3.65 – People of the Book! Why do you dispute about Abraham
The messenger and his audience are debating Abraham. The contention in this passage is that since Abraham lived before the Torah and Gospel were “sent down,” he can be neither a Jew nor a Christian (v. 67).
Abraham is portrayed here not as a link between the “monotheistic religions” but as exclusively a Ḥanīf and a muslim (“one who submits”). Similar to 2.135 and 140, this passage seems to present Abraham as a bone of contention and a source of religious claim and counterclaim. On Ḥanīf, see the comment at 2.135.

<b>Abraham in the Quran</b><br/> George Bristow
Despite widespread usage of the term “Abrahamic religions” for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Abraham occupies far less common ground in the Quran and the Bible than might be expected. According to the Quran, the only “religion of Abraham” is Islam (2.130–35). Abraham is neither Jewish nor Christian (3.65–67; 42.13–14) but a prophet of pure monotheism, an ideal Muslim, and the founder of the pilgrimage rituals.
Abraham is found faithful in every test and is called the friend of God – <em>khalīl</em> (4.125). As a man of pure faith, a <em>Ḥanīf</em>, he rejects all idolatry and recognizes the primacy of the hereafter (2.135; 3.67, 95; 4.125; 6.79, 161; 16.120, 123; 19.41). He bears bold, confrontational witness to the one Creator. Like other prophets, he receives revelation (2.136; 3.84; 4.163; 19.41; 33.7; 53.36–37; 57.26; 87.19). He is an example of fervent prayer and intercession, pleading not to be ashamed on the dreadful Day of Reckoning (2.126–29, 260; 9.114; 11.74–76; 14.35–41; 26.83–102; 29.32; 37.100; 60.4). Muslims repeat a version of his petition at the end of each daily prayer (<em>Salat</em>).
The Quran nowhere presents a complete Abraham narrative, but we can reconstruct the general shape of an understood story from the twenty-five sūras where he is mentioned. Below I piece together four distinct episodes from fragments, which in context function like sermon illustrations drawn from familiar tales to support the Quran’s message.
<b>Episode 1: Disputation with idolaters</b> (6.74–87; 19.41–50; 21.51–73; 26.69–102; 29.16–27; 37.83–100; 43.26–28; 60.4–7). Early in life Abraham observes the setting astral bodies and, reasoning from creation to the unchanging creator, turns his face as a true believer toward “Him who created the heavens and the earth” (6.75–79). He rejects the idolatry of his kinsfolk and derides their foolishness. In some accounts, they cast Abraham into a fire from which God rescues him. Although this story and its heroic portrait is absent from Genesis, it is found in later Jewish parabiblical writings (e.g., <em>Jubilees</em>). Abraham’s active opposition to idolatry and his message of “tawhid” (divine unity) fits the quranic pattern for all prophets.
<b>Episode 2: Hosting angelic visitors</b> (11.69–83; 15.51–77; 29.31–32; 37.99–113; 51.24–37). Abraham welcomes messengers with a meal, which they do not eat. Whereas in Genesis the Lord comes as one of three guests who eat at Abraham’s table, here they are all angels sent to announce the impending birth of Isaac and to bring judgment on the people of Lot while delivering his family. In two sūras, the story of Lot’s people’s destruction follows directly (as in Genesis 18–19), warning listeners of the certain doom of all who persist in defying God’s messenger.
<b>Episode 3: Constructing the House</b> (2.124–141; 3.95–97; 14.35–41; 22.26–33)<em>.</em> In this story, which has no parallels with Genesis or later Jewish writings, God appoints “the House” (traditionally understood as the <em>Ka</em>‘<em>ba</em>) as a “holy place and a guidance,” commanding Abraham and Ishmael to purify it for pilgrimage. While raising the foundations, they pray for the land to be fruitful and for their offspring to be preserved from idolatry and to keep the “holy rites.” Abraham also prays for God to send a messenger to the people of this region (traditionally Mecca) and seeks forgiveness on the Day of Judgment. Strikingly, other than the Prophet of Islam, only Abraham (with Ishmael) among the many quranic prophets has any explicit relation to this house of worship.
<b>Episode 4: The near-offering of his son</b> (37.83–113)<em>.</em> When Abraham prays for a son, he receives good news of the birth of an unnamed “patient son” (37.100–101). While most Muslims have traditionally understood this son to be Ishmael (Isaac’s birth is in fact mentioned separately in 37.112), many early Muslim commentators identified him as Isaac. When the boy grows up, Abraham recounts a dream in which he is sacrificing his son. The boy states his willingness to obey God, and both are found “surrendered.” As in Genesis 22, at the last moment God intervenes, “ransoms” the boy with a “mighty sacrifice,” and rewards Abraham with a posterity who will “bless” him. This story illustrates obedient submission to God (2.131–32) and explains the annual sacrifice festival, <em>Eid al-Adha</em>.
As with all quranic prophet stories, these episodes from Abraham’s life reflect a worldview where heeding the prophetic message of divine unity and judgment is the preeminent virtue. In this pattern, Abraham and the “Prophet” addressed throughout the Quran (understood as Muhammad by Muslims) are inseparably connected. In fact, this quranic connection is nearly as clear as that between Abraham and Jesus traced by the New Testament. Christians will find that the Quran’s <em>prophet-centered</em> view of Abraham includes very little of the familiar biblical narrative (only Genesis 18–19; 22) and shares almost nothing with the New Testament’s <em>Christ-centered</em> view of Abraham.