Abraham
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Abraham (אַבְרָהָם (Avraham) in Hebrew, and ابراهي (Ibrahim) in Arabic) is a person mentioned in the Tanakh, Bible, and Qur'an. He is a central figure in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which together go by the title of being Abrahamic religions. Abraham was mentioned in the Biblical book of Genesis, like YHWH, Adam, Eve, and Noah. If he actually existed, then he was just a schizophrenic shepherd who lived in Mesopotamia, who heard voices in his head which caused him to do crazy things which would ultimately doom the earth 5000 years later.
[edit] The story
The story of Abraham, like other parts of Genesis, is believed by some to be traceable to the Sumerians. According to the story, Abraham was an old man who could not father children.
[edit] Begetting sons and messing with them
He had a son, Ishmael, with his Egyptian slave Hagar. Then God told Abraham to father a son by his own wife, Sarah, and Isaac was born.
Then God told Abraham to get rid of his slave and her son Ishmael. Islamic sources cast Hagar and her son Ishmael as favoured by Allah and the ancestors of all Arabs.
According to the story in the Qur'an, Hagar and Ishmael were wandering in the desert, almost dying of thirst, until they found a well in Mecca. Later, Ishmael and Abraham built the Kaaba in Mecca.
According to the Abramhamic religions, God said to Abraham "kill me a son." Abe said: "Man, you must be puttin' me on." God said, "No," and Abe said "What?" God said: "You can do what you want Abe, but, the next time you see me comin' you better run." Abe said: "Where do you want this killin' done?" God said: "Out on Highway 61," Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his son (held by Christians and Jews to be Isaac, whereas Muslims believe that Ishmael was to be sacrificed). Abraham accepts the command and proceeds to prepare to sacrifice his son, but at the moment of the actual killing, he is stopped by an angel who instead provides a ram to be sacrificed. Based on Abraham's willingness to carry out God's command and his unshakeable belief that things would work out as they should, Soren Kierkegaard uses Abraham as an example of a Knight of Faith.
[edit] False prophet
At least one small Middle Eastern splinter group, the Mandaeans, considers Abraham a false prophet. They instead view John the Baptist and Adam as the two greatest prophets.
