Encyclopedia of Islam

Abou El Fadl, Khaled

---

from stories found in the book of Genesis in the 

Bible and related accounts that were circulating 

among Jews and Christians in the Middle East 

during the seventh century 

c

.

e

. These accounts 

were then adapted to the Arab Muslim environ-

ment, as first shown in the q

Uran

. The fact that 

Muslims as well as Jews and Christians look to 

Abraham as an ancestral figure for their respec-

tive religions has led some people to call all three 

religions Abrahamic and their followers “children 

of Abraham.”

Abraham is mentioned in the Quran more 

than any other prophet except for m

oses

. As in the 

Bible, he is portrayed as an opponent of 

idolatry

(Q 6:74–84), a person who converses with God 

and the angels (Q 11:69–76), the father of Ish-

mael (Arabic: Ismail, Q 2:133) and Isaac (Arabic: 

Ishaq, Q 37:112), a founder of sacred places (Q 

2:125–127), and a pious man who was prepared 

to sacrifice his son at God’s command (Q 37:99–

111). Islamic traditions emphasize his role as the 

builder of the ancient Kaaba and his connection 

with many of the 

haJJ

 rituals. His wife, Hagar, and 

their son Ishmael are associated with the well of 

z

amzam

 in the Sacred Mosque and the ritual “run-

ning” between the hills of Safa and Marwa. One 

of the most important memorials in the Sacred 

Mosque’s courtyard is the Station of Abraham, 

where it is believed he stood while building the 

Kaaba. Muslims commemorate the attempted sac-

rifice of his son every year during the i

d

 

al

-a

dha

(Feast of the Sacrifice), which closes the hajj sea-

son. The Quran does not say which of Abraham’s 

two sons he intended to sacrifice, but the consen-

sus reached among Muslims is that it was Ishmael. 

In Judaism, it is believed to have been his other 

son, Isaac. Abraham is thought to have been bur-

ied in the West Bank town of Hebron, which is 

called al-Khalil in Arabic in memory of Abraham’s 

reputation as “the friend” of God (see Q 4:125). 

His tomb there is a place of worship for both Jews 

and Muslims, but it has become a flashpoint for 

confrontations between members of these com-

munities in modern times.

See also  J

Udaism

 

and

  i

slam

; 

prophets

 

and

prophecy

.