecca. By then, Ismail (AS) had grown into a young man in the community of Jurhum. Ibrahim (AS) returned again, and together — father and son — they received the divine command to build the Ka’ba:
وَإِذ يَرفَعُ إِبرَاهِيمُ القَوَاعِدَ مِنَ البَيتِ وَإِسمَاعِيلُ · رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّل مِنَّا “And when Ibrahim was raising the foundations of the House, with Ismail — Our Lord, accept from us.” (Quran 2:127)
The valley where Sayyida Hajar (AS) and her son had once been abandoned to survive alone became the most sacred spot on earth. Her trust had transformed a barren desert into the birthplace of monotheism’s center.
Buried in the Hijr Ismail
Sayyida Hajar (AS) died and was buried in the valley of Mecca. Her grave — and the grave of Sayyidna Ismail (AS) — is in the Hijr Ismail (حِجرُ إِسمَاعِيل), the semi-circular enclosure on the north-west wall of the Ka’ba.
This is one of the most spiritually charged facts in Islamic pilgrimage: the area that pilgrims walk around outside during Tawaf — never through, because it is the original Ka’ba footprint — contains the graves of Sayyida Hajar (AS) and her son.
This means:
- Performing namaaz inside the Hijr Ismail is equivalent to praying inside the Ka’ba itself
- The woman whose trust made Mecca is buried at the very heart of what her trust created
- Every Tawaf, every pilgrim circles the grave of Sayyida Hajar (AS)
Her Honor in the Bohra Tradition
For the Bohra mumin performing Hajj or Umrah, Sayyida Hajar (AS) is not an abstract figure. She is present:
- In every step of Sa’i (which is her steps)
- In every sip of Zamzam (which is her answer)
- In the Hijr Ismail, where her grave lies within the Ka’ba
- In the Arabic name of the Ka’ba’s sacred well — Zamzam, preserved across 4,000 years
When a Bohra mother or any Muslim mumin finds themselves in difficulty — alone, with insufficient resources, searching for something that doesn’t seem to be there — Sayyida Hajar (AS) is the model. She didn’t pray for the water to come to her. She ran. She searched. She trusted Allah while also doing everything she could. And the miracle met her action.
رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنهَا وَرَحِمَهَا وَجَعَلَ سَعيَنَا كَسَعيِهَا May Allah be pleased with her, have mercy on her, and make our Sa’i like her Sa’i.