Ishmael
Ishmael, son of Hagar, Sarah's servant, fathered 12 sons who became the Arab peoples. They are Hebrews, but they are neither Israelites nor Jews, for the Israelites are the descendants of Jacob and the Jews are the descendants of Judah, Jacob's fourth son.
Genesis 25:12-15 "This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah."
Native Arabs were once described as people with very dark black skin. Baron Heinrich von Maltzan, a writer, passionate traveler, keen observer and skilled narrator; who had previously traveled in Central Arabia, made a pilgrimage to Mekka in 1860; on page 121 of his book "Geography of Southern Arabia", this is how he described the native Arabs:
"Their skin is almost as black as that of the Abyssinians; their body is very well formed, with slender but strong limbs; their face is Semitic, with a generally aquiline nose, spirited eyes, small lips and a mouth of very reduced proportions. They are generally thin, and never fat; they have little or no beard, their hair is long, but curly, not frizzy."
All too often, we focus on contemporary modern populations without first taking the past into account, and we quickly forget that the primitive appearance of many indigenous populations and nations has been altered over time. But, we should not forget, for example, the Barbary slave trade between 1600 and 1900, during which 1,250,000 Caucasians were shipped to North Africa. Wealthy Arab merchants with a passion for concubinage would acquire white women and girls among these group to be used as sex slaves in their harems. This trade, which lasted for almost three centuries, produced a whole generation of mixed-race, paler-skinned Arabs who would otherwise have remained darker-skinned. If native Arabs were very dark-skinned, it implies that Abraham and Hagar were both of black descent.
It should be noted that contemporary Arab populations are now a mixture of Hamites, Semites, and Japhethites, including:
► Cushites,
► Ishmaelites descendants of Ishmael (first son of Abraham and the Egyptian Hagar);
► Midianites descendants of Midian (son of Abraham and Keturah),
► Amalekites (Descendants of Amalek, grandson of Esau).
We encourage you to do your own research, and may the Holy Spirit guide you in understanding this message.