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My question relates to the following ayah:

O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason? -- Qur'an 3:65

In e.g. Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs (source: Al Tafsir), we have the following:

Then Allah mentions their dispute with the Prophet (pbuh) in that they said they are of those who have surrendered to Allah and follow the Religion of Abraham, claiming this to be in the Torah. So Allah said: (O People of the Scripture! Why will ye argue about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him?) after Abraham. (Have ye then no sense?) that it is not mentioned in them that Abraham was Jew or Christian.

This puzzles me, as the Qur'an was also not revealed until after Prophet Abraham. I'm wondering how to make sense of this:

Question: Why is it relevant that the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after Prophet Abraham, but not the Qur'an?

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  • So you are asking whether Abraham was a Muslim or not since Quran was not revealed until after him?
    – Casanova
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 9:42
  • 1
    Not exactly that, more as to why does the Qur'an highlight how "the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him" when the same is true for the Qur'an too. Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 11:45
  • Rebecca if you do understand Arabic and can read I recommend you to look through the tafsir of razi which i posted earlier in my "answer". It's a bit long text and i am not qualified to translate it therefore here is the link: altafasir.com/al-quran/surat/3/al-imran/67/razi
    – Kilise
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 9:12
  • @RebeccaJ.Stones I edited my answer, if you think it's missing anything please add a comment.
    – Kilise
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 12:41

4 Answers 4

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You need to go a few verses after to Qur'an 3:67 to get the rest of the story, which is detailed in in the book Zad al-Ma'ad by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (زاد المعاد في هدي خير العباد الإمام شمس الدين أبي عبد الله ابن القيم الجوزية) among others.

Quoting from Zad al-Ma'ad with my own translation so treat with care (p. 550-558):

إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كتب إلى أهل نجران: باسم إله إبراهيم وإسحاق ويعقوب، أما بعد: فإني أدعوكم إلى عبادة الله من عبادة العباد، وأدعوكم إلى ولاية الله من ولاية العباد، فإن أبيتم فالجزية

The Prophet wrote to the people of Najran: In the name of the God of Ibrahim (Abraham), Is'haq (Isaac) and Ya'qoub (Jacob), I invite you to worship Allah instead of worshiping his slaves, and to be worthy of Allah rather than his slaves, or to pay jizyah if you decline.

Refer to Qur'an 3:64.

Sixty Najrani Christians went to visit the Prophet in Medina, as a result, with multiple debates taking place over several days. Those events were co-attended by rabbis from the Jewish tribes living in Medina at the time. In one of the multiple discussions that took place, the Jewish rabbis claimed that Ibrahim (Abraham) was Jewish, and the Najrani Christians claimed that Ibrahim was Christian:

حدثني سعيد بن جبير وعكرمة عن ابن عباس قال: اجتمعت نصارى نجران وأحبار يهود عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فتنازعوا عنده فقالت الأحبار: ما كان إبراهيم إلا يهوديا، وقالت النصارى: ما كان إلا نصرانيا، فأنزل الله عز وجل فيهم

يَاأَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تُحَاجُّونَ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَتِ التَّوْرَاةُ وَالْإِنْجِيلُ إِلَّا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ - هَاأَنْتُمْ هَؤُلَاءِ حَاجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَاجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ - مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلَا نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِنْ كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

فقال رجل من الأحبار: أتريد منا يا محمد أن نعبدك كما تعبد النصارى عيسى ابن مريم؟ وقال رجل من نصارى نجران: أوذلك تريد يا محمد وإليه تدعونا؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: معاذ الله أن أعبد غير الله، أو آمر بعبادة غيره، ما بذلك بعثني ولا أمرني، فأنزل الله عز وجل في ذلك

مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُؤْتِيَهُ اللَّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُوا عِبَادًا لِي مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلَكِنْ كُونُوا رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ

ثم ذكر ما أخذ عليهم وعلى آبائهم من الميثاق بتصديقه، وإقرارهم به على أنفسهم ، فقال

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنْصُرُنَّهُ قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكُمْ إِصْرِي قَالُوا أَقْرَرْنَا قَالَ فَاشْهَدُوا وَأَنَا مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ

The Christians of Najran and the Jewish rabbis gathered at the Prophet's. They argued with the Prophet, with the rabbis claiming that Abraham was a Jew, and the Najrani Christians claiming that he was a Christian. Allah revealed:

O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason? Here you are - those who have argued about that of which you have [some] knowledge, but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows, while you know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah ]. And he was not of the polytheists. (Qur'an 3:65-67)

A rabbi then asked the Prophet: "Do you want us, Muhammad, to worship you as the Christians worship Jesus son of Mary?" A Najrani Christian said: "Is this, Muhammad, what you are inviting us to?" The Prophet said: "I forbid myself to worship any other than Allah, or to command others to worship any other than Allah". Allah then revealed:

