Abraham the Friend Of
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ABRAHAM Jerald F. Dirks M.Div., Psy.D. amana publications Table of Contents Preface xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 The Friend of God : 1 Approaching Abraham.................. 2 Abraham in Context.. 5 Considering the Miraculous 6 Sources of Information 7 Caution about Anachronisms 8 Sequential Events in the Life ofAbraham 9 Chapter 2: The Birth and Family ofAbraham 11 Birth and Name ofAbraham ll The Lineage ofAbraham .11 The Account of the Torah .12 Additions to the account of the Torah .12 Comparing the Qur'.an and P .13 Problems with the Abrahamic Genealogy of P .13 The Father ofAbraham 15 Abraham's Family Tree .l6 The Family of Sarah .17 The Akkadian Tribe ofAbraham ; .20 Chapter 3: Abraham in Ur 23 Life in Ur 23 Sources of Information about Abraham in Ur 28 Abraham and Monotheism 28 Abraham, The Chosen ofAllah 31 Abraham and Da 'wa .32 Abraham destroys the Idols 36 Abraham versus Naram-Sin 40 Death by Fire 41 Continued Persecution 42 The Conversion of Lot... .43 Marriage to Sarah 44 Postscript to Abraham in Ur .45 Chapter 4: Abraham in Harran .47 The Migration to Harran .47 Life in Harran 50 Abraham at Harran 50 Abraham Leaves Harran 54 Postscript I to Abraham in Harran 55 Postscript 2 to Abraham in Harran 55 Chapter 5: Abraham in Palestine-I 57 From Harran to Palestine 57 Life in Palestine 58 Sources of Information on Abraham in Palestine-I.. .62 Abraham in Palestine-I... 62 Abraham Leaves Palestine 65 Postscript to Abraham in Palestine-I.. .65 Chapter 6: Abraham in Egypt.. 67 From Palestine to Egypt.. .67 Life in Egypt. 68 Abraham and Lot Prosper in Egypt... ,.77 Abraham and Da 'wa 78 Pharaoh and Sarah 78 Abraham leaves Egypt. 82 Postscript I to Abraham in Egypt... 82 Postscript 2 to Abraham in Egypt... 83 Chapter 7: Abraham in Palestine-II.. 85 Abraham's Return to Palestine 85 Abraham at Bethel, .85 Abraham at Hebron 90 Abraham leaves Palestine 97 Postscript to Abraham in Palestine-II 97 Chapter 8: Abraham in Makkah-I.. 99 From Palestine to Makkah 99 Abraham leaves Hagar and Ismael at Makkah 102 The Miracle of Zam-zam .1 06 Postscript I to Abraham in Makkah-I.. I08 Postscript 2 to Abraham in Makkah-I.. I09 Chapter 9: Abraham in Palestine-ID 111 Abraham's Rescue of Lot... .111 Abraham and Melchizedek. .116 Postscript to Abraham in Palestine-III 118 Chapter 10: Abraham in Makkah-II 119 The Setting , .119 The Reunion 120 The Sacrifice of the Only Son .121 The Covenant. .124 The Rite of Circumcision , ~ 125 , Abraham's Departure for Palestine 125 Postscript 1 to Abraham in Makkah-II.. .126 Postscript 2 to Abraham in Makkah-II.. .127 Chapter 11: Abraham in Palestine-IV 135 Sources of Information on Abraham in Palestine-IY. .135 The Angelic Visitors 136 The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah .142 Abraham moves to Between Kadesh and Shur ;..l49 Abraham at Beersheba .151 Birth of Isaac 151 Postscript to Abraham in Palestine-IV 153 Chapter 12: Abraham in Makkah-IIL 155 Abraham's Third Trip to Makkah 155 Ismael's First Wife .156 Abraham's Fourth Trip to Makkah..~ .157 . Ismael's Second Wife 158 Abraham's Fifth Trip to Makkah 159 The Building of the Ka'ba .161 Postscript 1 to Abraham in Makkah-III.. .165 Postscript 2 to Abraham in Makkah-III.. .166 Chapter 13: Abraham in Palestine-V ; 169 Abraham Moves to Hebron ; 169 The Death of Sarah '" .169 The Marriage of Isaac .172 Abraham Marries Keturah .178 Abraham Marries Hajur .179 The Birth of Isaac's Sons 179 The Death ofAbraham 180 Postscript 1 to Abraham in Palestine-V 180 Postscript 2 to Abraham in Pa1estine-V. , 181 Appendix I: Sources of Information l85 Qur 'an and Sahih Ahadith .185 Torah 186 Other Canonical Jewish Scripture 190 Non-Canonical Jewish Scripture .191 Archaeology and Middle Eastern History .192 Priority of Sources 192 Appendix II: Chronology 194 Qur 'an and Sahih Ahadith .194 The Torah and Biblical References 195 Archaeological and Historical Records 199 Summary and Conclusions 207 Appendix ill: The People or Tribe of Abraham 208 The Hebrew Hypothesis 208 The Akkadian Hypothesis .210 The Amorite Hypothesis 211 The Aramaean Hypothesis 211 The Arab Hypothesis 213 Conclusions .217 Appendix IV: Sequential Events in Abraham's life 218 Major Markers in the Life ofAbraham 218 Events in Ur 218 Events in Harran 221 Events in Palestine-I 221 Events in Egypt 222 Events in Palestine-II. .224 Events in Makkah-I. 224 Events in Palestine-III.. 227 Events in Makkah-II. 230 Events in Palestine-IV. 236 Events in Makkah-III.. 238 Events in Palestine-V 238 Summary: Sequential Events in Abraham's Life 240 Appendix V: The Offspring ofAbraham 245 Notes 251 Bibliography 293 All