Abraham’s Islam

There was no worship of images in the time of Adam and Eve for them to protest against, as did the prophet Muhammad at Mecca: but idol worship was almost universal in the days of our father, Hazrat Abraham (Ibrahim), 2,400 years before Muhammad.

You can imagine what happened when Abraham was a boy. We know that his father Terah (Tarikh) shared the blindness of his day in that he worshiped idols.¹ (The “god” commonly worshiped in his home city was the moon-god). Father Terah would probably say to young Abraham, “Come, son, it’s time to worship the moon-god.”

“Father, I agree that the moon is beautiful, shining in nightly splendour that surpasses even the stars. I love to stand on our roof top and watch it rise in the cool of a clear evening; but why should we worship it?”

“But son, everybody does. Why not you, too?”

“Father, perhaps ‘everybody’ is not right. Surely there is a God who is greater than the moon, the sun, or the stars!”

“But your childhood friends all go to worship the moon-god and the other idols in the temple, and the worship is beautiful and alluring. Why do you insist on being different? Even your brothers Haran and Nahor worship the idols.”

“Yes, I am sure there are pleasures in this idolatrous worship, but Allah, who has created all things in heaven and earth, has spoken to my heart, and I am willing to be different from everybody else by worshiping him alone!”

It was as if Abraham boldly proclaimed, La Ilaha illa I’Lah (There is no god but God). As Kenneth Oster wisely says, “Monotheism is a high mountain that must be scaled, not a valley into which man naturally slithers. … Monotheism … is a revealed truth, not the outcropping of any man’s private cogitations. … The natural man slides into polytheism, … the result of man’s naturally sinful inclinations.”²

Abraham was different, and the whole world can praise Allah that he found a youth willing to stand alone for the truth. How dark would have been this world had it not been for Abraham’s shining example of loyalty to the one true God! With the exception of his faith, there was darkness everywhere.

Abraham saw a light that others in his home city did not see. While he was still young, he witnessed to the truth and proved to his family and the people of his city that idols cannot speak, and are worthless. Some people accepted his witness; but Abraham was the pioneer. The Lord gave him strength to be loyal and to stand alone.

As a boy, Abraham grew up in the great city of Ur. His father was wealthy. The cuneiform texts on numerous clay tablets dug up in Ur tell us of the high state of education and civilization in Abraham’s home city during his time. As a boy, Abraham attended schools where he learned reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. We know this because many school exercises written on clay tablets have been recovered from the buried ruins of ancient Ur.

Abraham’s father’s house was doubtless a good one, much like the handsome, two-storey brick houses excavated at Ur. It would have been well constructed, with a central courtyard, and inside plumbing connected to a city sewage system. In fact his home was even more modern and comfortable than some cities in the same area can boast of today, after nearly 3,800 years! The idea that Abraham was a simple, uneducated poor nomad is wrong. Allah gave him great wisdom and wealth. He was highly respected.

Although his father never gave up the worship of idols completely, he was impressed by his son’s faith and holy boldness. He joined Abraham in responding to the call of Allah to leave Ur and start out for the land that would be shown them. They were to shine as candles in the night and preserve the knowledge and worship of the true Allah in the polytheistic world around them.

Abraham’s father and his family went with him as far as the town of Haran. There they all settled down until Terah died. Most were half-and-half worshippers of Allah, influenced by young Abraham’s monotheism, but still unwilling to be “different” enough to worship Allah alone. Nahor’s grandson, Laban, still had idols in his home many years later, for we read that Rachel, Jacob’s wife, stole them from him.³

When Terah finally died, Abraham, now 75 years of age, again heard the voice of Allah calling him to move on to a new country. His brother Nahor did not have the faith and courage of Abraham and stayed behind. We can imagine the two brothers saying good-bye.

“Come, brother Nahor, for I have heard the voice of Allah calling.”

“What does he say, brother Abraham?”

“He has said, ‘Leave your native land, your relatives, and your father’s home, and go to a country that I am going to show you. I will give you many descendants, and you will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing. … And through you I will bless all the nations.’⁴ Come, brother Nahor, and share these blessings with me!”

“No, brother Abraham, I don’t have the faith and courage to be different that you have. I am too weak. Let me stay and become part of the crowd of my friends and relatives that live here. Besides, the lush grazing lands of Haran promise more wealth than I can see in the unknown land you speak of.”

So Nahor stayed behind, and several of his grand-daughters became the wives of Abraham’s descendants. But Abraham became truly “famous” in all the world, and “the father of many nations.”⁵ Hundreds of millions of people claim him as their “father” today — including millions who cannot claim mere physical descent. Allah honours and sustains anyone who steps out alone to follow truth!

