50 r Bat-Sheva Garsiel
such an extent that the city was dependent on it economically. Therefore,
Muhammad retained the Ka ̔ba ritual in Islam.^30
It seems to me that it is worthy of note that Genesis mentions four
times that Abraham built an altar to God^31 and that the motif of “building
an altar” can also be found in early midrashic traditions.^32 If Muhammad
and his disciples were indeed aware of these midrashic traditions, they
may have transferred the site of the altar from the Land of Israel to Mecca
in order to create an additional link between Abraham and Islam.
Analogies between Muhammad and Abraham
The description of Abraham in the Quran was affected by the desire to
establish analogies between Abraham and Muhammad. Abraham Geiger
estimates that Muhammad identified himself with Abraham to the extent
that at times, when Muhammad refers to Abraham, he digresses from the
subject of his discourse and inserts motifs unrelated to the original theme
but related to his own life. Thus he transforms himself from a storyteller
of ancient events to a preacher on contemporary ones. For example, when
Muhammad relates an argument between Abraham and his father and his
people regarding idolatry, he shifts from the story of Abraham’s argument
with his listeners to direct moral preaching to his own audience on the
subject of Paradise and Hell (26:69–104).^33 A similar shift in the Quran
may be found in the portrayal of Abraham’s reproof of his father con-
cerning idolatry. In this text, Muhammad speaks of Abraham’s readiness
to ask God to pardon his father. Suddenly Muhammad turns to his own
audience and comments that he, too, is willing to pray to God on behalf
of his listeners who are idol worshippers (19:41–50).
Another example of an analogy between Muhammad and Abraham is
embedded in the story of Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans. The Quran
delineates how Abraham reached the conclusion on his own that there is
one God:
When night outspread over him, he saw a star and said, “This is my
Lord,” but when it set, he said, “I do not love the setters.” When he
saw the moon rising, he said: “This is my Lord,” but when it set, he
said: “If my Lord does not guide me, I shall surely be of the people
gone astray.” When he saw the sun rising, he said, “This is my Lord,
this is greater.” But when it set, he said: “O my people surely I am