سورة البقرة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Yaqub (peace be upon him) and Is (Esau) were twins; Is was born first, then Yaqub (peace be upon him); and he was called Yaqub for this reason, because he came into the world following the heel ('aqib) of his brother Is.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir said: "I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the interpretation of the verse: إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِیهِ ما تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِی قالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلهَکَ وَ إِلهَ آبائِکَ إِبْراهِیمَ وَ إِسْماعِیلَ وَ إِسْحاقَ إِلهاً واحِداً [When he said to his sons: What will you worship after me? They said: We will worship your Allah and the Allah of your fathers, Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq, one Allah]." He (peace be upon him) said: "This verse also applies to al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance)."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him) ... The Arabs call the uncle "father." Consider the statement of Allah in the story of Yaqub (peace be upon him), where He said: قالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلهَکَ وَ إِلهَ آبائِکَ إِبْراهِیمَ وَ إِسْماعِیلَ وَ إِسْحاقَ [They said: We will serve your Allah and the Allah of your fathers, Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq], while Ismail (peace be upon him) was the uncle of Yaqub (peace be upon him), and in this verse he has been called a father.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ismail (peace be upon him) was the uncle of Yaqub (peace be upon him), and he named him as his "father," because the Arabs call the uncle "father," just as they also call the grandfather "father." That is because they consider respect for him obligatory like respect for the father. And for this reason the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Return my father to me," meaning al-Abbas [while al-Abbas was the Prophet's (peace be upon him and his family) uncle].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated from his fathers that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to Imam Ali (peace be upon him): "And [this] statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), 'I am the son of the two sacrificed ones' — by those two he meant, one was his uncle, because Allah the Mighty and Majestic named the 'uncle' as 'father,' where He said: أَمْ کُنْتُمْ شُهَداءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ یَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْ قالَ لِبَنِیهِ ما تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ بَعْدِی قالُوا نَعْبُدُ إِلهَکَ وَ إِلهَ آبائِکَ إِبْراهِیمَ وَ إِسْماعِیلَ وَ إِسْحاقَ [Nay! were you witnesses when death visited Yaqub, when he said to his sons: What will you serve after me? They said: We will serve your Allah and the Allah of your fathers, Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq] — although Ismail was the uncle of Yaqub, Allah has called him his father in this verse."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal said: "I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'Was the religion that his fathers Ibrahim, Nuh, Musa, Isa and Muhammad (peace be upon them) had, the same religion of Islam?' He said: 'Yes, O Mufaddal! It was this very religion of Islam; nothing other than it.' I said: 'Do you have a proof from the Quran for this matter?' He said: 'Yes! From the beginning to the end of the Quran is full of proofs ... among them the verse ... أَمْ کُنْتُمْ شُهَداءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ یَعْقُوبَ الْمَوْتُ [Nay! were you witnesses when death visited Yaqub] up to where He said: وَ نَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ [and to Him do we submit].'"