Think of Allah on his throne in heaven, merciful and compassionate to the sons of men. But when men worship idols, or turn their backs on him, he is deeply hurt by such insults. He longs for someone to represent him among men; to be a witness to his power and compassion. When Abraham was willing to be his representative among men, Allah was delighted with his servant. He said of Abraham, “I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”⁶

In other words, Allah trusted Abraham like you trust a friend whom you know. Allah and this man became friends! Allah in heaven stooped low enough to be a Companion to a man on earth. When his “friend” Abraham prayed to him, Allah was pleased to hear and answer him. Abraham was his friend. He had formed a special relationship with him, and from then on the world was to be different.

Allah’s part in this special relationship was to love Abraham in a unique way, as we shall see; Abraham’s part was to respond to this love that came from heaven. He valued this close friendship with Allah even more than his beautiful brick home in Ur, and the companionship of his family and relatives at Haran with its lush pastures.

The word “Muslim” (from aslama) means one who is completely submitted to Allah.

The reason for such submission is not the fear that Allah will beat you if you don’t submit, but it is a deep heart-respect for his character of righteousness and unselfish love. He says: “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. … [But] this is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”⁷

Such “trembling” is not that of a cowering slave who fears his master’s lash if he does not bow before him. The prophet Isaiah is speaking of the thrill, the shivers of awe and delight that go up and down one’s spine as he contemplates the majesty and glory of Allah’s love. This is worship. Animals can never know such a delightful thrill; neither can brutish people who keep their eyes only on the deceitful pleasures and riches of this wicked world. They live or exist in a state of death, wisely spoken of as being “dead in trespasses and sins.”⁸ But the one who is truly submitted to Allah has begun a new life, even that which is eternal. He is truly a Muslim.

Abraham deserves that honourable title!

Now let us go with him as he takes his long journey across the desert to a land that he has never seen, following the call of Allah.

By faith we accompany Abraham through the written Word of the Holy Scriptures. They are an honest, reliable account of Abraham’s witness for Allah, who promised him that “through you I will bless all nations.” How could Allah “bless all the nations” unless he preserved a pure and true record of his promises through his Holy Word?

Allah inspired the prophet Moses (Musa) to write a faithful account of Abraham’s devotion. He called Abraham to be “the father of many nations,” one through whom he said: “I will bless all the nations.” Allah also inspired the preservation of Moses’ record. Thus Moses’ words were not for Israel alone but for all the world, because all who have true faith in Allah would claim Abraham as their “father.”

The Old Testament Scriptures are the most accurately preserved books that have survived from those ancient times. The accidental discovery by Bedouins (1947) of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls has provided the world with authentic documents which are dated by experts as having been copied as early as the 2nd century B.C. All of the documents found in the Dead Sea caves date from before A.D. 70. Some experts even say that the document of Leviticus dates from the 5th or 4th century B.C. the amazing thing is that these ancient documents are found to be almost word for word identical to the Old Testament Scriptures used today, the only variants being slight differences in spelling, such as Abraham or Ibrahim. Everyone knows it is the same name. Even these minor variants prove the faithful transmission of the sacred text!*

The one who believes the Word of Allah may rejoice in the confidence that he has preserved his glorious truth throughout the ages.

No other written records from the ancient times of Abraham or Moses or the prophets give evidence of divine inspiration as do the Holy Scriptures. All other ancient documents or inscriptions tend to vanity, to fulsome praise of weak, mortal men. The Holy Scriptures faithfully recount the mistakes and failures of even great men, that the glory and honour may go only to Allah himself, who alone deserves praise. The unmistakable heartbeat of inspiration pulses through the Scriptures. In simple yet grand language, the heavenly concepts are expressed.

Thus it is with confidence that we can take our journey by faith with the honoured prophet Abraham, and recapture the essence of his Islam!

*Incidentally, the New Testament Scriptures have also been confirmed by the discovery at Faiyum in Egypt of documents that scholars agree date to the time of the Roman emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117), only a short time after the death of the apostle John himself. One of these documents contains a portion of John’s Gospel, demonstrating that its text is confirmed as correct by the discovery of this ancient fragment. This shows how that Gospel was in circulation in Egypt at that early time. Clear evidence, going back centuries before the time of the Prophet Muhammad, shows that the Gospels and other New Testament books have not been altered. Differences in the ancient manuscripts are only minor variants of spelling or syntax, as is the case with the Old Testament manuscripts. The message comes through intact.

The Holy Scriptures speak to the heart of mankind. Their power to change human hearts, and to speak peace to the mind and soul, is their credential of divine authority.

Chapter 4: Abraham’s Faith Astonishes the World

Index: In Search of the Treasure of Faith

References:

Joshua 24:2; the Arabic name is Tarikh.
Islam Reconsidered, pp. 29-31.
Genesis 31:19.3.
Genesis 12:1, TEV.
Genesis 17:5.
Genesis 18:19.
Isaiah 66:1, 2. NIV.
Ephesians 2:1.