Since Prophet Muhammad’s ancestry can be traced back to Prophet Ishmael the son of Prophet Abraham, doesn’t that make Prophet Muhammad himself part-Jewish? Most people say no, because Abraham, Isaac and Jacob weren’t ‘Jewish’. They were ANCESTORS of the Hebrews.

But these early ancestors were called Hebrews starting with Prophet Abraham (Genesis 14:13).

The term ivri (the Hebrew) first appears in the Torah, when Prophet Abraham is called “the Hebrew: “And it was told to Abram the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13) And Prophet Joseph uses the name as both a geographical and an socio-ethnic term: “I was kidnapped from the land of the ivrim” (Genesis 40:15), and “The Egyptians would not eat with the ivrim, since that would be an abomination” (Genesis 43:32)

Yet the Quran 2:130 states: And (everyone) who shuns the creed of Abraham (is) only a foolish soul? We chose him (Abraham the Hebrew Genesis 14:13) in the world and in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous.” (Qur’an 2:131 And when his Lord said unto him “Submit!” (aslim) he said,“I submit (aslamtu) to the Lord of the worlds.”

The word Muslim is a religious identity term that refers to faithful monotheistic believers in the Qur’an. But most Muslims are not Arabs. The word Hebrew is a linguistic, geographical and tribe-ethnic identity term like German [a language], Germany{a country] and Germans [an ethnic people].

Prophet Abraham was the first person to be called a “Hebrew” in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 14:13). The term Hebrew comes from the verb to go over a boundary, like the Euphrates or Jordan river, or to be an immigrant. The first thing God told Prophet Abraham was: “The LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.…” (Genesis 12:1-2)

And Prophet Joseph uses the name as both a geographical and an socio-ethnic term: “I was kidnapped from the land of the ivrim” (Genesis 40:15), and “The Egyptians could not eat with the ivrim, since that would be an abomination” (Genesis 43:32)

So Prophet Abraham was the first Islamic Hebrew as the Qur’an 3:67 states: ““He (Abraham) was not Yahuudiyyan, “a Jew”, nor Nasraaniyyan, “a Christian”, but rather a Haniifan i.e. “a monotheistic Hebrew believer submitting (Islam) to the one imageless God who created all space and time; and who made Prophet Abraham the Hebrew’s descendants through Prophets Isaac and Jacob (Israel), into a great multitude of monotheists called the People of Israel-Banu Israel.

The religion of Prophet Abraham the Hebrew (Genesis 14:13) begins when God tell Abraham to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:31), practiced polytheism, worshipping multiple gods and goddesses included Marduk, the god of creation, and Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. Their rituals involved offerings, animal sacrifices, and elaborate ceremonies to appease the gods. They believed in an Afterlife, and Astrology played a big role in their religion.

“And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.” (Qur’an 4:125)

The Quran 2:130 states: And (everyone) who shuns the creed of Abraham (is) but a foolish soul? We chose him (Abraham the Hebrew Genesis 14:13) in the world and in the Hereafter he shall be among the righteous. 2:131 And when his Lord said unto him “Submit!” (aslim) he said, “I submit (aslamtu) to the Lord of the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)