Today we talked about the story of Ishmael and Hagar. The entire story is below, underneath our craft.
To tell our story, we made these story stones of the characters Ishmael as a baby, Hagar the mother, Abraham the father, and two stones for the Al-Safa and Al-Marwah mountains.
Small hole punch
White quilting pencil
Take the beige card stock and use the hole punch to cut out two circles for faces. We also cut out a much smaller circle for Ishmael. With the pencil, draw out four little lines for the arms. Use the white quilting pencil to draw out hair for Abraham and a hijab for Hagar. Cut everything out.
Cut out two small pieces of fabric for the clothing of Hagar and Abraham and a smaller piece of fabric for Ishmael. Cut out three triangles from a different fabric for the mountains.
Take the Sharpie and draw out two small dots for eyes on all three faces.
Once all your pieces are cut out, lay them on the stones to make sure everything fits.
Wash the stones and let them dry for a few hours. When they are dry completely, cover the area that the fabric will go on with the Mod Podge. Make sure it’s very wet. We found that our stones were quite dry and soaked up the liquid.
Place the fabric on top of the stone and put a second coat of Mod Podge over the fabric. Everything will appear white, but once dry it will be clear.
Lay out your pieces to dry in the sun or over night.
Once your story stones are done, read the story below while you are playing with your stones.
Hagar and the Two Mountains
Islamic tradition says Prophet Abraham brought Hagar and their son, Prophet Ishmael, to a land called Paran-aram or (Faran in Arabic, in latter days held to be the land surrounding Mecca). The objective of this journey was to “resettle” rather than “expel” Hagar. Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael under a tree and provided them with water.
Hagar asks Abraham who he is entrusting herself and Ishmael to as he leaves them. He answers that he is entrusting them to God, to which Hagar then makes a reply that shows her faith, stating that she believes God will guide them.
Hagar and Ishmael then run out of water and Ishmael becomes extremely thirsty. Hagar is distressed and searches for water, running back and forth seven times between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. Hagar is later remembered by Muslims for this act during the Hajj, or pilgrimage, in which Muslims run between these same hills as part of the Sa’yee.
When she returns to Ishmael, she finds either him or an angel scratching the ground with their heel or finger, whereupon water begins flowing and Hagar collects some or dams it up. This spring or well is known as Zamzam.
At some point, a passing tribe known as the Jurhum sees birds circling the water and investigates. They ask Hagar if they can settle there, which she allows, and many versions say as Ishmael grew up he learned various things from the tribe.
If you enjoyed learning about Ismael, please visit
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