President Donald Trump repeatedly touted the “Abraham Accords” on his trip to the Middle East on Monday, seeking to build on the 2020 agreements that expanded the number of Arab states with diplomatic relations with Israel.
The term is steeped in religious and cultural significance, citing a biblical patriarch revered as the founding figure of three major religions whose followers comprise more than half of the world’s population: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Anyone trying to build a bridge between religions can invoke Abraham (known to Muslims as Ibrahim) as someone they have in common.
But this legacy can also be a source of division because some religious groups present themselves as its true heirs.
“Everyone has tried to claim Abraham as their own, but in reality Abraham belongs to everyone,” said Bruce Feiler, author of “Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths.”
“Even in the last two years, we have seen this battle play out in a way that it has played out for 4,000 years,” he said. “Everyone tries to say, ‘This is my story, my point of view is the only one that matters.'”
But, he said, “the story belongs to all of us, the land will have to be shared and the legacy will have to be a shared legacy for all of us.”
The Abraham Accords as a model
The Abraham Accords were a series of diplomatic and trade agreements forged with American influence between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in 2020, during Trump’s first term. A permanent settlement in Gaza could help pave the way for talks with other Muslim-majority countries.
From the Bible to the headlines
Abraham first appears in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, described as a childless old man whom God promised would be the father of a great nation. God sends Abraham on a journey that takes him to the area of modern-day Israel and the Palestinian lands.
Abraham first has a son, Ishmael, with a slave girl, Hagar. Then Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who is no longer of childbearing age, miraculously conceives and gives birth to Isaac. Hagar and Ishmael are banished, although Ishmael returns after Abraham’s death to help Isaac bury his father.
In a pivotal biblical story, told every Rosh Hashanah, which marks the Jewish new year, God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham agrees, ties Isaac to an altar, and is stopped from killing his son by an angel who tells him that Abraham has passed a test of faith.
Isaac and his son Jacob become ancestors of the Jews, according to Genesis.
Christianity welcomes Abraham as an example of faith, willing to believe and obey God.
Islamic and Jewish traditions depict a young Abraham smashing his father’s idols while embracing the worship of an almighty God.
Muslims, however, place Ismail (Arabic, Ishmael) and not Isaac at the center of the binding story. They honor Ismail as a righteous prophet who, according to tradition, is an ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that the rock on which Abraham offered his son is located inside the Dome of the Rock, the gold-domed sanctuary in Jerusalem.
Abraham is a divisive and unifying figure
Each of the three monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) have claimed to be the true heirs of Abraham at different times in a history that included crusades, terrorist attacks and other types of violence.
At the same time, since all three religions revere Abraham, he is invoked in initiatives such as the diplomatic agreements negotiated by the United States, with a Christian majority, between the Jewish State of Israel and the Arab States with a Muslim majority.
“We see in Islam a religion that has its origins in God’s call to Abraham,” then-President George W. Bush said at an iftar (breaking of fast) dinner with Muslims shortly after the 9/11 attacks, trying to differentiate traditional Muslims from terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam. “We share his belief in the justice of God and his insistence on the moral responsibility of man.”
The term “Abrahamic beliefs” is also used to promote dialogue between religions.
The United Arab Emirates is home to an Abrahamic Family House, which includes a church, a mosque and a synagogue.
In the United States, many involved in interfaith dialogue see the term as more inclusive than “Judeo-Christian,” which was often used in the 20th century. While “Abrahamic” does not encompass all religions, it reflects an effort to broaden the tent.
These efforts come amid sharpening religious divisions on other fronts. A rise in anti-Semitism has accompanied the current war in the Middle East. Anti-Muslim sentiment has risen as New York appears poised to elect its first Muslim mayor.
With words about Abraham, context is key
During his speech to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Trump emphasized the specifically Jewish tradition surrounding the patriarch. He offered thanks to the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” a central Jewish formulation. He was applauded when he said he preferred to call the diplomatic agreements “Abraham Accords,” using the Hebrew pronunciation.
At the same time, he praised Arab and Muslim leaders whose countries participated in the agreements, some of whom met at a summit in Egypt on Monday.
It may seem surprising that this is the same Trump who was first elected after responding to a terrorist attack in 2015 by calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” His current administration has launched a crackdown on foreign students and others who have advocated for Palestinians.
But it’s less disconcerting if you pay attention “to the last 4,000 years, when everyone has lived within the tension of the story” of Abraham, Feiler said.
The story of Abraham, his two sons and his two mothers is one of “tensions, of inviting people in and pushing them out,” Feiler said.
It is a timeless story of relationships and rivalries between family members, neighbors and other people, he said.
“We want it all for ourselves, but we are constantly reminded that we can only live together with each other.”
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