What was Prophet Abraham’s Tribal or National Ethnicity?

The religion of Prophet Muhammad is Islam; but what was the ancestry lineage, tribal or national ethnicity, of Muhammad’s ancestor Prophet Abraham?

A hadith-narration of Imam Muslim says Prophet Muhammad stated: “God chose me from among the children of Abraham, then from among the children of Ishmael, then from among the children of Kinane, then from among the children of Quraysh, then from among the children of Hashim, and then from among the children of Hashim, He chose me.” (Muslim, Fadail, 1) thus tracing his (own Arab) lineage to Prophet Ismail, who he thought was born in Mecca, and was later sent there as a prophet.

On the other hand, it is possible to learn from the blessed words of our Prophet himself to which nation he belonged in terms of lineage. Let us give the meanings of only three hadiths on this subject: 1- “I am a prophet, there is no lie in that. I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib, I am the most eloquent speaker among the Arabs, and I am from the children of Quraysh.” (Feyzü’l-Kadîr, III/38. Hadith no:2685)

2-“I am the first of the Arabs to enter Paradise, Suhayb is the first of the Romans, Salman is the first of the Persians, and Bilal is the first of the Abyssinians.” (Age III/43, Hadith No:2695)

And 3- “I am a pure Arab. I am from the tribe of Quraysh. My language is that of the Banu Sa’d (who speak Arabic most fluently).” (Age III/44. Hadith no: 2696)

These hadiths clearly state that Prophet Muhammad was Arab in terms of lineage and descent.

The Quran explicitly states that our Prophet was an Arab. In the Surah of Ibrahim… “We sent every prophet to his own people, so that the message might be clearly explained to them.”
The 4th verse in the translation is evidence of this. Our Prophet, as a prophet, emerged from his own nation and recited the Quran, which is in Arabic, to them. Narrated by Abu Dharr: “God Almighty sent every prophet in the language of his own nation.” (Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir, II/522)

Also narrated Abu Dharr that one day he asked the Messenger of Allah: How many prophets are there in all? He replied: One hundred and twenty four thousand. He then asked: How many of them were messenger prophets? He replied: Three hundred thirteen from the above group. He asked: Who was the first of them? He replied: Adam…The first prophet among Bani Israel was Musa and the last of them was Isa (Jesus) and they were in all six hundred Jewish prophets.” (Biharul Anwar, Vol. 11, Pg. 32.)

The fact that the Prophet’s lineage traces back to Prophet Abraham indicates that the Prophet’s lineage is the same as Abraham’s. The Arabs descended from Abraham’s son Ishmael, while the Children of Israel (the Hebrews, Genesis 14:13) descended from his other son, Isaac. Despite this, to those who claim that Abraham was Jewish, the Quran says: “O People of the Scripture! Why do you dispute about Abraham when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Do you not understand? This is what you are like. You dispute about things you know something about, but why do you dispute about things you know nothing about? Allah knows, but you do not know. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a true believer in the One God, and he was not among the polytheists.” (Al-Imran, 3:65-67)

As Qur’an states: “O mankind, We created you from male and female, and made you (into) peoples and tribes, that you may know (respect) one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” (Quran 49:13)

God also wanted Prophet Abraham and his wife Sarah to sanctify immigrants because he is called a Muslim in the Arabic Qur’an; and in the Hebrew Bible he is called a Hebrew [speaker Genesis 14:13) and a Babylonian immigrant who crossed over the Jordan River.

The term ivri (the Hebrew) first appears in the Torah, when Prophet Abraham is called “the Hebrew: “And it was told to Abram the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13) And Prophet Joseph uses the name as both a geographical and an socio-ethnic term: “I was kidnapped from the land of the ivrim” (Genesis 40:15), and “The Egyptians could not eat with the ivrim, since that would be an abomination” (Genesis 43:32)

The Quran 2:130 states: And (everyone) who shuns the creed of Abraham (is) but a foolish soul? We chose him (Abraham) in the 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.”

The word Muslim is a religious identity term that refers to faithful monotheistic believers. The word Hebrew is a linguistic, geographical and ethnic identity term like German [a language], Germany{a country] and Germans [a people]. The word descendent is a biological inherited birth identity term like nobility or tribe.

Islam was a religion designed by God to bring together all other monotheistic religions and peoples: “O mankind, We created you from male and female, and made you (into) peoples and tribes, that you may know (respect) one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.” (Quran 49:13)

“Once all humans were but a single community; then they disagreed (formulating different beliefs and rites). Had it not been that your Lord had already so ordained, a decisive judgement would have been made regarding (the truth of) their disagreements.” (10:19) In those generations all human communities created different religions of their own with different creeds and ways.