quotations of the English translation of the meaning of the Qur'an are taken from The Meaning ofthe Holy Qur'an, translated by 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali, copyright 1989, Amana Publications, Maryland 20705, U.S.A. With regard to all Biblical quotations appearing in the text, unless specifically identified as being from another source, the following statement is noted in conformance with the request of the copyright holder. "The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved." Preface In the name ofAllah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful All praise and thanks are due to Allah, glorified and exalted is He. It is Allah, Who is the creator and maintainer of the universe, and of all that resides therein. It is to Allah, and only to Allah, to Whom we tum for help and for guidance. It is in Allah, and only in Allah, in Whom we seek our comfort and refuge. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the One, Who has no partners. Further, I bear witness that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the slave and messenger of Allah. In presenting this modest biography on the life of Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, I thank Allah for the time and gifts to complete this book. I readily acknowledge the limited and finite nature of my own knowledge about the subject in question, and I pray that I have not inadvertently presented information, which might cause someone to doubt or question the true revelation of Allah. Any errors in this under taking are mine and mine alone. Despite my own limitations, and despite any errors, which may exist within this book, I pray that Allah will guide the reader to a better understanding, and that this work may serve some humble purpose for the sake ofAllah. The following biography of Abraham represents an attempted synthesis of Islamic (Qur 'an and Sahih Ahadith) and Judaeo-Christian (Biblical and pseudepigraphical) information. Given this approach, the reader may well wonder about my qualifications to attempt such a synthesis. In that regard, my educational history is as follows: A. B., cum laude in philosophy, Harvard College, Harvard University, 1971; M.Div., cum laude in department of the church, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, 1974; M.A. in child clinical psychology, University of Denver, 1976; and Psy.D. in clinical psychology, School of Professional Psychology, University of Denver, 1978. Likewise, my religious history is as follows: I was born into and raised within a Christian home; License to Preach, United Methodist Church, 1969; Ordained Deacon, United Methodist Church, 1972; and reverted to Islam in 1993. Given my educational and professional background as a former ordained minister, I have attempted to share with the reader certain background information about the Bible and about Biblical criticism, in an effort to demonstrate how the Bible can be mined for nuggets of xiv Abraham: The Friend of God historical truth. In a number of such specific cases, the end result of Biblical criticism is a welcome support for traditional Islamic positions and beliefs. Unfortunately, the process of deriving much of this informa tion is rather technical, so I have elected to include most of this process ing in a series of appendices to this book. The reader, who is interested in the process, can read about it in the appendices. The reader, who would rather just get on with the story of Abraham's life, without too much concern for how I arrived at my conclusions, can simply read through the main body of this book. With my educational and professional background as a clinical psychologist, I have been unable to resist the occasional urge to speculate about the emotions and motivations of the primary actors in Abraham's life. However, the reader will not find any "psychohistory" of Abraham within the confines of these pages. In writing this book, it is not my intent, nor my interest, to hunt through any recessed comers in anyone's psyche. In my own view, such attempts at "psychohistory" typically reveal more about the author, than about the subject of the author's inquiry. In my occasional application of clinical psychology as a frame work for understanding the individuals discussed in this book, the reader will, Allah willing, find that the process has been gentle, and has done nothing more than subtly enrich the reader's understanding and appreciation of the individual in question. Despite the fact that all errors in this manuscript have to be attributed only to my own shortcomings and failures, there are a number of people who deserve credit and recognition for their contributions to this book.