It is not for a human that Allah should give him the Scripture and authority and prophethood and then he would say to the people: "Be servants to me rather than Allah," but [instead, he would say]: "Be pious scholars of the Lord because of what you have taught of the Scripture and because of what you have studied." Nor could he order you to take the angels and prophets as lords. Would he order you to disbelief after you had been Muslims? (Qur'an 3:79-80)

Then the Prophet reminded them of the covenant of the prophets:

And when Allah took the covenant of the prophets, [saying], "Whatever I give you of the Scripture and wisdom and then there comes to you a messenger confirming what is with you, you [must] believe in him and support him." [Allah] said, "Have you acknowledged and taken upon that My commitment?" They said, 'We have acknowledged it." He said, 'Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses." (Qur'an 3:81)

Allah revealed to the Prophet that Ibrahim was neither Jewish nor Christian (Qur'an 3:67), but a Muslim, and that the Torah and the Gospel were revealed after his time, so he could not have followed either (Qur'an 3:65).

The fact that the Qur'an was revealed after Ibrahim is irrelevant since the term "Muslims" does not refer solely to followers of Qur'an or Prophet Muhammad, but to followers of Allah and his message at the time (Qur'an 22-78). According to the same chapter, the most worthy of Ibrahim are Ibrahim's followers and the followers of the Prophet and those who believe in Allah and his messages (Qur'an 3:68), all of which are called Muslims according to Islamic teachings (submitting to Allah), irrespective of which time period they belong to, or which scripture they follow. In other words, true followers of Issa would be worthy of Ibrahim, and would be called Muslims, too. The Qur'an has numerous references to people prior to the revelation of the Qur'an being called Muslims, e.g., followers of Issa in Qur'an 3:52, Ibrahim and his sons and grandsons in Qur'an 2:132-133 and in Qur'an 2:128, Nooh (Noah) as in Qur'an 10:71-72, etc.

Being called a Christian, on the other hand, is restricted to a follower of Jesus Christ and his teachings (according to Christianity); and being called a Jew is restricted to being a follower of Moses and his teachings, having Jewish ancestry, or being People of God (according to Judaism).

On another note, the tafsir by Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Firuzabadi, although it is being attributed to Abdullah Ibn-'Abbas, there is uncertainty about its attributions and authenticity of multiple hadiths in it (Al Tafsir). The book has a huge wealth of knowledge, but one needs to be able to discern authenticated from unverified references.

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  • I don't see how this resolves the issue: "The fact that the Qur'an was revealed after Ibrahim is irrelevant since the term "Muslims" does not refer solely to followers of Qur'an or Prophet Muhammad, but to followers of Allah and his message at the time" - the Jews and Christians could rationalize calling Ibrahim a Jew or a Christian in exactly the same way.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 21:02
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    @G.Bach, The question was about Qur'an, hence the elaboration on the Qur'an side. It still resolves the issue for as per Christianity, one has to at least follow the 325 AD Nicene Creed, which Ibrahim did not as he was before Jesus and did not believe Jesus to be the son of God, etc., so he could not have been Christian. According to Judiasm, one has to be Yehudi (descendant of Judah), or Yehudim (People of God), or at least have converted to Judaism and followed the teachings of Moses, which again Ibrahim could not have done as he was before Moses.
    – III-AK-III
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 21:37
  • An Muslim as opposed to kafir/mushrik is someone who follows the teachings of Muhammad. There's a meaning in the sense of who you follow, and a meaning about what your theology is. In the latter sense, Christians will argue Abraham followed the correct Christian theology, and Jews will argue he followed the correct Jewish theology. I've seen both claims by Christians and Jews, respectively. The Catholic Church calls him their "Father in Faith", as do the Jews. They will call him "Christian" or "Jew" in the same sense as the Quran calls him a "Muslim", as belonging to the 'correct' monotheism.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 22:12
  • The question suggests to me that that's how OP perceives the parallel as well.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 22:13
  • @G.Bach from the answer "Allah revealed to the Prophet that Ibrahim was neither Jewish nor Christian (Qur'an 3:67), but a Muslim, and that the Torah and the Gospel were revealed after his time, so he could not have followed either (Qur'an 3:65)." This is a good note to consider
    – Thaqalain
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 0:45
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In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The Qur'an is the book of the Muslims and we practice it as our way of life, by saying it's relevant that the Qur'an was not revealed only after Ibrahim AS goes back to the Following Ayah;

وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِي هَٰذَا لِيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِاللَّهِ هُوَ مَوْلَاكُمْ فَنِعْمَ الْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَ النَّصِير. 27:78

"And strive for Allah (with the) striving due (to) Him. He (has) chosen you and not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. (The) religion (of) your father Ibrahim. He named you Muslims before and in this, that may be the Messenger a witness over you and you may be witnesses on the mankind. So establish the prayer and give zakah and hold fast to Allah. He (is) your Protector - so an Excellent [the] Protector and an Excellent [the] Helper" Qur'an 27:78

In that Ayah we have learned that Allah SWT gave us the name Muslims before, which makes the likes of Ibrahim, Isa, Musa and the other Messengers and prophets that Allah sent (may the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon them) from the time of Adam were all Muslims.

