What Makes Prophet Abraham’s Uniqueness?

As far as we know Prophet Abraham is unique in being the biological and religious ancestor of two sons whose descendants become the prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

“Indeed, We chose him (Abraham) as one pure and most distinguished in the world, and he is surely among the righteous in the Hereafter”. (Qur’an 2:130) and “You have an excellent example to follow in Abraham.” (Qur’an 60:4) and “Follow the way of Abraham as people of pure faith.” (Qur’an 3:95)

What makes Prophet Abraham, “whom God chose to be His friend” (Qur’an 4:125 & Isaiah 41:8) so special? For Jews and Christians Abraham is the first monotheist. But for Muslims, Adam was the first of many thousands of prophets of God each of whom called upon the people of their own tribe or nation to worship only the One God. A narration from Abu Dharr relates that one day he asked the Messenger of Allah:

How many prophets are there in all? He replied: 124, 000.. He then asked: How many of them were messenger prophets? He replied: 313 from the above group. He asked: Who was the first of them? He replied: Adam…The first prophet among Bani Israel was Moses and the last of them was Jesus and they were in all 600.” (Biharul Anwar, Vol. 11, Pg. 32)

Yet none of the Messengers prior to Prophet Abraham were able to establish an ongoing, imageless, monotheistic community that lasted to this day. “And when there came to them a Messenger from Allah, confirming what was with them, a party of the people who were given the Book threw away the Book of Allah behind their backs, as if they did not know it!” (Qur’an 2:101)

And “Those who disbelieve are steeped in arrogance and defiance. How many generations have We destroyed before them? They cried out when it was too late to escape. And they marveled that a warner had come to them from among them. The disbelievers said, “This is a lying magician.” “Did he turn all the gods into one God? This is something strange.” The notables among them announced: “Go on, and hold fast to your gods. This is something planned. We never heard of this in the former faith. This is nothing but a fabrication. (Qur’an 38:2-7)

All prophets Divinely inspired by the one and only God are of course monotheists. Pious believers of any individual prophet should not “discriminate between anyone of His prophets” (Qur’an 2:285 & 4:152) This is why Prophet Muhammad said, “Prophets are brothers in faith, having different mothers. Their religion is, however, one.” (Muslim, book #030, Hadith #5836)

However, each prophet has a different mother i.e. a mother tongue, a motherland, and a target audience that he speaks to at a specific time in history. Thus prophets are brothers in faithfulness to the One God but their Divinely inspired message differs because it must be appropriate for their motherland, their mother tongue, their own people and the historical circumstances of the prophet’s lifetime.

Therefore, not all monotheistic prophets are the same. The Qur’an declares: “We have exalted some above others. To some (Moses) God spoke directly (4:164)); others He raised high in rank (4:163-6); to “Jesus, Mary’s son, We gave clear signs and supported him with the Holy Spirit.” (2:253). Also, “We have exalted some prophets above others (see 38:41-48) and gave the Zaboor (Book of Psalms) to David.” (17:55) Abraham (57:26), Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad all received a Divine book.

What makes Prophet Abraham so special that his name appears 69 times in the Qur’an, second only to Prophet Moses (136 times)? The Quran 2:130 states: “And (everyone) who shuns the creed of Abraham (is) but a foolish soul! We chose him (Abraham the Hebrew Genesis 14:13) in the (physical) world and in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous. 2:131 And when his Lord said unto him “Submit!” (aslim) he said, “I submit (aslamtu) to the Lord of the worlds.”

Prophet Abraham is famous for the numerous ways God tested him, especially the two terrible tests of; banishing Hagar and his first born son Ishmael (Qur’an 2:124 & Genesis 9:9-21); and calling on Prophet Abraham to make his son an offering to God. (Qur’an 37:100-113 & Genesis 22:1-24)

The Torah says Prophet Isaac is the offered son, but also relates the banishing of Hagar and his first born son Prophet Ishmael in the chapter just before the chapter that relates the offering of Isaac. The Qur’an does not tell us the name of either of the two sons. Christians see Isaac as a forerunner of Jesus.

I believe that Abraham and his two sons were tested twice and each one was judged positively by God. That is what makes Prophet Abraham unique, by being the biological and religious ancestor of two sons whose descendants become all the prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; but only God knows.

Or as Bob Dylan’s 1965 album “Highway 61 Revised,” starts with the binding of Isaac, where God famously tests Abraham with a command to kill a beloved child: “Yeah, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”. Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” and God said, “No”, Abe said “What?”

When God says NO does he mean do not do it, as his angle will tell Abraham later, or is it no it is just a test. a test of your trust that your two sons’ descendants will be a blessing for all generations to come.