Abraham S Other Son Islam Among Judaism Christianity

Abraham's Children brings together essays by leading scholars of each faith to address key issues for the faiths and to collaboratively identify common ground and pose challenges for the future. The book will inspire readers in the process of inter-faith dialogue, contribute clearly to vital religious issues of contemporary world concern and help readers to understand faiths that are different from their own.

F.E. Peters, a scholar without peer in the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, revisits his pioneering work. Peters has rethought and thoroughly rewritten his classic The Children of Abraham for a new generation of readers-at a time when the understanding of these three religious traditions has taken on a new and critical urgency. He began writing about all three faiths in the 1970s, long before it was fashionable to treat Islam in the context of Judaism and Christianity, or to align all three for a family portrait. In this updated edition, he lays out the similarities and differences of the three religious siblings with great clarity and succinctness and with that same remarkable objectivity that is the hallmark of all the author's work. Peters traces the three faiths from the sixth century B.C., when the Jews returned to Palestine from exile in Babylonia, to the time in the Middle Ages when they approached their present form. He points out that all three faith groups, whom the Muslims themselves refer to as "People of the Book," share much common ground. Most notably, each embraces the practice of worshipping a God who intervenes in history on behalf of His people. The book's text is direct and accessible with thorough and nuanced discussions of each of the three religions. Footnotes provide the reader with expert guidance into the highly complex issues that lie between every line of this stunning edition of The Children of Abraham. Complete with a new preface by the author, this Princeton Classics edition presents this landmark study to a new generation of readers.

This groundbreaking book, developed with a grant from the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee, is a stepping stone to dialogue. Descended from a common ancestor, Jews and Muslims share a special relationship and practice religions that exhibit remarkable moral and theological resemblance. But most Jews know little about Islam. Professor Khalid Duran presents the majesty of Islam, its history and culture, but neither ignores nor rationalizes its more problematic aspects. His book offers an insightful and forthright treatment of the varieties of Muslim fundamentalism, Islamism and Jihadism. It offers a candid analysis of the status of women in Muslim belief and practice, as well as an unsentimental assessment of the historical treatment of minorities in Islamic societies. A publication of the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee.

The term “Abrahamic religions” has gained considerable currency in both scholarly and ecumenical circles as a way of referring to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In The Family of Abraham, Carol Bakhos steps back from this convention to ask a frequently overlooked question: What, in fact, is Abrahamic about these three faiths? Exploring diverse stories and interpretations relating to the portrayal of Abraham, she reveals how he is venerated in these different scriptural traditions and how scriptural narratives have been pressed into service for nonreligious purposes. Grounding her study in a close examination of ancient Jewish textual practices, primarily midrash, as well as medieval Muslim Stories of the Prophets and the writings of the early Church Fathers, Bakhos demonstrates that ancient and early-medieval readers often embellished the image of Abraham and his family—Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac. Her analysis dismantles pernicious misrepresentations of Abraham’s firstborn son, Ishmael, and provocatively challenges contemporary references to Judaism and Islam as sibling religions. As Bakhos points out, an uncritical adoption of the term “Abrahamic religions” not only blinds us to the diverse interpretations and traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam but also artificially separates these faiths from their historical contexts. In correcting mistaken assumptions about the narrative and theological significance of Abraham, The Family of Abraham sheds new light on key figures of three world religions.

This book is about the Patriarch Abraham and his extended family. The people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian beliefs all know that they are the children of Abraham. The people of each of these great faiths hold Abraham in extremely high regard, but over time their kinship has eroded due to a number of situations and circumstances. This book strives to show that all mankind has a common beginning and that mankind and those in the three great faiths not only share a great common history but that they are tied together through the acts of Abraham and his descendants including Isaac, Ishmael and Keturah's six sons. For it is through these men and their early descendants that we have the Jewish and Christian (Isaac); Muslim (Ishmael); and the majority of Keturah's descendants are now also Muslim. Herein we provide a fleeting glimpse of mankind from Adam though his early descendants to Noah and his three sons; then we focus on Noah's son Ham so that we can look at his four sons - Cush the father of Ethiopia; Mizraim the father of Egypt; Phut the father of West Egypt and Libya; and also on Canaan whose descendants originated many nations. Here we also take a look at Noah and the famously alleged curse placed not on Ham but one of his sons and we try to discuss this matter from a factual rather than an emotional view. In today's world there are growing tensions and mistrust between these three communities (Jews, Muslims and Christians) but if they would take a close look at not only who they are but from where they came they might accept the fact that they are near kinsmen who have more in common than there are differences between them.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have similar traditions and are deeply connected. The prevailing belief and practice of each is monotheistic, and all believe that God revealed Himself to Prophet Abraham, the cornerstone of the three faiths. In Children of Abraham, author Tallal Alie Turfe, a champion for religious tolerance, explores the Scriptures, common histories, traditions, and similarities among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is a strong advocate of interfaith dialogue that offers the chance for better understanding, collaboration, and partnership toward a safer and peaceful world. Children of Abraham offers solutions toward fostering a deeper sense of unity by bringing the followers of the three faiths together to bridge the gap and build connections across religious and cultural differences. "The author has compiled a wonderful collection of data driven facts as well as thoughtful religious views to help 21st Century followers of Abrahamic religions understand and respect each other...." Rabbi Emeritus Allen S. Maller, Temple Akiba "A must read by those who are in a position of influence such as Rabbis, Pastors, Imams, and other religious leaders. Children of Abraham provides a period of dialogue without imposition or conversion...." Father Dr. George H. Shalhoub, St. Mary Orthodox Church "Professor Tallal Turfe has eloquently written and thoroughly portrayed the commonalities between the Abrahamic religions. Children of Abraham will inspire followers of these faiths toward the common cause of peace, tolerance, ethics, and mutual respect...." Imam Abdul Latif Berry, Islamic Institute of Knowledge

It all began with Abraham, and with his son Isaac and his older brother Ishmael. The question in dispute today is where it all ends or should end. Does history lead us to a particular descendent of Ishmael, Mohammed of Mecca and the religion he founded? Or does it lead instead to a descendent of Isaac, Jesus of Nazareth and a competing religion Christianity? Is there any hope of discovering which of the alternatives is the true path that we should embrace and follow? There is! For the Holy Book of one religion sets out a test consistency and then fails to pass it in a spectacular fashion. The Scriptures of the other religion, however, sets out a different test meeting prophecy and then stuns us by flawlessly passing not only it, but other books test as well. Step inside this short manuscript and we will journey through history, examining the lives of Abraham, Mohammed, and Jesus, and the religion each was intimately associated with. As we do so, we will make some amazing discoveries that may perhaps change forever your ideas about who Jesus and Mohammed were and what Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all about.