Islamic Views On Abraham - Significance As Patriarch

Significance As Patriarch

Lineage of six prominent prophets according to Islamic tradition
Adem (Adam) Nuh (Noah) Ibrahim (Abraham) Ismā'īl (Ishmael) Is'haq (Isaac) Musa (Moses) Maryam (Mary) Isa (Jesus) Abdul Muttalib Muhammad
Dotted lines indicate multiple generations

Abraham is also extremely important as a leader of Islam and as a patriarch of the Islamic faith. Muslims recognize Abraham as the ancestor through whom many other prophets and saints came, including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. The Qur'an lists, in the sixth chapter, some of the greatest figures to have through Abraham's progeny:

That is Our argument. We gave it unto Abraham against his folk. We raise unto degrees of wisdom whom We will. Lo! Thy Lord is Wise, Aware.
And We bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob; each of them We guided; and Noah did We guide aforetime; and of his seed (We guided) David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the good.
And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elijah. Each one (of them) was of the righteous.
And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot. Each one (of them) did We prefer above (Our) creatures,
With some of their forefathers and their offspring and their brethren; and We chose them and guided them unto a straight path. —Qur'an, sura 6 (Al-Anam), ayat 83-87

Abraham's narrative in the Qur'an indirectly refers to his role as one of the great Patriarchs. The Qur'an says that God made Abraham a "leader for the people" (II: 124) and his narrative records him praying for his offspring (XIV: 35). The Qur'an further states that Abraham's descendants were given the "Book and the Wisdom" (IV: 54), and this fact is reinforced in a verse which states that Abraham's family was one of those in which the gift of prophecy was established as a generic trait (XIX: 58). The Qur'an emphasizes upon Abraham's significance as it states that Abraham's family, Noah, Adam and the family of Amram were the four selected by God above all the worlds (III: 33). As a result of his significance as a patriarch, Abraham is sometimes given the misleading title Father of the Prophets, which contradicts the teachings of the Qur'an, which establishes that many prophets, such as Noah, lived before Abraham. Of Abraham's immediate sons, the Qur'an repeatedly establishes the gifts God bestowed upon them. Ishmael is regarded as being "among the best of chosen men" (XXXVIII: 48) and one of the men who was "favoured above all the worlds" (VI: 86). In addition, Ishmael is described as being "true to his promise and was an apostle and a prophet" (XIX: 54). Likewise, the Qur'an says of Isaac that he was "among the best of chosen men" (XXXVIII: 47) and was a "prophet, one of the righteous" (XXXVII: 112) and further describes him as of "true strength and inner sight" (XXXVIII: 45).