Download The Many Views of Abraham & Family

The Many Views of
Abraham & Family
Eric Armann, Sean Jellison, Jessica Paul, Gillian St. John &
Karen Waldmann
Scripture 19; Religions of the Book
Winter Quarter 2007
Section 2, Group 4
Who Is Abraham?
Quick Facts
 Born Abram
 Born in Ur (Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq)
 Born approximately 4,000 years ago
 Married to Sarai
 Two main sons: Isaac and Ishmael
Family Tree
Sarai
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Abraham’s wife
Terah’s daughter-in-law
Also Abraham’s half-sister
Originally childless
Gives birth to Isaac
Name changed to Sarah
Is buried in Hebron
Hagar
 Sarah’s Egyptian slave-girl
 Abraham’s concubine
 Gives birth to Ishmael
Hagar and Sarah in
Christianity & Judaism
 Sarah banishes Hagar
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Hagar runs away pregnant
Angel of the Lord appears to Hagar
God speaks promises to Hagar
Hagar returns to Abraham
 Conflict arises again between Sarah and Hagar
during weaning of Isaac
– Hagar again is banished
 God saves Ishmael
– Ishmael’s tribes are believed to be the modern day
Arabs
Hagar and Sarah in Islam
 Some believe that Hagar was banished to
Makka
– Hagar and Ishmael remain in Makka
– The descendants of Ishmael flourish there
– These descendents led to the prophet
Muhammad
Keturah
 Second wife of Abraham, after the death of
Sarah (Gen. 25:1-6).
– Midrash says Keturah = Hagar
– Biblically she has six sons
 Ishbak, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Shuah, Zimran
 Midian’s descendants, the Midianites, are the most
famous people of this lineage (Exodus 2:11-22) and
(Numbers 22).
Ishmael
 Literally means “God has hearkened”
 Suggesting that a child so named was
regarded as the fulfillment of a divine
prophecy
 Born by Abraham and his wife’s servant
Hagar son (but considered to be Sarah’s)
Ishmael in the Hebrew Bible
 Sarah gives Abraham Hagar to bear a child
with since she believes God is preventing
her from having children (Gn 16:2)
 Sarah treats Hagar harshly once she
becomes pregnant
 Hagar flees, and an angel comes to here in
the desert (Gn 16), but the angel convinces
her to come back.
Continued
 Sarah becomes pregnant with Isaac, and
once he is weaned Abraham throws a feast
for him.
 Sarah believes Ishmael is making fun of
Isaac, and goes to try to convince Abraham
 (Gn 21:8-10)
 Abraham is worried greatly about what to do
but God comes to him and say… (Gn 21:1113)
 In final resolution for his sons, God promises
Abraham that (Gn 17)
Ishmael in Jewish Tradition
 Generally viewed as wrong, but changes
himself through repentance.
 Ishmael is said to have been with his twelve
sons roaming about their land looking for
placing to dwell.
 As they roamed, and more children where
born to them fruitfully and abundantly
Ishmael in the New Testament
 Ishmael and Hagar are expelled to ensure
Isaac is the Abraham’s heir
 In Galatians, Paul uses this incidents “to
symbolize the relationship between
Judaism, thee older now rejected tradition,
and Christianity
 Gal 4:21-31
Ishmael in Islam
 Muslims believe that Ishmael was the son
Abraham was to sacrifice.
 Abraham was about to, but God stopped
him at the last moment and praised him for
his loyalty.
 This is where Muslims get the tradition of
sacrificing domestic animal on Eid ul-Adha
 Ishmael is thought to be an appointed
prophet
Isaac
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Means “may God smile”
Only son of Abraham and Sarah
It was a miracle Isaac was born
Sarah was 90 and Abraham 100 years old
Isaac in Jewish Tradition
 Jews believe Isaac was the son that
Abraham was going to sacrifice
 He is such an icon because his willingness
to follow God at the cost of his life is a
model for many Jews who prefer martyrdom
rather that violation of Jewish law
 As well, according to Jewish tradition Isaac
was thought to institute afternoon prayer
(Gn 24:63)
Isaac in the New Testament
 Again, in Galatians, Paul contrasts Isaac as
symbolizing Christianity and Ishmael as
symbolizing Judaism
 Jews view the release of Isaac for sacrifice
as analogues to the resurrection of Jesus
 (Hebrews 2:19)
Isaac in the Qur’an
 He is a prophet in Islam
 Born to Abraham and Sarah, despite their
old age
 Mentioned 15 times in the Qur’an
 States that Abraham was to sacrifice as son,
but never states specifically which one
(Surah 37:99-113)
 It was later believe that Isaac was not the
chosen son, and Muslims greatly endorse
that.