Now let's come to the question; Who is a Muslim?

The word "Muslim" means one who submits to the will of God. The first principle of Islam is known as the Shahaadah (Testimony of Faith), and is as follows: "There is no one worthy of worship except Allah (God)  and Muhammad is the Final Apostle (Messenger) of God.”

In a broader sense, anyone who willingly submits to the will of God is a Muslim. Thus, all the prophets preceding Prophet Muhammad,  are considered Muslims.

Now let's come the conclusion; since the Qur'an is the book that we Muslims accept as our way of life (by practicing it), and Muslims lived way back from the time of Adam which means they were practicing Muslims the same way we practice today, so that means that the Qur'an has being already practiced before it was revealed, thus it's relevant to say that Qur'an was not revealed only after Ibrahim AS.

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  • I don't see how this resolves the issue - the Jews and Christians could rationalize calling Ibrahim a Jew or a Christian in exactly the same way that Muslims, who follow the monotheism of Muhammad, call Abraham a Muslim; all three groups will claim he followed the correct monotheism and is thereby one of them.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 11:36
  • @G. Bach we are not discussing here what the Christians or Jews believe... and let me tell you why both of them can't rationalize and call Ibrahim a Jew/Christian; Christians believe Jesus was divine and sinless. ... Ibrahim AS did not believe that Allah had son. In Islam, Isa was a human prophet who, like all the other prophets, tried to bring the children of Israel to the worship of One God which clarifies that the Christians could not rationalize calling Ibrahim AS a Christian!
    – Sayed A.
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 11:44
  • And the Jewish are more or less the same since they don't believe in prophet Muhammad SAW, they can't claim Ibrahim AS to be a Jew since Ibrahim AS believed the prophets that were sent before him and those who would arrive after him!
    – Sayed A.
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 11:58
  • You're saying if the Jews and Christians accept Islamic claims, then they can't call Abraham a Jew or a Christian. Why would they? They go be their own doctrines, according to which Abraham will be considered as being one of them because he followed what they consider the correct monotheism. Here's the question in short: Jews have book A, Christians have book B, Muslims have book C. Book C says "what's with the Jews and Christians talking about Abraham, A and B were written after him", and OP says "So? C was written even later, how is this relevant".
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 12:03
  • O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason? -- Qur'an 3:65 .. the only relevance I see from that Ayah is "to clarify that Ibrahim AS was a Muslim, but will try study more and edit my answer!
    – Sayed A.
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 12:20
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EDIT:

Where do you find the word Quran? I see the Torah and the Gospel is mentioned but the Quran isn't.

The verse is questioning them on why they are arguing on things they couldn't know about for sure. Because Abraham lived before Musa and Jesus, they couldn't know for sure whether Abraham was following their understanding of their religion or not. And the Quran (GOD) is reminding them, that they don't know for sure because he lived before them.

It is relevant because the Quran is from the muslim point of view from GOD. So God is saying I KNOW, you don't know, Abraham wasn't following what you claim to be following, but rather he was "one who turned away from all that is false, having surrendered himself unto God; and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. 3:67".
This definition about Abraham is how he is described in the Quran and the other books, while for instance the Christian doctrine about the trinity would contradict this definition. That is also why it is said "and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. (wa ma kana mina almushrikin)"

In Muhammad Asad's translation of the Quran; The Message of the Qur'an he translates the verses 3:65-67 accordingly:

O FOLLOWERS of earlier revelation! Why do you argue about Abraham, [51] seeing that the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till [long] after him? Will you not, then, use your reason? - 3:65

Lo! You are the ones who would argue about that which is known to you; but why do you argue about something which is unknown to you? [52] Yet God knows [it], whereas you do not know: - 3:66 (Asad) -

In his commentaries in note 51 he writes the following:

I.e., as to whether the principles he followed were those of the Jewish faith, according to which the Torah is considered to be the final Law of God, or of the Christian faith, which conflicts with the former in many respects

His next note, 52:

I.e., as to what was the true creed of Abraham. "That which is known to you" is an allusion to their knowledge of the obvious fact that many of the teachings based on the extant versions of the Torah and the Gospels conflict with the teachings of the Qur'an (Razi).

