The Quran’s Depiction of Abraham in Light of the Hebrew Bible and Midrash r 49This place became the holiest site to Islam and the center for pilgrimages
and the observance of additional religious ceremonies (2:125, 127; 3:96–97;
22:26–27).^20 Abraham is reported to have prayed to God and requested:
“Make this a secure land, and provide its people with fruit” (2:126; 14:35–
37). He asked God to distance him and his sons from idol worship. He also
thanked Him for the birth of his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and added that
he had settled his sons in Mecca (14:35–40). Abraham requested that God
send a messenger to the settlers of Mecca from amongst them (2:129).^21
The Temple in Mecca is the earliest house of worship (3:96);^22 therefore,
the Ka ̔ba is regarded as the Temple of Abraham.^23 According to com-
mentaries on the Quran, Mecca has a stone called the Station of Abraham
where there is a carving of Abraham’s foot. It served as a site of prayer
(2:125; 3:97).^24
The Quran tells us that Muhammad calls out to his listeners: “Take to
yourselves Abraham’s station for a place of prayer” (2:125). The Quran thus
treats the Ka ̔ba as “Abraham’s place of prayer.” So far, no basis for this
tradition has been found among the local Jews.^25 However, it is notewor-
thy that in the Book of Jubilees, the expression “The House of Abraham”
appears when Abraham says to Jacob: “I built the house for myself...
and for my seed.” “And this house I built for myself.... And he named it:
The House of Abraham.”^26 Muslim traditions and Western scholars posit
that during the pre-Islamic period, there were individuals or groups of
monotheists in Arabia known as “Hunafa.”^27 One may suggest that these
individuals were familiar with the expression “The House of Abraham,”
similar to what appears in the Book of Jubilees. Apparently, this informa-
tion reached them through Christians in Ethiopia, since the Book of Jubi-
lees was among their holy writings. One may presume that monotheistic
Arabs in the environs of Mecca and Medina transferred the “House of
Abraham” tradition to their own holy site.^28
According to another opinion, the Ka ̔ba was a holy site for idol wor-
shippers during the pre-Islamic period. Muhammad at first tried to per-
suade Muslims to terminate Ka ̔ba worship, but when he realized that
they would not give it up, he purified it of idolatry by bringing it into
the framework of Islam, sanctifying it, and attributing its founding and
ceremonial rites to Abraham.^29 In Shelomo Dov Goitein’s opinion, Mu-
hammad felt that the existence of the Ka ̔ba and its worship in Mecca
was a sign of the grace of God, since it brought business to the city to