The Quran’s Depiction of Abraham in Light of the Hebrew Bible and Midrash r 51quit of that you associate. I have turned my face to Him who origi-
nated the heaven and the earth. A man of pure faith, I am not of the
idolaters.” (6:75–79)In this Quranic episode, the influence of postbiblical Jewish sources is
discernible. In these sources, the departure point is how Abraham man-
aged to achieve recognition of one God by means of his own power and
solely by examining the celestial bodies and observing their weaknesses.^34
One may assume that the Quran borrowed the kernel of the story from
Jewish sources and intertwined them into its suras with the intention of
creating an analogy between Muhammad and Abraham. Both of them
lived among idolaters; some of whom bowed down to the sun and moon
(41:37). And each reached an awareness of one God on his own.
The Quran goes on to relate that after he had recognized one God,
Abraham attempted to persuade his father and his people to forsake idol
worship, for the idols could not assist them and were unable to provide
their believers with a means of support (6:74; 21:52–56; 29:24–25). Like-
wise, Abraham reasoned with his audience that there is only one God,
the Creator of the universe (21:56). In another passage, Abraham tries to
persuade his audience: “Serve God and fear him; that is better for you”
(29:16). He then clarifies that the peoples preceding them had rejected the
messengers sent to them and therefore had been punished. At this point
in the story, Muhammad again shifts from the role of storyteller to that of
a preacher threatening his people that they, too, will be punished if they
do not abandon their idols (29:22–24). The Quran continues, relating that
Abraham decided to destroy the idols in order to convince his people
that the idols are worthless. When the people left, he shattered the idols,
leaving just the biggest one untouched. When his people saw what he had
done, they asked Abraham if he had destroyed them. He replied that it
was the big idol who had shattered the others and suggested that they ask
that idol for confirmation. But the people replied that no idol could speak.
So Abraham asked them why they worshipped such idols if they did not
have the power to help or harm. His people had no answer, so they called
out: “Slay him or burn him” (21:57–68; 29:24; 37:83–98).
In the confrontation between Abraham on the one hand and his father
and his people on the other hand, we can also recognize the influence of
the midrash that describes the tactics used by Abraham to persuade his
peers that the idols were helpless.^35 The Quran apparently portrays the