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Abrahamic religions
The reason Judaism, Christianity and Islam called Abrahamic Religions is because all the three Religions trace their origins to the Prophet Abraham although he plays different roles in different Abrahamic religions and as Abraham appears in the religious texts of all of these faiths.
The Druze, Bahai, Samaritans, and others are sometimes considered to be Abrahamic religions as well. All told, over half of the people in the world identify themselves as members of an Abrahamic religion.
In addition to sharing the figure of Abraham, numerous other figures can be found in the tradition of all of the Abrahamic religions, such as Noah, and these religions share several common traits, as well. All Abrahamic religions are monotheist, believing in one god, and they have Semitic origins. In the case of Judaism and Islam, Abraham is viewed as a literal father of the religion, in the direct lineage of various prophets and other important religious figures, and in the case of Christianity, Abraham plays the role of a spiritual father, because Christianity is derived from Judaism.
Abraham's story is well documented in numerous religious texts, and in his long life, he participated in a number of events of religious and historical importance in the eyes of religious believers. He is perhaps most famous for making a covenant with God which allowed him to have many children with his First wife Sarah and second Hagar.
Abraham is recognized as the “father of many,” and his covenant with God is an important story. In Islam, Abraham is considered to be a prophet, and his son Ishmael is in the lineage of the prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). For Christians, Abraham is important because he is the father of the people of Israel, and therefore a forbear of Christ. As a result, he is a crucial figure in all of these Abrahamic religions, along with other religions which use scripture derived form the Abrahamic religions.
There is some debate as to which religions should be classified as Abrahamic religions, especially among smaller religions, which may be inspired by such religions, but may not view Abraham in the same way.
The other major category of religious belief is the Eastern Religions, which include faiths like Buddhism, Hinduism, and so forth.
Abrahams Covenant with Allah
According to the ancient Hebrew Prophets, Allah has revealed His name as Elah and He is known throughout the world as Dieu, Dios, YHWH, GOD etc. Jesus addressed Elah in his Aramaic dialect by His own Name in Matt. 27:46 saying: Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?” “Elahi, Elahi, lima teractani?” is the Arabic (the sister language of Hebrew) equivalent. In Arabic, His name is pronounced Allah.
By the days of Noah the world had become so saturated with the occult to the point that only one righteous family was left. God, who was grieved by man's sin and wickedness, judged the world by sending a flood. After the flood, however, it took only a few generations before man had once again begun to embrace the occult. This was evidenced at the building of the Tower of Babel, which is believed to have been the first ziggurat — an ancient occult worship tower with a shrine at the top. The ancient occult mysteries continued to take hold and spread under the umbrella of pantheism. By the time of Abraham and Lot, the human state, at least in their part of the world, had once again gotten out of control. Those were the days of “Sodom and Gomorrah” when perversion and immorality were taken to new heights.
Sodom and Gomorrah were, according to the Bible, two cities which were destroyed by God. For the sins of their inhabitants Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." In Christianity and Islam, their names have become synonymous with inexcusable sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath. Cf.Jude 1:7, Qur'an (S15) Al-Hijr:72-73. Lot, a nephew of Abram (Abraham) chose to live in Sodom, because of the proximity of good grazing for his flocks.
Abraham, who was not perfect himself, sought to do right in the eyes of God. Because he and his family were the only righteous ones left who were willing to acknowledge him, God would honour Abraham's faith by making a covenant with him. God would work through this people, to keep his truth and the way of righteousness alive in the midst of a dark, occult-ravaged world.
