Abraham (a): Difference between revisions

Most researchers believe that Abraham (a) was born in the 20th century BC, and some of them mention the exact year of 1996 BC. In Islamic sources, a number of cities have been introduced as birthplaces of Abraham (a). According to [[al-Tabari]]'s history, some people take Babylon or Kutha, a region in [[Iraq]] where Nimrod ruled, as the birthplace of Abraham (a), and others take Uruk or Harran as his birthplace, adding that later he was taken by his father to Babylon or Kutha. According to a [[hadith]] from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]], Kutha is the birthplace of Abraham (a) and the base of Nimrod. Ibn Battuta, a six-century tourist, mentions a place called "Burs" between [[Hillah]] and [[Baghdad]] in Iraq which was known as the birthplace of Abraham (a).

Abraham lived for 179 or 200 years, and died in Hebron, which is known today as al-Khalil and is located in [[Palestine]].

===Abraham's Father===

There is disagreement over the name of Abraham's father. In the [[Bible]], he is known as Terah, which is known in Islamic historical sources as [[Tarukh]] or Tarah. The Qur'an says: "When Abraham said to Azar, his father."<ref>Qur'an 8:74</ref> Based on this verse, some [[Sunni]] [[exegete]]s believe that [[Azar]] was Abraham's father. However, Shiite exegetes take “ab” here not to mean father. They believe, instead, that “ab” in Arabic means uncle, grandfather, supervisor, and the like as well.

According to some historical sources, in the year in which Abraham (a) was born, all new-born babies were killed at the command of [[Nimrud]], because soothsayers had prognosticated that a child will be born in that year who will oppose Nimrod's religion and break the idols. Thus, Abraham's mother hid him in a cave near her house, and after fifteen months, she took him out of the cave.

The first wife of Abraham (a) was [[Sarah]]. According to the [[Torah]], Abraham married her in Ur of Chaldea. The Torah implies that she was Abraham's step-sister. However, according to Shiite hadiths, Sarah was a cousin of Abraham (a) and the sister of [[Lot (a)]]. On one of these hadiths, Abraham (a) married her in Kutha, and she had a great deal of fortune which was possessed and increased by Abraham (a) after their marriage, such that no one in that region had as much wealth as he did.

Abraham (a) could not have a child from Sarah. Thus, she donated her concubine, [[Hagar]], to Abraham (a), from who he had a son called [[Ishmael (a)]]. After a few years, Abraham (a) had a child from Sarah as well, who was called [[Isaac (a)]]. Isaac (a) was allegedly born five or thirteen years after Ishmael (a). On some accounts, when Isaac (a) was born, Abraham (a) was over 100 years, and Sarah was 90 years. And on another account, Isaac (a) was born 30 years after Ishmael (a) when Abraham (a) was 120.

Allegedly, after the death of Sarah, Abraham (a) married two other women, from one of whom he had four sons and from the other he had seven sons, and thus the number of his children amounted to thirteen sons.