At one point in my life, I didn't give much thought to different details in the Bible... everyone else seemed to overlook them, so they weren't brought to my attention. I was in the middle of a Bible study one day and was reading Genesis. I absently scanned the story of Abraham and God's promise to give him a son from which many nations would be born. Well, as we all know, Abraham had some "faith" issues and took matters into his own hands; consequently, he slept with his wife's maidservant, Hagar. She got pregnant and bore him a son, albeit illegitimate.

God finally caused Sara to become pregnant (when Ishmael was thirteen) and it all got a little messy. Sara was infuriated and jealous, as any wife would be, and insisted Abraham send Hagar and her son away... because Isaac was Abraham's legitimate son (whatever that means... I mean, c'mon... they're all actually his, no matter who he's married to) and she didn't want Isaac to share his inheritance with the little bastard, Ishmael.

Abraham was beside himself because, after all, Ishmael was his son. He's like, "God, what do I do?" So, God saw his conundrum and said, "Ok, go ahead and send Hagar and Ishmael away. Don't worry though. I'll protect both of them and give Ishmael my blessing, too."

In front of me, I have the NIV. This verse can be found in Genesis 17:19-22

" 19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. d]">[d] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will
make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the
father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. "

If anyone knows the roots of Islam, you know this is the split between Judaism and Islam. Any Muslim will be proud to point it out with no fear of reprisal. They even acknowledge Jesus, though perhaps with a different perspective. In any case... the point is this:

God is the God of Jews, Christians, and... yes... Muslims. It's right there in your handy-dandy Bible if you want to look it up. Read all of Genesis 16 and then pay special attention to Genesis 17:19-22. They were promised all the same things as Isaac's descendants. Why didn't God punish Abraham for losing faith and disobeying? Would you really want someone like him heading up a campaign for a new nation? I guess I just thought that "faith" was the ultimate qualifier... and yet the father of the three major religions screwed up quite a lot. Go figure.

Anyway, this little bit of information doesn't necessarily say anything about God himself as much as it says that we're at war with a religion that comes from the same background and the followers, in reality, worship the very same God.

Chew on that.