The Biblical Figure of Abraham - Article Example

The Biblical Figure of Abraham Interpretations of the Abraham story: The biblical figure of Abraham is considered as a significant link integrating Islam, Judaism and Christianity. It is notable that he is the only biblical figure, excluding God, that enjoys the unanimous approbation from all three faiths. However, this argumentation is supported by the advocators of interfaith ideology. The story of Abraham has different interpretations provided by the promoters of faiths including Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is truly amazing to find the significant presence of Abraham in all three religions. This realization of Abraham as a “religious innovator” (Van Biema, 2002) has come to light only in recent time that became the centre point of discussion and argumentation with regard to explaining the conceptualization of interfaith ideologies. Abraham’s presence in all these religions has been consistently ignored by each of these religions. As these religions have their own stories of Abraham, the interpretation of each religion has its uniqueness. For instance, Christians accept the Torah story of Abraham as part of the Old Testament. Whereas followers of Islam acknowledge the Torah narrative with significant changes and modifications. Abraham’s role in Islam is crucial as the Koran portrays him being the fist man to make full surrender to Allah. The Ka’aba built by Abraham is Mecca’s central shrine. In other words, the significance of Abraham’s presence is different for each religion. It is evident from all these religious interpretations of Abraham that the biblical figure indeed has some commonality shared by the three faiths. However, the most significant concern is that the key information on Abraham still lacks the knowledge of what century Abraham lived in. Even followers of Judaism and Islam are still clueless on which son Abraham almost sacrificed to God. For the Muslims, Abraham is not a Jew, but the first believer of Islam. Abraham’s notion of monotheism or reverence to one God is also supported and practiced by the Muslims. The Jewish version of the Abraham story does not indicate the actual birth or even the existence of Abraham. Regarding the Christian faith, the New Testament recognizes Abraham’s presence as the most significant figure after Christ. But Christianity differs from Islam on the argumentation of Abraham being the initiator of monotheism. These faiths also differ from each other in terms of the matter of Isaac and Ishmael. The Torah book indeed mentions Isaac as Abraham’s son that he nearly sacrificed. However, the Koran does not specify which son of Abraham is told to be sacrificed by God. The Jews, on the other hand severely downgraded Ishmael, who is believed to be the predecessor of the Prophet Mohammed by the Muslims. In the words of Van Biema (2002), “his [Abraham] history constitutes a kind of multifaith scandal, a case study for monotheism’s darker side, the desire of people to define themselves by excluding or demonizing others.” While all these religious interpretations of Abraham have their own evidences to support, there is a significant lack of the reflection of his original story. In other words, the interpretations can be considered as an amalgamation of religious fantasies that glorify the unique and significant presence of Abraham in their respective faiths. What is more interesting in these interpretations is the development of a tradition of what is known as Abrahamic thought. That is to say, Abraham’s reverence to God, his hospitality are the topics of interests that influence the research of Abrahamic interpretations. In this context, the aspect of monotheism is notable. Although Abraham was not a pure monotheist, he is still “the first man in the Bible to abandon all he knows in order to choose the Lord.” (Van Biema, 2002) After going through all these Abrahamic insights and interpretations, we can apparently argue that although there is a striking absence of the original details of Abraham, the various interpretations of the Abraham story indeed encourage us for a revolution of thought, especially in accordance with the argumentation of interfaith. Therefore, even if the various multifaith Abraham stories look more as religious fantasies without much emphasis on originality, the revolutionary thoughts of Abraham have been relevant points discussed by the advocators of interfaith. The Abraham story and current prospective: The implications of the different versions and interpretations of the Abraham story are a relevant case of study in the present context. Having observed all the elements of commonality found in the various interpretations of the story of Abraham, we can agree that these differences serve the purpose of telling the current world the importance of a more significant aspect, that is, the issue of integration in multifaith. As the three religions constantly battled over Abraham, they continued to swap Abraham stories without admitting it. The borrowings and counter borrowings of these interpretations further make up for a more pleasant reading. In the context of the geo-political complications of the world, Abraham can be seen as a bridge builder as moderate Islamic leaders would like to address him. Instead of fighting over the obvious discrepancies between the Koran and Torah editions on Abraham as well as Ishmael and Isaac as taught by religious orthodoxy, the story of Abraham should be treated with broader perspectives. Therefore, it assumes more persuasive account to say that the story of Abraham requires the interpretation of Abraham as an initiator of interfaith ideology. The conflicting interpretations of Isaac and Ishmael in Islam and Judaism respectively have a significant reflection on the ongoing political complications between Israel and Palestine. This is what has made Abraham more as a model for fanaticism than for moderation (Van Biema, 2002). Despite the differences of the Abraham story in these faiths, it should be treated as a significant phenomenon for understanding the key points of a notion of interfaith. It is acceptable for all followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam that Abraham is indeed the Patriarch of their religions and to some extent, founder of monotheism. The story of Abraham should be a conscious lesson for all of us explaining Abraham as a model of how humans should live their lives displaying courage, faith, sacrifice, obedience and trust in one supreme God. The story of Abraham has a wide recognition as the founding patriarch of Jews, Christians and Muslims. However, it is not certain to what extent Abraham was a real historical entity and to what extent a mythical figure. Experts and religious advocators already have their share of arguments and counterarguments over the issue of the existential originality of Abraham. The commonality of Abraham is the fundamental base of the interfaith movement that argues for the realization of Abraham as the key solution with regard to the inter-relations among Muslims, Jews and Christians. Moreover, this can also be considered as a progressive step taken for influencing the Jewish-Muslim conversation in a positive way. The story of Abraham thus provides us with a number of interpretations that can be explained in terms of the religious opinions of various faiths including Islam, Judaism and Christianity. This further indicates that we are at the receiving end of a number of religious fantasies on Abraham and Abrahamic thought without presenting the original story. But the variation in interpretations also directs us to develop the base of an interfaith movement by emphasizing the issues of commonality observed by these three faiths. Also, the concept of monotheism exemplified by Abraham can make substantial contribution to engage people of various faiths in forming a broader universal community. Reference: Van Biema, D. (2002). The Legacy of Abraham. Time.com. Retrieved September 30, 2002, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003355,00.html. Read More