Abraham in Judaism
 View Abraham as founding patriarch of religion and ethnic
ancestor
 Ethnically
– Jews claim descent from ancient Israelites who trace
history back to Abraham
– Jacob and 12 tribes of Israel
 Religiously
– First to believe in only one God, post-flood
– Smashes father’s pagan idols
– Covenants
 Genesis 15:1-21;17:1-27
Abraham in Christianity
 Represented as a man of faith
 The New Testament also sees Abraham as
an obedient man of God, and Abraham's
interrupted attempt to offer up Isaac is seen
as the supreme act of perfect faith in God.
 (Hebrews 11:17-19)
Abraham in Islam
 Called Ibrahim in Arabic
 Considered to be a Prophet
– One of the first in the line of Adam & Noah
(Nooh)
– Father to the Prophets Ishmael (Ismail) and
Isaac (Ishaq), and grandfather to the prophet
Jacob (Yaqub)
– Ancestor to Muhammad through his son
Ishmael
Ibrahim in Islam
 Muslim practices maintain that Ibrahim was born in
Ur, to his father Terah (possibly Azar).
 Young Ibrahim looked at the people of Ur and was
upset by the idol worship of his ancestors and
when he asks if they worship their own handiwork
they try to burn him, but Allah protects him (Surah
37:95-99)
 He then makes a hijrah, from the land of his
fathers to the area of modern day Palestine.
Ibrahim and the Ka’bah
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Taught that it was first built by Angels and Prophet Adam
The Qur’an (Surah 2:125-127)teaches that Ibrahim and Ismail rebuilt the
Ka’bah, the first mosque and site for worshiping Allah in Islamic tradition.
Referred to as the “Station of Ibrahim”
The size of the Ibrahimic Foundation:
– Eastern wall: 48.5 feet
– Hateem side wall: 33 feet
– Side from the black stone to the
Yemeni corner: 30 feet
– Western side: 46.5 feet
Ibrahim and the Five Pillars
 Salah
– At the completion of each of the daily prayers, Muslims pray
for blessings upon Muhammad, Ibrahim and their people and
followers.
– For Sunni Muslims this means that Ibrahim is prayed for
about 6,375,000 times a day (1,275,000 x 5)
– For Shi’a Muslims this means that Ibrahim is prayed for about
675,000 times a day (225,000 x 3)
– In total, the Muslim World gives praise to Ibrahim over seven
million times a day.
– Also while praying, Muslims face the Ka’bah in Makka.
Ibrahim and the Five Pillars
 Hajj
– The tradition of the pilgrimage to Makka has its roots with
Ibrahim and Ismail’s rebuilding of the Ka’bah (Surah 22:2627).
– During Eid al-Adha, an animal sacrifice is performed to
commemorate the Muslim belief that Ibrahim’s chosen son
was Ismail, and his father was willing to sacrifice him at
Allah’s command.
– When Muslims make the Hajj, part of the ritual includes
running the distance between Safa and Marwa (two hills
close to the Ka’bah) seven times.
 This is in remembrance of the sacrifice of Hagar (Hajira),
Ibrahim’s concubine*, after she was cast out according to
God’s reply for Ibrahim to please Sarah (Surah 14:36).
Ibrahim and the Five Pillars
 Shahada, Zakat, Sawm
– The ties to Ibrahim for these three pillars are
less direct, but focus on the life and beliefs in
the Prophet Muhammad, who was in the same
line of Muslim Prophets as Ibrahim.
Hajira and Ismail
 Briefly stated before, both were cast out at Sarah’s command.
 Muslim belief teaches that the two were left in the valley of Makka, at
Allah’s command to become the ancestors of modern day Arabs.
– Tradition teaches (Hadith of Bukhari) that when they were left in the valley
there was no water and Hajira ran between the two hills of Safa and Marwa
seven times looking for water for Ismail. The Angel Jibreel came to her
and revealed what is known today as the well of Zamzam, so that she and
Ismail could drink and thrive for their unwavering faith in Allah.
Ismail
 Ismail is regarded to be the ancestor
of today’s Muslim (Arab) people.
– Though he holds this title, he is mentioned
very few times in the Qur’an itself, most of the
Islamic history regarding Ismail is found in the
Hadiths.
– Even Muslim belief that Ismail is the chosen
son of Abraham is not mentioned directly in
the Qur’an, (Surah 37:100-107) which was
cause for many arguments in early Islam.
– Jewish tradition teaches that there were
twelve sons/tribes of Ishmael, but in Islam
references to these sons are vague at best.
Muslim and Jew Conflict
 Interaction started in the 7th century CE with the origin and
spread of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula
 Both are considered Abrahamic religions
– Both claim Abraham as a prophet and patriarch
 As Islam spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, large
number of Jews came under Muslim rule
 In many circumstances, Muslims and Jews have lived in
peace under Islam rule
– Islam allowed for Jews to be ruled by Jewish laws and to keep their
synagogues and worship practices
 However, there have also been many cases where Jews
and Muslims have not lived in peace, and that has
continued on throughout the ages
Abraham You-Tube Video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UabYjhhz
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