The Becoming of a Model: Conflictive Relations and the Shaping of the Quranic Ibrāhīm

Abstract

The chapter explores the shaping and reshaping of the figure of Abraham within the so-called Abrahamic religious traditions. The author urges caution in appealing to Abraham as a common ancestor or integrative figure; she looks instead to the conflictive potential of ‘Abraham who becomes Ibrāhim’. Drawing on the studies of Neuwirth and Sinai, the author shows the significance of Ibrāhim as the foundation of a spiritual bonding which replaces older tribal affiliations in the Arabian peninsula. Three aspects of conflict are identified: polytheism versus monotheism, father versus son and Muslim versus Jewish community. Abraham is less the father of nations, more a model of faith to be imitated. Further blind spots of the tradition are identified, such as the absence of women in the Quranic narrative. Nevertheless, Ibrāhim can still be a focal point for interreligious dialogue, provided the ambivalence and conflictive potential of Abraham and his ‘promise’ are acknowledged.