Saarah was the cousin of Ibraaheem, may Allaah exalt his mention

11-2-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Please clarify to me whether Sarah was the cousin of Ibraheem, may Allaah exalt his mention, or not? Was she not the daughter of the king? When the people of Babylon saw that Ibrahim did not burn in the fire, only a few of them believed in him and accepted his prophethood. One of them was Ibrahim's nephew Lut (Lot), may Allaah exalt his mention, and the other was his cousin Sara, who later married Ibrahim, may Allaah exalted his mention, and became his wife.

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Answer:

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.

The books of Tafseer (exegesis) indicated what proves both views. Perhaps the more correct view is that Saarah (Sarah) was the cousin of Ibraaheem (Abraham) . It was also said that she was the daughter of the king of Harraan (Haran). These two views were mentioned by At-Tabari, but Ibn Katheer held the preponderant opinion that she was his cousin. At-Tabari said in his Tafseer:

As-Suddi narrated, “Ibraaheem and Loot (Lot) set off towards the Levant, and Ibraaheem met Saarah, who was the daughter of the king of Harraan, and she challenged her people about their religion, so he married her.”

Ibn Is-haaq narrated, “Ibraaheem migrated to his Lord, and Loot migrated with him as well, and Ibraaheem married Saarah, his cousin, so he migrated with her, fleeing with his religion in order to be safe in worshipping his Lord, until he settled in Harran...”

Besides, Tafsir Ibn Katheer (5/353) reads:

“As-Suddi said, Ibraaheem and Loot set off towards the Levant, so Ibraaheem met Saarah, the daughter of the king of Harraan, and she challenged her people about their religion, so he married her.

This was reported by Ibn Jareer, and it is a strange narration. The well-known view is that she was his cousin, and that he migrated from his country along with her.”

Allaah knows best.