Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics

(Jacob Rumans) #1

Judeo Christian tradition.


Their argument is based upon the assertion that at the
time of Muhammad, Jews and Christians were in dispute as
to which group Abraham belonged. This strange belief,
which lacks any historical foundation, comes from the
Koran:


O People of the Book! why do you dispute about Abraham, when the
Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him; do you not then
understand? Behold! you are they who disputed about that of which you had
knowledge; why then do you dispute about that of which you have no
knowledge? And Allah knows while you do not know. Abraham was not a Jew
nor a Christian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of
the polytheists. Most surely the nearest of people to Abraham are those who
followed him and this Prophet [Muhammad] and those who believe and Allah is
the guardian of the believers (Sura 3:65–68).


The renowned Islamic scholar and Koranic
commentator Ibn Kathir (1302–1373) explains the occasion
of this revelation:


A group of Christians and a few Jewish rabbis were meeting with
Muhammad when they disputed about Abraham. The Christian claimed
Abraham was a Christian and the Jew said Abraham was a Jew . . . and because
of that, the next day, Allah revealed to Muhammad that Abraham was neither,
but instead a true believer, a Muslim. . . . The Torah came after Abraham and
Christianity also came after Abraham, so how could he belong to either one. . .
.[7]


Islamic tradition goes even farther in claiming Abraham
as the father of Islam. In one Hadith, Muhammad explains
that on the Day of Resurrection, ‘‘you will be gathered,
barefooted, naked, and uncircumcised,’’ but that ‘‘the first

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