Now, if you desire that Allah Himself should uncover the truth and present it to you to enable you to decide which religion is the true one, you should know that this will not be done in this lifetime, because God now requires you to decide this yourself by using your own intelligence and kindness. This worldly life is a trial to see whether or not you yourselves recognize truth by competing in doing acts of kindness, toleration and welcoming others who are different into your lands.

This is why the Qur’an declares: “Let there be no compulsion in Religion: truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah (one God) has grasped the most trustworthy unbreakable hand hold: Allah hears, and knows all things.” (2:256)

And: “Who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.” (4:125)

But, Jews have many names because they have been immigrants for a little more than half of their 36 centuries of Jewish history. Even more important, by God’s design Prophet Abraham’s biological descendants through Isaac and Jacob became the first ongoing monotheistic community to last to this very day. “And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – those of strength and [religious] vision. Indeed, We chose them for an exclusive quality: remembrance of the home [the “safe haven” Land of Israel]. And indeed they are to Us among the chosen and outstanding.” (Qur’an 38:45-7)

“And We certainly settled the Children of Israel in an agreeable settlement [the Land of Israel] and provided them with good things. And they did not differ until [after Torah] knowledge had come to them. Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. So if you [O Muhammad] are in doubt, about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters. (10:93-4)

As Surah 5:20-21 states: “Moses said to his people: O, my people, remember the favor of Allah upon you when he appointed among you [600] prophets and made you possessors [of the Land of Israel] and gave you what he had not given anyone among the worlds. O my people, enter the holy land which Allah has assigned to you.”

Of course, the Hebrews were not the only people God had redeemed from slavery. The principle that God can make a covenant with a whole people, and not just with those who are faithful believers, helps me understand a powerful verse in the Qur’an which states that at Sinai, before Allah gives the Torah to the Children of Israel, He makes a covenant with them. Allah raises the mountain above the whole people saying: “Hold firmly to what We have given you (the Torah) and remember what is in it” (2:63).

So the Jewish People’s fate stood under the shadow of Mount Sinai, and this explains the miracle of all Israel agreeing to the covenant. This may be the reason why Moses/Musa is the only messenger whose book comes not from an angel but directly from Allah (Quran 4:164) and to include female prophets like Miriam and Queen Esther.

Individuals who hear a prophet may choose to believe or disbelieve, but in this one case God Almighty makes “an offer that you can’t refuse,” thus, as far as Judaism is concerned, everyone of the Children of Israel has to struggle for all generations to come, with living up to the covenant their ancestors chose to enter into at Mount Sinai.

This concept, of a chosen (by being pressed into being a) choosing people, can and among many ultra-orthodox Jews has, lead to exaggerated and self-righteous feelings of pride. Thus, when the Qur’an (7:171) mentions another time the same event, when the Mount was moved above the Children of Israel, this verse is followed by a reminder in 7:172 that “children of Adam” were all made to bear witness against their own souls: “‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said ‘Yes, we do bear witness.” God Almighty made a covenant with all individuals “lest [they] should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were indeed unaware of this’.”

Thus, while loyalty to the commitment one’s ancestors made at Mount Sinai may inspire greater effort for Jews in following God’s will, when Jews, like Muslims, Christians and everyone else on earth face judgement on the Day of Resurrection, we are all judged as individuals. As Prophet Abraham says: “Do not forsake me on the Day of Resurrection, a day where neither money nor children will benefit except whoever meets Allah with a sound heart” (Qur’an 26:87-89).

The Qur’an thus makes clear that, every person, Jew or non-Jew, also has an opportunity as an individual to choose and be chosen, by choosing wisdom over gold and understanding over silver as the Biblical Book of Proverbs (16:16) states: “Acquiring wisdom is better than gold; and acquiring understanding is being chosen over silver.”

This reminder by the Qur’an that no religious community should be self-righteous is similar to that of Prophet Amos, one of the six hundred Jewish prophet speaking for God, proclaimed to the Children of Israel: “Are you not like the Children of Ethiopia to me, O Children of Israel? says God. Did I not redeem Israel from Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?” (Hebrew Bible Prophet Amos 9:7)

The importance of an inherited religious identity is clear from Allah’s design to make Prophet Muhammad, the last of the Abrahamic descendent prophets through Abraham’s other son Prophet Ishmael: “And mention in the Book, Ishmael: Surely he was true to the promise, and he was a messenger, a prophet and commanded his people with prayer and alms, and he was pleasing before his Lord.” (Qur’an 19:54-55) Sadly a few generations later Prophet Ishmael’s descendants returned to idol-worshipping polytheism; but his tribe did not forget the memory of Prophet Ishmael himself.