What was Ishmael known for?
Ishmael (Arabic:إسماعيل Ismāʿēl) is recognized as an important prophet and patriarch of Islam. Like Christians and Jews, Muslims believe that Ishmael was the firstborn of Abraham, born to him from his wife Sarah’s slave, Hagar. What race was Ishmael? Although three important characters in Moby-Dick are specifically identified as black—the elderly ship’s cook, the cabin-boy…