The Quran’s Depiction of Abraham in Light of the Hebrew Bible and Midrash r 59The historical background may explain the omission of the name of
the bound son. The incident of the binding was related during the Mecca
period, when Muhammad still did not have many admirers, and many
mocked him and his teachings. He therefore deliberately concealed the
name of the bound son. Had he said this son was Ishmael, not only the
Jews but also the Arabs who knew the biblical and midrashic stories from
their Jewish neighbors would have mocked him for his ignorance. Had he
said that Isaac was the bound son, then Arabs to whom Muhammad ad-
dressed most of his words would have been disappointed that specifically
Isaac, a forefather of the Jews, had agreed to be bound. So Muhammad
adopted an approach of obtuseness that would appeal to both sides.^72 It
seems to me that indeed Muhammad deliberately used obtuse language
with regard to the bound son, for in the biblical source it is significant that
the son was Isaac. God selected Isaac as Abraham’s heir and, following the
binding, promised him that he would have many descendants and gain
ascendancy over his enemies. Muhammad chose to disregard this prom-
ise that gives a national dimension to the story. Therefore, he omitted the
name of the bound son. By doing so, Muhammad omitted one of the main
messages of the story. There is no mention of the promise or of the destiny
of the People of Israel.
Conclusions
The considerable attention in the Quran to the figure of Abraham indi-
cates a process of development in the image of Abraham. He was trans-
formed from a prophet to the father of Islam and builder of the Ka ̔ba.
Muhammad saw himself as the direct follower in the footsteps of Abra-
ham. According to the Quran’s perception, the religion of Islam is the
religion of true monotheism that preceded Judaism and Christianity and
follows the religion of Abraham. Muhammad viewed himself as the re-
flection and counterpart of Abraham. Both attempted to persuade their
listeners to leave idolatry and worship one God who was the Creator of
the world. Both suffered threats and enmity on the part of their communi-
ties, most of whom worshipped idols, but both succeeded in their task: to
transmit to the world the true religion.
The Quran deals with episodes and motifs taken from the life of Abra-
ham similar to the ones dealt with in the Bible and in midrashim. But this
similarity does not mean that Abraham in the Quran always corresponds