Abraham was a descendant of Noah’s son Shem (Gen. 11:10-32). The Patriarch Abraham was the first person in the Bible to be called a “Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13).1
According to Genesis 17:1-10:
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine
The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him,
I am the Almighty God: walk before me and be thou perfect,
And I will make my covenant between me
And thee, and will multiply thee
Exceedingly,And Abram fell on his face: and God talking with him, saying
As for me, behold, my covenant is with
Thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.Neither shall thy name any more be
Called Abram, but thy name shall be
Abraham; for a father of many nations
have I made thee.And I will make thee exceeding fruitful,
And will make nations of thee, and kings,
shall come out of thee.And I will establish my covenant between
Me and thee and thy seed after thee in
Their generations for an everlasting
Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee.And I will give unto thee, and to thy
Seed after thee, the land wherein thou
Art stranger, all the land of Canaan
for an everlasting possession: and I
will be their God.And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt
Keep my covenant therefore, thou and
thy seed after thee in their generations.This is my covenant, which ye shall keep,
Between me and you and thy seed after
Thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised.As a sign of this covenant, Elahi commanded that all men born in Abraham’s house or bought with his money had to be circumcised. All men not submitting to circumcision were to be cut off from Abraham’s tribe. Thus, according to Genesis 17:26, “…in the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son.” Ishmael Abraham first born son by Hagar (who was his second wife according to Genesis 16:3), became the father of twelve sons:
And these are the names of the sons of
Ishmael, by their names, according to
Their generations: the firstborn of
Ishmael, Nebajoth, and Kedar and
Abdeel, and Mibsam,And Mishma and Dumah and Massa,
Hadar and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and
Kedemah:These are the sons of Ishmael and
These are their names, by their
Towns, and by their castles; twelve
princes, according to their nations.
(Genesis 25:13-16)According to Genesis 17:19, 21 the covenant was strictly made through Isaac who (according to Genesis 17:21) would not be born for another year! In addition to the fact that Issac was unborn and therefore unable to participate in the covenant at the time it was initiated between Abraham and Elahi and That Ishmael was definitely included under this portion of the covenant is made emphatic in Genesis 17:26 when, according to the fifth precept of the covenant, both Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised as a sign that the agreement with Elahi was entered into by both father and son.
They are in order:
- Abraham would be the father of many nations
- Kings would be among his descendants
- Elahi would be the God of Abraham and all of his seed
- Elahi would give to Abraham’s seed the land of Canaan forever
- The sign of this covenant would be that all male participants would be circumcised.
The first item mentioned in Elahi’s promise to Abraham is that he would become the father of many nations; not just tribes but nations. Ishmael, he was the sire of twelve sons which according to Genesis 25:16 bacame “twelve princes according to their nations.”
Isaac fathered two nations; the Edomites (descendants of Essau, his firstborn) and the Israelites (descendants of his second son, Jacob). It is from Jacob that the twelve tribes derive their origins. He had twelve sons from two wives, Leah and Rachel who mothered six sons and two sons respectively and two concubines, Zilpah and Bilhah who had two sons each according to Genesis 30.
Thus, if we eliminate Ishmael from the first part of Elahi’s covenant, the covenant would not have been fulfilled for only two nations came out of Isaac and one of those, the Edomites, is not recognized by the Israelites as a legitimate nation under Elahi’s covenant.
The second part of Elahi’s covenant, that kings or rulers of nations would be among Abraham’s posterity was fulfilled by both Ishmael and Isaac. A study of Hebraic and Islamic history will show that rulers of nations were ample among the progeny of both prophets.
After a few hundred years Abraham's seed had sufficiently multiplied.
When the Israelites began to fall for the spiritual lies, God sent a steady stream of holy prophets to teach Israel his ways and to warn them of what would happen if they did not obey. The Israelites, through Moses, had been instructed to bring regular animal offerings or sacrifices before God. These sacrifices symbolized the payment for their sins, reminding them: that sin does not come without a penalty.
SEE ALSO: | Christianity | Islam | Hinduism | Buddhism | Paganism | Helenic Judaism | Gnosticism | Cabalism | Knights Templars| | Freemasons | The Illuminati |
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Salauddine Mohammed Faruque on July 25,2007, last updated on 12.08.2009
