Refiguring Abraham: On the Prophetological Reframing of the Biblical Patriarch in Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ (Pre-Pub Draft) (original) (raw)
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The Hebrew Bible does not describe how Abraham, the common patriarch of the three monotheistic faiths, came to know the one God. However, literature from the Second Temple period, texts of Rabbinic Judaism, targumim (Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible), the Quran, and other documents abound with narratives based on a common plot that recount how Abraham came to know the one God, confronted the idolatry that had continued until the generation of his father, and broke down the practice through various schemes. This paper presents translations of passages taken from the Book of Jubilees, the Apocalypse of Abraham, Genesis Rabba, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, and the Quran that relate the tradition of "Abraham the iconoclast, " believed to have been highly popular at the time of the writing of the respective texts. The passages are then analyzed to extract a common plot, identify different focal points, and compare in terms of Abraham's relationship with his father, Terah. From this comparative reading, the following observations can be made: the focus is placed on the importance of knowing one God in the Book of Jubilees, and on confrontation with idolatry in the Apocalypse of Abraham; various narrative components appear evenly with similar frequency in Genesis Rabba and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, possibly to maintain conformity as exegeses; in the Quran, the focus is on Abraham's role of introducing the monotheistic notion to local residents.
"Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegesis," Religion Compass (2011)
Jewish and Muslim exegetical narratives on the shared forefathers (known as midrash aggadah and tafs ır ⁄ h : adīth=qis : as : al-anbiy a ' ⁄ isr a'iliyy at) have long been recognized as a meeting point of Judaism and Islam. Early studies of the forefathers, Abraham in particular, strove to 'prove' that much of what appeared in the Islamic exegetical materials derived from the traditions that predated Islam, mainly Judaism. More recent scholarship has abandoned such a reductionist approach for a more moderated view. Studies of the Jewish and Muslim exegetical material on Abraham show that while scholars continue to trace the historical development of the Muslim exegetical narratives, they also look to uncover the inner meaning of the narratives themselves. This article traces the shift from the purely reductionist treatment of the Muslim and Jewish exegetical narratives to the more nuanced approach, especially as it applies to Abraham. Four categories of Abrahamic motifs are singled out here: Abraham and his sacrifice of his son, Abraham and his relationship with Sarah, Abraham and his later visit to Ishmael, and narratives relating to Abraham's birth and early life.
Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 2020
The first part of this article demonstrated how literary strategies and patterns of argumentation developed and evolved in suras of the later Middle and Late Meccan period, with the aim of sanctioning Muḥ ammad as a divinely ordained messenger and his followers as rightful believers, while targeting an audience that continuously opposed the Qur'anic Messenger. It provided analysis of at the time newly-introduced debate techniques, such as dialogues and the increasing use of parables, as well as the establishment of the theological concept of cognitive perception and the proliferation of a theology of divine signs. I have argued in the first part of this article that if we endorse the plausible idea of the Qur'an as being a witness to its own development and its direct engagement with external audiences, we must take into account the deployment and combination of specific literary forms and strategies that embody the message of the text and mobilise these centripetal and centrifugal vectors. The growing complexity of the Qur'anic suras and their multilayered intra-textual references should draw our attention to the intertwining of content, form, and context.
Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegesis
Religion Compass, 2011
Jewish and Muslim exegetical narratives on the shared forefathers (known as midrash aggadah and tafs ır ⁄ h : adīth=qis : as : al-anbiy a ' ⁄ isr a'iliyy at) have long been recognized as a meeting point of Judaism and Islam. Early studies of the forefathers, Abraham in particular, strove to 'prove' that much of what appeared in the Islamic exegetical materials derived from the traditions that predated Islam, mainly Judaism. More recent scholarship has abandoned such a reductionist approach for a more moderated view. Studies of the Jewish and Muslim exegetical material on Abraham show that while scholars continue to trace the historical development of the Muslim exegetical narratives, they also look to uncover the inner meaning of the narratives themselves. This article traces the shift from the purely reductionist treatment of the Muslim and Jewish exegetical narratives to the more nuanced approach, especially as it applies to Abraham. Four categories of Abrahamic motifs are singled out here: Abraham and his sacrifice of his son, Abraham and his relationship with Sarah, Abraham and his later visit to Ishmael, and narratives relating to Abraham's birth and early life.
