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Land of Israel and Jewish heritage

A series from the book written by Naveed Anjum

Arrival of Abraham in Canaan

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes referred to as the “Abrahamic religions” because of the progenitor role that Abraham plays in their holy books. In both the Jewish tradition and the Qur’an, Abraham is referred to as “our Father”. Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people of Israel. For Jews and Christians, this is through his son Isaac, by his wife Sarah; for Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of prophet Muhammad through his other son Ishmael, born to him by Hagar.

Please donate to Israel The Legitimate State Thank youTerah, Azar in Islam, the tenth in descent from Noah, fathered Abram who would later be called Abraham, Nahor and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. Abraham is believed to have been born in Ur of the Chaldees (Ur Kaśdim). Abraham married Sarai who would be latter called as Sarah. She was barren. Haran died in Ur. Terah, with his surviving sons and their families, then departed for Canaan, but settled in Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205.

Fig 1.2: Journey of Abraham on God’s command

Now we will examine whether Abraham, the father of Israel, came to the land of Canaan of his own choice or whether God ordered him to do so. If it was God’s decision to bring Abraham into the land of Canaan, was it so that Abraham’s descendent would settle there? When we read the Holy Qur’an, we see:

We delivered both him [Abraham] and Lot to the land that We had blessed for all beings. And in addition to that, We gave him Isaac and Jacob and made both of them righteous. We made them leaders, guiding [them] by Our command, and revealed to them how to do good actions, perform prayer, and give alms. And they worshipped Us. We gave right judgment and knowledge to Lot, and rescued him from the city that committed disgusting acts. They were evil people who were deviators. We admitted him into Our mercy. He was one of the righteous. (Qur’an, 21:71-75)

(To be continued…)