Which son did Abraham favor?

Answer 1

According to the Jewish and Christian interpretations, Isaac was preferred. In Islamic interpretations, Ishmael was preferred.

Ishmael

Believe it or not Ishmael; although not talked about the Arabs, at least well informed ones who make it a point to read the Tanakh to find something to use in their arguments against Judaism, it is clearly mentioned in Genesis, that Abraham did in fact favor Ishmael over Isaac, it in fact took God's interference to give Isaac the inheritance of the family name. In fact the whole reason Hajar became arrogant, besides the earlier ability to get pregnant, had to do with the fact that she knew her son was favored. Abraham, was poised to ignore family bloodline tradition and make Ishmael his heir despite the fact that Ishmael was half-Hamitic. Hajar, was an ancient Egyptian Hamitic princess and no, she was not black. The Nubians did rule over Egypt but that was much later and yes there were some black Queens named "Cleopatra," however Caesar's Cleopatra was an inbred Greek woman.

The justification The Bible gives, for Abraham sending Ishmael and Hajar to the wild, was God's promise he would watch over them. I'm sure you remember the story of how Ishmael was dying of thirst correct? And how a well spring of water flowed out from the desert, and how Hajar used that water to quench Ishmael's thirst? That water, is still flowing, it never stopped, and there is a mosque in Saudi Arabia built over the site there is a fountain there now, connected to that well. The water by the way, is highly unusual; chemical analysis has conclusively shown it is unlike any other type of drinkable fresh water in the world. I believe "Ishmael's fountain" is to be found in the city of either Mecca or Medina, I think its Mecca, in fact Mecca, grew up around that fountain mentioned in Genesis.

Isaac

The Biblical Narrative strongly favors Isaac. God commands Abraham to heed his wife and remove Ishmael and Hagar from the family, casting them out into the wilderness. That fact that God prevented Hagar and Ishmael from dying of thirst has little bearing on Abraham's temperament. Abraham also spent a great deal of quality time with Isaac and helped find him a wife from among his relations in Ur. This is as opposed to Ishmael who married undesirable (to both God and Abraham) local Canaanite women. Finally, in the Biblical Narrative, Isaac is the son brought to be sacrificed as he is considered the primary successor to Abraham in terms of spirituality. Isaac also keeps the tradition of monotheism, which is something that Ishmael's descendants lose until the expansion of Christianity and Judaism into Arabia.