adam, noah, abraham (blue book)

8/14/2019 Adam, Noah, Abraham (Blue Book)

1/4

Matt Davies

The Holy QuranApril 4, 2008

Adam, Noah, and Abraham

Discuss the use of Jewish sacred texts in the Quran

There is very little doubt that Muhammad was influenced by Jewish and Christian

communities that existed in the region where he lived. The phrase People of the Book,

the Quranic description of Jews and Christians, was used to address problems inside

those communities or to criticize their rejection of Allah or even to praise them for

trying to follow Allah. Muhammad had a tumultuous relationship with the Jewish

tribes inside Medina, which influenced the writings and revelations that Muhammad

preached. The Jewish stories, which were adopted into the Christian cannon, were

known inside Mecca due to the citys key position in the trading routes. Muhammad,

being a trader and marrying a prominent trader, would have been in contact with at least

the basics of the Jewish texts. Jewish mythology shaped a new social religiosity.

Muhammad was part of a prominent trading company, due to the influence of his

uncle, Abu Talib. He would have, therefore, known at least the origin stories of various

cultures that passed through Mecca. He would have understood the importance of

Abraham to the Jewish community and the adopted significance that it played inside the

Christian faith. When Muhammads revelations began, he realized that he needed to

have an origin story that was legitimate to the surrounding communities or faiths. He

therefore adopted a story using Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham through the slave

Hagar. Surah 21 is one of the Surahs that establishes a connection with Abraham and

gives the basis for one of Muhammads future quests. The Quran and the Bible share


2/4

Matt Davies


the story that Abraham leaves his parents and the land of Ur and travels to a distant land.

The Quran puts a reason behind this story. Abrahams father worshiped idols that were

passed down through his ancestors. Abraham told his father that he was clearly in error

and smashed all but one of the idols. Abraham realized that worshipping the true God

was more important than continuing family ties with an unfaithful father. Abraham

preached that these gods could not speak and, therefore, could do neither good nor harm

to the people. Muhammad found himself in a similar situation while inside Mecca, where

most scholars attribute Surah 21 to be written. The Kabah had 360 idols surrounding it

and obviously contradicted Muhammads claim for monotheism. Muhammad destroyed

these 360 idols and told the Meccans to worship Allah, the one true God. By relating this

story to Abraham, Muhammad legitimized a wholly unpopular move and began to

establish a connection to the Jewish and Christian communities.

Later in his career, Muhammad moved to Medina, where it is believed that he

established the idea of the umma. The umma transcended the typical tribal emphasis and

established a community of multiple tribes. Admittance into the umma did not require

the correct blood or ancestral line; instead, the umma required only belief in Allah and

that Muhammad was his prophet. Surah 11 could have been written during the traveling

time between Mecca and Medina and it established a reason behind the umma using the

popular figure of Noah. Noah was told to build an ark so that those who believed could

escape the coming of a disastrous flood. Noah was told to take a pair from every

species, your kinsfolk (except for those already doomed), and all the true believers. One

of Noahs sons decided to take his fate into his own hands and take refuge in the

mountains, where he believed the height of the mountain would save him. When Noah


3/4

Matt Davies


confronts Allah about the death of his son, Allah responded by saying that he was no

kinsman of Noah. Salvation does not come from family members or blood relations;

salvation only comes from accepting Allah and his prophets and submitting to them.

This established a justification for the creation of the umma. If the hero Noah had to

reject his own son in order to follow Allah, then why wouldnt the Arab community

entertain the rejection of their family for Allah as well? This validation, playing on the

popular figure of Noah, would have been appealing to most communities in the area.

Finally, Muhammad finalized his Abrahamic connection during his time in

Medina, where most Jewish tribes rejected him. The Jews did not believe that any more

prophets were coming to preach from God and believed that Muhammad was a fraud.

However, Muhammad still wrote about a revelation that further established his

connection with Ishmael. Surah 2 reveals that the Kabah was created by Abraham and

Ishmael and was dedicated as the House of Allah. Muhammad could then recount his

destruction of the idols in the Kabah to convince the Jewish tribes that he was trying to

protect their God, who was the same as Allah. Although most Jewish tribes discounted

him, some believed that he was a messenger from God/Allah and believed his claim of

Arab lineage from Abraham and Ishmael. By appealing to the Jews that he worshipped

and spoke from the God of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, and Jacob, he tried to gain

legitimacy. He knew that if he traced back his race through the patriarch of the Jewish

faith, he would be credited among the communities of both Jews and Christians; he

gained some converts from both sects.

I believe that Muhammad was fully convinced of his lineage back to Ishmael and

that the Arab race, and eventually the Islamic faith, was traced to Abrahams eldest son.


4/4

Matt Davies


By not including a covenantal relationship between God and either Ishmael or Isaac,

Muhammad tried to prove that the Jewish and Christian fight over Abraham, and which

religion he truly belonged to, was absurd and damaging to the true faith. It did not matter

whether they traced their lineage to Ishmael or Isaac because Muhammad did not

recognize a covenantal relationship with either of them. The fight between Jews and

Christians distracted them from the faith that God/Allah had revealed through the great

prophets. This hypocritical view of Abraham further complicates the matter, however.

Muhammad tried to reveal that true religion again, using traditional associations with the

Jewish heroes and patriarchs and, therefore, claiming them as Muslims. By making the

claim that Abraham was a Muslim, Muhammad added a third religion into the mix that

tried to establish Abraham as the father. He made a connection with Abraham, using

Abrahams destruction of his fathers idols and the building of the Kabah with Ishmael.

By using Abraham inside his revelations, he could appeal to the Jewish and Christian

communities and show that Abraham was also his father, in a religious sense. He

revealed justification for the revolutionary umma by recounting Noahs struggle with his

son. Someone who does not submit Allah is not worthy enough to be considered a

kinsman. Muhammad used these Jewish sacred stories to create a new religiosity that

forever shaped the Arab world.

A

adam, noah, abraham (blue book)

Documents