Prophet Ya'qub
One of the sons of Prophet Ishaaq (A). Like his father and his uncle, Prophet Ismail (A), he was born in the Holy Land, knownow as Palestine. Palestine is the homeland of many prophets of Allah. Ya'qub (A) was the next prophet to come from his family. Ya'qub (A) was a blessing for his grandfather Prophet Ibrahim (A) and his grandmother Sarah (R). Allah promised that many righteous leaders were going to come from this family. "Allah bestowed on Prophet Ibrahim, Ishaaq and Ya'qub, and made each of them Prophets." The promises of Allah always come true.
Allah blessed Prophet Ya'qub (A) with a large family. He had twelve (12) children and they were all boys. Prophet Ya'qub (A) and his family lived in the land of Canaan. This place was about thirty (30) miles from Jerusalem. On their farm, Prophet Ya'qub (A) and his family had a big flock of sheep. They all worked together to care for the flock and to grow food for their family.
As the years passed, Prophet Ya'qub (A) grew in wisdom and faith in Allah. He taught his people about the One True God, Allah. He taught them the same message his father and grandfather had brought to their people. Allah made him a prophet.
Prophet Ya'qub's (A) two younger sons were named Yusuf and Benjamin. Their mother was a beautiful woman named Rahil. One day, Prophet Ya'qub's (A) son Yusuf (A) came to him and told him about a special dream. Yusuf (A) said "O my father! I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon all bow down to me." At once, Prophet Ya'qub (A) realized that his son's dream was the dream of a prophet and had some important meaning.
Prophet Ya'qub (A) helped his dear young son to understand the dream. He said, "The Lord will choose you and teach the full meaning of things that will happen. Allah will reward you and our family with great blessings. This will happen just like in the past when Allah rewarded your great grandfather, Prophet Ibrahim (A) and your grandfather, Prophet Ishaaq (A)." Yusuf (A) was to become the next prophet from this blessed family of the prophets.
Prophet Ya'qub (A) lead his family and other people from his homeland to love Allah. He said, "O my children, Allah has given you best faith, so do not let death come to you except that you are in submission to Allah." Prophet Ya'qub (A) was a kind father who guided his children to obey Allah. When he came to the end of his life on earth, his family was near. He asked, 'Whom will you worship after I am gone?' They answered, 'We wil worship the One True God, Allah. This was the God of our forefathers, Prophet Ibrahim (A), Prophet Ismail (A) and Prophet Ishaaq (A). To Allah we will bow in submission and obey.' A Muslim is a person that obeys Allah; Allah is the one who sees and hears everything.