APPENDIX E
Appendix E: Qur'anic Prophets and Persons
(in approximate order of appearance)
Islamic historians were not only hampered by their disrepect for Biblical
sources, but also in that they had to find stories which conformed to the
narratives in the Qur'an. It is clear that the first generation of Islamic
scholars often had no idea who was meant, and that later Muslim authorities
frequently found suitable accounts in Jewish legends, which are often far
afield of the Biblical accounts. The information from the Qur'an and the
traditions from Bukhari (d. 870 AD), Muslim (d. 875 AD), Tabari (d. 923
AD) and Suyuti (d. 1505 AD) show how Islamic knowledge about the
prophets and people in the Qur'an developed.
SB - Sahih Bukhari, ed. and trans. Muhammad Muhsin Khan
SM - Sahih Muslim, ed. and trans. Abdul Hamid Siddiqi
Tabari - The History of al-Tabari, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater
Suyuti - El-Itkan fi Ulumi'l Kur'an, ed. and trans. Sakip Yildiz and
Hüseyin Avni Chelik
For non-Qur'anic works, the first number in parentheses gives the volume
number, the second number is the page number.
Abraham - (Ibrahim)Abraham - (Ibrahim)Abraham - (Ibrahim)Abraham - (Ibrahim) The name is not Arabic, its derivation is uncertain,
but it must have come from Jews or Christians; it was probably changed
from Abraham to Ibrahim to conform with the Arabic forms of Ismail and
Israel. (Vocabulary, pp. 44 f). QUR'AN: The scroll of Abraham is
mentioned (87:19). Abraham preaches Montheism (37:84). Abraham
attempts to sacrifice his son (37:101f). Abraham is delivered from a furnace
of fire (21:68-69). His father was an idolater (19:43f). Isaac and Jacob
were given to Abraham [as sons] (19:50). Abraham was an "imam," and not
an idolater (16:121). He is told Lot's city will be destroyed and pleads for
him (29:30f). Abraham's father was named Azar (6:74). Abraham and
Ishmael were commanded to purify Allah's house of prayer, i.e. Kaba (2:119). Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian (3:60). God made Abraham His friend (4:124) HADITH: He was the best of creation (SM 4:1262). He is mentioned as God's Friend and as having sinned (SM 1:127-9). He lied about Sarah by saying she was his sister to the king of a village (SB 3:230). He lied three times (SB 4:368). He was circumcised at age 80 (SB 4:368). He brings Hagar and Ishmael to the Kaba and prays