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Who Are Blessed According To The Old Testament: Muslims Or Christians?

By
Bassam Zawadi

God in the Old Testament says whom he will bless and curse...

Genesis 12:3

I will bless those who bless (barak) you, and whoever curses (qalal) you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

The word qalal could mean...

1) to be slight, be swift, be trifling, be of little account, be light

a) (Qal)

1) to be slight, be abated (of water)

2) to be swift

3) to be trifling, be of little account

b) (Niphal)

1) to be swift, show oneself swift

2) to appear trifling, be too trifling, be insignificant

3) to be lightly esteemed

c) (Piel)

1) to make despicable

2) to curse

d) (Pual) to be cursed

e) (Hiphil)

1) to make light, lighten

2) to treat with contempt, bring contempt or dishonour

f) (Pilpel)

1) to shake

2) to whet

g) (Hithpalpel) to shake oneself, be moved to and fro

Source: http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/7/1145626689-5111.html 

The word barak means...

1) to bless, kneel

a) (Qal)

1) to kneel

2) to bless

b) (Niphal) to be blessed, bless oneself

c) (Piel) to bless

d) (Pual) to be blessed, be adored

e) (Hiphil) to cause to kneel

f) (Hithpael) to bless oneself

2) (TWOT) to praise, salute, curse

Source: http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/1/1145626681-91.html 

So basically we see that God will bless those who bless Abraham and hold him in high praise and respect and curse those who belittle him, make him of little value etc. It does not necessarily have to mean showing contempt to Abraham, but could also mean to belittle him or make him insignificant. 

Now Muslims give much respect to Abraham. As a matter of fact we show our love for Abraham in our daily five prayers. All Muslims says right before the closing of the prayer the following supplication...

"All the compliments, prayers and good things are due to Allah; peace be upon you, O Prophet, and Allah's Mercy and Blessings be upon you. Peace be on us and on the true pious devotees of Allah. I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and I also testify that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O Allah! send your Salat (Blessings, Graces, Honors and Mercy) on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You sent Your Salat on Abraham and the family of Abraham. O Allah! Send Your Blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You sent Your Blessings on Abraham and the family of Abraham. You are Praiseworthy, Most Gracious."

So here the Muslims recognize that God blessed Abraham and ask Him to hold the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him similarly in such high honor.

Saheeh Bukhari

Volume 5, Book 58, Number 227:

So when I went (over the seventh heaven), there I saw Abraham. Gabriel said (to me), 'This is your father; pay your greetings to him. So I greeted him and he returned the greetings to me and said, 'You are welcomed, O pious brother and pious Prophet.

Here we see that the Prophet sent his greetings to Abraham. When the Prophet sent his greetings, he sent his 'salaams' on him. This means that the Prophet asked that peace and blessings be put on Abraham. And Abraham replied back in a positive way to the Prophet (PBUH).

Volume 6, Book 60, Number 210:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin Umar:

The Prophet said, "The honorable, the son of the honorable the son of the honorable, i.e. Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham."

Look at how the Prophet spoke highly of Abraham and his lineage of great Prophets.

Volume 6, Book 60, Number 211:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle was asked, "Who are the most honorable of the people?" The Prophet said, "The most honorable of them in Allah's Sight are those who keep their duty to Allah and fear Him. They said, "We do not ask you about that." He said, "Then the most honorable of the people is Joseph, Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's prophet, the son of Allah's Khalil i.e. Abraham) They said, "We do not ask you about that." The Prophet said, Do you ask about (the virtues of the ancestry of the Arabs?" They said, "Yes," He said, "Those who were the best amongst you in the Pre-lslamic Period are the

To be Allah's khalil is to be his friend. This is a title of honor that the Prophet gave to Abraham.

Saheeh Muslim

Book 004, Number 0803:

Abdullah b. Zaid-he who was shown the call (for prayer in a dream) narrated it on the authority of Mas'ad al-Ansiri who said: We were sitting in the company of Sa'id b. 'Ubida when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) came to us. Bashir b. S'ad said: Allah has commanded us to bless you. Messenger of Allah! But how should we bless you? He (the narrator) said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) kept quiet (and we were so much perturbed over his silence) that we wished we had not asked him. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) then said: (For blessing me) say:" 0 Allah, bless Muhammad and the members of his household as Thou didst bless the mernbers of Ibrahim's household. Grant favours to Muhammad and the members of his household as Thou didst grant favours to the members of the household of Ibrahim in the world. Thou art indeed Praiseworthy and Glorious" ; and salutation as you know.

Book 004, Number 1083:

Jundub reported: I heard from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) five days before his death and he said: I stand acquitted before Allah that I took any one of you as friend, for Allah has taken me as His friend, as he took Ibrahim as His friend. Had I taken any one of my Ummah as a friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr as a friend. Beware of those who preceded you and used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous men as places of worship, but you must not take graves as mosques; I forbid you to do that.

Book 030, Number 5841:

Anas b. Malik reported that a person came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: O, the best of creation; thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: He is Ibrahim (peace be upon him).

To say that Ibrahim is the best creation can't be anything but just great respect and praise for Abraham and saluting him with honor.

Book 040, Number 6847:

This hadith has been narrated through other chains of transmitters on the authority of Ibn Abbas, (and) the words are: While Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) stood up to deliver a sermon, he said: 0 people, Allah would make you assemble barefooted, naked and uncircumcised (and then recited the words of the Qur'an):" As We created you for the first time, We shall repeat it. (It is) a promise (binding) upon us. Lo! We are to perform it, and the first person who would be clothed on the Day of Resurrection would be (Hadrat) Ibrahim (peace be upon him)" and, behold! some persons of my Ummah would be brought and taken to the left and I would say: My Lord, they are my companions, and it would be said: You do not know what they did after you, and I would say just as the pious servant (Hadrat 'Isa) said:, I was a witness regarding them as I remained among them and Thou art a witness over everything, so if Thou chastisest them, they are Thy servants and if Thou for- givest them, Thou art Mighty, Wise" (v. 117-118). And it would be said to him: They constantly turned to their heels since you left them. This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Waki' and Mu'adh (and the words are):" What new things they fabricated."

