Islamic Views On Abraham

Islamic Views On Abraham

Abraham (Arabic: إبراهيم‎ ʾIbrāhīm, ) is recognized in Islam as a prophet and apostle of God and patriarch of many peoples. In Muslim belief, Abraham fulfilled all the commandments and trials which God tried him with over his lifetime. As a result of his unwavering faith in God, Abraham was promised by God to be a leader to all the nations of the world. Abraham embodies the type of the perfect Muslim and the Qur'an mentions Abraham as a model for mankind. In this sense, Abraham has been described as representing "primordial man in universal surrender to the Divine Reality before its fragmentation into religions separated from each other by differences in form". The Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha is celebrated in memory of the bravery of Abraham and Muslims perform the pilgrimage to pay homage to the Kaaba which Abraham had set up and reformed.

Muslims believe that the prophet Abraham became the leader of the righteous in his time and it was through him that the people of both Arabia and Israel came. Abraham, in the belief of Islam, was instrumental in cleansing the world of idolatry at the time. Paganism was cleared out by Abraham in both Arabia and Canaan. He spiritually purified both places as well as physically sanctifying the houses of worship. Abraham and Ishmael further established the rites of pilgrimage, or Hajj, which are still followed by Muslims today. Muslims maintain that Abraham further asked God to bless both the lines of his progeny, of Ishmael and Isaac, and to keep all of his descendants in the protection of God.