Abraham’s Mesopotamian Days “And We made them into leaders to guide people in accordance with Our command, and We inspired them to good works, and to establish Prayers, and to give Zakah (purifying alms). They worshiped Us alone (Al-Qur’ān – 21:73) This verse of the Holy Qur’ān asserts how Allah blessed Abraham and his sons Isaac and Jacob (peace and blessings of Allah be to them). But the Bible makes no mention of this important event in Abraham’s life. If fact, the Bible makes no mention of any incident during Abraham’s stay in Mesopotamia. The author of Genesis appears uninterested in Abraham’s confrontation with Namrod, in his dispute with his father and people, in his sustained campaign against idolatry, in his being cast into a pit of fire, and in the circumstances which forced him to forsake his hearth and home. The Bible merely speaks of his migration. There is an even more interesting discrepancy between the Qur’ānic and Biblical versions of Abraham’s story. According to the Qur’ān, Abraham’s idolatrous father played a leading role in the perpetration of wrongs and excesses against Abraham. The Bible, however, refers to Abraham’s father as among those who migrated to Haran along with his sons, grandsons and daughters-in-law (Genesis 11:27-32). Yet Abraham, at some point was asked by God to abandon Haran and instead to settle down in Canaan. Why this favour was suddenly bestowed on Abraham is left unexplained.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 02:16:22 +0000