Children
of Abraham
Richard L. Shafer[1]
For many people, regardless
of their faith, or even whether or not they profess a particular faith,
studying Holy Scripture (theirs or someone else’s) requires lots of
concentration, information, and willingness to simply reflect on the words, and
to ponder their meaning. Here’s an
example. Picture yourself, a Christian
or a Jew, reading the Qur’an (Koran) and coming across this passage where God is
speaking through the Prophet:
Be
courteous when you argue with the People of the Book except with those among
them who do evil. Say: We believe in
that which is revealed to us and which was revealed to you. Our God and your God is One. To Him we surrender ourselves. (Qur'an 29:46)[2]
Who
are “People of the Book?” And what
“Book?”
“Muslims
believe that anterior to the scriptures of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism is
the eternal heavenly prototype, the Mother of Book. The scriptural revelations (Torah, Psalms,
Gospels, Qur’an) brought by prophetic messengers are exemplars of this heavenly
book…because their scriptures go back to the same heavenly prototype, Muslims,
Jews, Christians (and some others) are all People
of the Book [italics mine].”[3]
“Muslims
believe that God had previously revealed Himself to the earlier prophets of the
Jews and Christians, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims therefore
accept the teachings of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospels. They
believe that Islam is the perfection of the religion revealed first to Abraham
(who is considered the first Muslim) and later to other prophets.[4]
Christians
accept and read the “Jewish” scriptures.
Muslims accept much of those teachings too.
(Jews also refer to
themselves as people of the book, so
don’t confuse that usage with the Qur’an’s.
The
twin pillars of Judaism are the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. The Hebrew
Scriptures -- the book of the "People of the Book" -- are divided
into three main sections: the Torah (Pentateuch); the Nevi'im (Prophets), and
the Ketuvim (Hagiographa)[5].)
Indeed,
the various faiths of the People of the
Book share more than certain religious texts.
The
People of the Book recognize one God.
They
share many of the same prophets, such as Abraham.
They
recognize life after death, judgment, heaven and hell, and angels.
They
share similar beliefs regarding the Creation, specifically, in the lives of
Adam and Eve[6]
They – we - share several
other qualities too, like a love for celebrations, eating together and sharing
fellowship with one another. I invite
you to reflect upon and ponder our commonalities.
[1] This is one
of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian
tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings,
beliefs and practices of the Abrahamic faiths -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism
[2]
THE KORAN, revised translation by N.G. Dawood.
Penguin Books,
[3]
Clark, Malcolm, ISLAM FOR DUMMIES, p. 261.
Wiley Publishing,
[5] http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/hs-books.html. So as not to confuse references to the
“Book,” let’s make sure to note that the Talmud
is a massive collection of discussions and rulings based on the Mishnah, a
compilation of laws and customs assembled in about 200 C.E. Two versions of the
Talmud exist: The Jerusalem Talmud, dating from circa 400 C.E., is based on the
discussions of the sages of