The Pre-Priestly Abraham Narratives from Monarchic to Persian Times, Semitica 59, 2017, 261-296
La recherche récente sur le Pentateuque souligne que l'essentiel de l'histoire d'Abraham en Gn 12–25 est d'origine soit sacerdotale, soit post-sacerdotale. Néanmoins, quelques traditions pré-sacerdotales peuvent être identifiées, notamment en Gn 12,10–20 ; 13* ; 16* ; 18–19*, des passages qui peuvent difficilement être lus comme formant une narration unifiée. Sur la base d'observations littéraires et historiques, l'article défend la thèse selon laquelle Abraham était à l'origine une figure du Sud judéen qui appartenait à divers groupes ethniques. Les traditions les plus anciennes qui nous soient parvenues, en parti-culier le récit d'Abraham et Lot, qui est associé à la promesse d'un fils et à sa naissance, étaient probablement transmises dans le sanctuaire de Mamré durant la période monar-chique tardive. Plus tard, à l'époque exilique, où les sanctuaires judéens hors de Jérusalem reprennent de l'importance, les anciens récits d'Abraham ont été complétés par la tradition de la matriarche en danger en Gn 12,10–20 et celle de la naissance d'Ismaël en Gn 16*. Ces deux passages, qui témoignent de liens importants, accentuent la dimension plu-riethnique de la figure d'Abraham. Ce n'est qu'à la période perse que les récits pré-sacerdotaux sur Abraham ont été utilisés par les élites de Jérusalem en vue de justifier leurs prétentions cultuelles et politiques sur la région du Sud.
The Pre-Priestly Abraham Narratives from Monarchic to Persian Times
2017
*, des passages qui peuvent difficilement être lus comme formant une narration unifiée. Sur la base d'observations littéraires et historiques, l'article défend la thèse selon laquelle Abraham était à l'origine une figure du Sud judéen qui appartenait à divers groupes ethniques. Les traditions les plus anciennes qui nous soient parvenues, en particulier le récit d'Abraham et Lot, qui est associé à la promesse d'un fils et à sa naissance, étaient probablement transmises dans le sanctuaire de Mamré durant la période monarchique tardive. Plus tard, à l'époque exilique, où les sanctuaires judéens hors de Jérusalem reprennent de l'importance, les anciens récits d'Abraham ont été complétés par la tradition de la matriarche en danger en Gn 12,10-20 et celle de la naissance d'Ismaël en Gn 16*. Ces deux passages, qui témoignent de liens importants, accentuent la dimension pluriethnique de la figure d'Abraham. Ce n'est qu'à la période perse que les récits présacerdotaux sur Abraham ont été utilisés par les élites de Jérusalem en vue de justifier leurs prétentions cultuelles et politiques sur la région du Sud. * This article is based on two papers presented by Oded Lipschits and Thomas Römer at a symposium on The Politics of the Ancestors (held January 15 th to 17 th 2016 at the University of Oldenburg, Germany). The papers will be published in the proceedings of the symposium. Observations at the symposium were that Lipschits's historical-archaeological approach and Römer's exegetical investigation resulted in similar conclusions about the origins of the Abraham tradition. These observations triggered the idea of merging the two texts into a combined piece. This was accomplished with the assistance of Hervé Gonzalez, who added further ideas and comments of his own.
A Conversation with Abraham: Part I
Message of Thaqalayn
The patriarch Abraham has a special place as a central figure in all three monotheistic religions. Although essentially the “One” God that all monotheistic religions consider as their Lord, the God of Abraham in the Old Testament, Bible, and the Qur’an are arguably very different Gods. In all of the Abrahamic religions, at the most fundamental level, God is ‘the maker of heaven and earth’. Despite many other shared elements, the image of God and His characteristics diverge on other points. As the father of monotheism, Abraham’s perception of God in each text serves as an important portal into the image of God in each. In this part, God’s image and characteristics in both the Old Testament and the Qur’an will be compared and contrasted in regards to “seeing” God, His knowledge, His all-hearing quality, and His justice, and how these aspects contribute to an image of Him.
Abraham as an Iconoclast: Understanding the destruction of ‘images’ through Qur'anic exegesis
Islam and Christian-muslim Relations, 2005
The question of Islam and its aversion to images has caused modern scholars to search for a theological basis in Islam's traditional sources. Much work has been done on the various hadiths that indicate that graven images are forbidden and particular verses in the Qur'an that allude to an aversion to them. However, little work has been done to understand this issue through the qur'anic parables and exegesis. This paper explores the issue of Islam and image through qur'anic exegesis, in particular, the story of Abraham as a youth breaking the idols in his polytheistic town. By tracing the commentary of some of the major exegetes of the Qur'an, such as al-Ṫ abarī, al-Rāzī, Ibn Kathīr and Sayyid Quṫ b, this article considers how Islam has viewed images and how that view has either fluctuated or remained constant over time.