Malik Muwatta

Book 9, Number 9.22.69:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazim from his father that Amr ibn Sulaym az-Zuraqi said, "Abu Humayd as-Saidi told me that they asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, how they were to ask for blessings upon him and he replied that they should say, 'O Allah, bless Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as You blessed the family of Ibrahim, and give baraka to Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as You gave baraka to the family of Ibrahim. You are worthy of Praise and Glorious.'"

Notice that the word baraka in Arabic is the same thing as barak in Hebrew.

Book 45, Number 45.1.2:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father that Abu Hurayra said, "When people saw the first fruits of the season, they brought them to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took them and said, 'O Allah! Bless us in our fruits. Bless us in our city. Bless us in our sa and bless us in our mudd. O Allah! Ibrahim is Your slave, Your Khalil and Your Prophet. I am Your slave and Your Prophet. He prayed to You for Makka. I pray to You for Madina for the like of what He prayed to You for Makka, and the like of it with it.' Then he called the smallest child he saw and gave him the fruits."

Book 49, Number 49.3.4:

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Said ibn al-Musayyub said, "Ibrahim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the first to give hospitality to the guest and the first person to be circumcised and the first person to trim the moustache and the first person to see grey hair. He said, 'O Lord! What is this?' Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, 'It is dignity, Ibrahim.' He said, 'Lord, increase me in dignity!' "

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "One takes from the moustache until the edge of the lip appears, that is the rim. One does not cut if off completely so that one mutilates oneself."

Just an example of how Muslims respect Abraham.

Even the Quran has good things to say about Abraham...

Surah 9:114

9:114]  And Abraham prayed for his father's forgiveness only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became clear to him that he was an enemy to God, he dissociated himself from him: for Abraham was most tender-hearted, forbearing.

Surah 60:4

[060:004]  There is for you an excellent example (to follow) in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: "We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides God: we have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred for ever,- unless ye believe in God and Him alone": But not when Abraham said to his father: "I will pray for forgiveness for thee, though I have no power (to get) aught on thy behalf from God." (They prayed): "Our Lord! in Thee do we trust, and to Thee do we turn in repentance: to Thee is (our) Final Goal.

Now lets see what the Christians say about Abraham...

If you are struggling with tongue issues call Abraham down to help. Abraham twice lied to a king by claiming his wife was his sister. He was a deceiver and a liar, but he overcame it. He was a man of faith who had to come to trust in God not only in his walk but also with his talk. Foul mouths are dirty little weights. God says lose the extra weight. (Source: http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0%2C1703%2CA%253D158764%2526M%253D200272%2C00.html)

Abraham, the prophet, lied to Abimelech. There is no denying it; Abraham lied. Abraham passed his wife off as his sister. Half-sister though she was, the important truth which Abraham concealed was that she was his wife! If Sarah were only Abraham’s sister, she would be eligible to marry Abimelech. As Sarah’s wife, she was not eligible at all. Abraham lied, and when he was confronted with his lie, he quibbled about technicalities, and failed to fully confess his sin. Abraham, the prophet, lied.

Abraham, the prophet, was a liar. To say that Abraham lied to Abimelech on this one occasion is not enough. Abraham had made it his practice to tell this lie. He had, of course, lied to Pharaoh in the same fashion, many years before this (Genesis 12:10-20). Now, we read in Genesis 20 that he has lied again. But from Abraham’s own words we learn that this was what he did everywhere he went (Genesis 20:13). Lying about Sarah had become a lifestyle.

Abraham, the prophet, involved his wife in his lifestyle of lying. It was not just Abraham who lied to Pharaoh and to Abimelech; Sarah lied as well. Abraham had conspired with Sarah to lie wherever they went. It was not Sarah who proposed this deception, but Abraham. Nevertheless, she went along with it.

Abraham, the prophet, seeks to minimize and rationalize his sin of lying to Abimelech. In effect, he tells Abimelech that he felt he had to lie because this king and his people were pagans. He tells Abimelech that he thought there was “no fear of God in this place.” It was one thing for Abraham to tell the truth where men were civilized, but here in this “God-forsaken” (in his mind) place, what else could he do? After having unsuccessfully attempted to transfer some of the blame for his deception to Abimelech and the people of Gerar, Abraham next seeks to minimize his sin by claiming that his words were partially true. It is as though Abraham had said, “Well, it all depends on how you define the word ‘sister.’” Sarah was his half-sister, so didn’t this make his words a ‘half-truth’? Not really. The issue was not whether Sarah was in some way related to Abraham, but whether she was his wife. By claiming that Sarah was his “sister,” Abraham was also implying that she was not his wife. One does not walk away from this story feeling good about Abraham. His words sound more like regret than repentance.

Abraham’s lie stemmed from his lack of faith in God. “Situational ethics” is not a modern invention. Abraham practiced “situational ethics” in his day. Abraham had concluded that “there was no fear of God” in that place, and thus he reasoned that God was not able to keep him, and Sarah. Abraham’s lack of faith prompted him to conclude that he had to resort to pagan devices (deception) in order to survive. In this situation, Abraham reasoned, he had to lie. It was his only way to survive. Abraham is certainly lacking in faith here. (Source: http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1543)

Conclusion

Truly the Christians that talk this way about Abraham are the ones who are God will curse according to Genesis 12 and that the Muslims are the ones who are going to be blessed by Allah (insha'Allah).

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