I would like to know more about the Prophet Ya'qoob and the changing of his name to Israel. The Imaam in the Masjid I attend was discussing this in his Friday Khutba. Please send me any Hadeeth or Qur'aanic verse referring to this.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

The Prophet of Allaah Ya'qoob, is Ya'qoob the son of Prophet Ibraaheem who is the intimate friend of Allaah. His name was also Israel, which means, the slave of Allaah. Imaam Ash-Shawkaani said: 'The interpreters of the Qur'aan agreed that Israel is a name of Ya'qoob Ibn Is-Haaq Ibn Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt their mention, and its meaning is the slave of Allaah, as 'Isr' in their language means 'slave', and 'Ael' means Allaah. It is also said that he had two names, and it is said that Israel is his last name.' Allaah described him as a man of knowledge as He says (interpretation of meaning): {And indeed, he was a possessor of knowledge because of what We had taught him, but most of the people do not know.}[12:68].

His story was mentioned by many scholars in their books, among whom is Ibn Katheer in his book "The stories of the Prophets", so you can refer to it for more benefit.

Allaah knows best.