Also notice his translation of the word "Muslim" in Arabic in the verse after which he translates as "having surrendered himself unto God"

Abraham was neither a "Jew" nor a "Christian", but was one who turned away from all that is false, having surrendered himself unto God; and he was not of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him. - 3:67

In the tafsir of Tabari of the verse 3:67 he states the following about the word muslim:

{ مُسْلِمًا } يعنـي: خاشعاً لله بقلبه، متذللاً له بجوارحه، مذعناً لـما فرض علـيه وألزمه من أحكامه.

More could also be read in the tafsir of razi (arabic)

In the end I guess the answer to the question lies in the verse 3:66 (after the one you quoted): "but why do you argue about something which is unknown to you? [52] Yet God knows [it], whereas you do not know"

P.S I intended to post this as a comment only but, it got a bit too long.

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  • If someone wishes to translate the tafsir of tabari from Arabic to English in my answer, then feel free to do that.
    – Kilise
    Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 20:57
  • I don't see how this resolves the issue - the Jews and Christians could rationalize calling Ibrahim a Jew or a Christian in exactly the same way that Muslims, who follow the monotheism of Muhammad, call Abraham a Muslim; all three groups will claim he followed the correct monotheism and is thereby one of them.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 21:21
  • @G.Bach As I wrote my intention was to post this as a comment but it was too big. Also the word muslim here doesnt mean muslim as you describe it. Anyway as I also said more could be read in the tafsir of razi of the following verses which is in Arabic. I am not good enough to translate it.
    – Kilise
    Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 21:59
  • A tafsir of the Quran can't really resolve the issue because it's a matter of what Christians and Jews consider to be necessary for Abraham to be called "one of them", and they can set the criterion in the same sense of "following the correct monotheism" in which the Quran uses "Muslim" in a wider sense.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 22:06
  • I disagree. I feel this issue is somehow explained in the tafsir of Razi which i posted (here: altafasir.com/al-quran/surat/3/al-imran/67/razi ) I am sorry but it's pretty long and I don't feel qualified to translate it.
    – Kilise
    Commented Mar 28, 2017 at 9:14
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to completely plagiarize a previus answer and addd to it:

You need to go a few verses after to Qur'an 3:67 to get the rest of the story, which is detailed in in the book Zad al-Ma'ad by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (زاد المعاد في هدي خير العباد الإمام شمس الدين أبي عبد الله ابن القيم الجوزية) among others.

Quoting from Zad al-Ma'ad with my own translation so treat with care (p. 550-558):

إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كتب إلى أهل نجران: باسم إله إبراهيم وإسحاق ويعقوب، أما بعد: فإني أدعوكم إلى عبادة الله من عبادة العباد، وأدعوكم إلى ولاية الله من ولاية العباد، فإن أبيتم فالجزية

The Prophet wrote to the people of Najran: In the name of the God of Ibrahim (Abraham), Is'haq (Isaac) and Ya'qoub (Jacob), I invite you to worship Allah instead of worshiping his slaves, and to be worthy of Allah rather than his slaves, or to pay jizyah if you decline. Refer to Qur'an 3:64.

Sixty Najrani Christians went to visit the Prophet in Medina, as a result, with multiple debates taking place over several days. Those events were co-attended by rabbis from the Jewish tribes living in Medina at the time. In one of the multiple discussions that took place, the Jewish rabbis claimed that Ibrahim (Abraham) was Jewish, and the Najrani Christians claimed that Ibrahim was Christian:

حدثني سعيد بن جبير وعكرمة عن ابن عباس قال: اجتمعت نصارى نجران وأحبار يهود عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فتنازعوا عنده فقالت الأحبار: ما كان إبراهيم إلا يهوديا، وقالت النصارى: ما كان إلا نصرانيا، فأنزل الله عز وجل فيهم

يَاأَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تُحَاجُّونَ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَتِ التَّوْرَاةُ وَالْإِنْجِيلُ إِلَّا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ - هَاأَنْتُمْ هَؤُلَاءِ حَاجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَاجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ - مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلَا نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِنْ كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ فقال رجل من الأحبار: أتريد منا يا محمد أن نعبدك كما تعبد النصارى عيسى ابن مريم؟ وقال رجل من نصارى نجران: أوذلك تريد يا محمد وإليه تدعونا؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: معاذ الله أن أعبد غير الله، أو آمر بعبادة غيره، ما بذلك بعثني ولا أمرني، فأنزل الله عز وجل في ذلك

مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُؤْتِيَهُ اللَّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُوا عِبَادًا لِي مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلَكِنْ كُونُوا رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ ثم ذكر ما أخذ عليهم وعلى آبائهم من الميثاق بتصديقه، وإقرارهم به على أنفسهم ، فقال

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنْصُرُنَّهُ قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكُمْ إِصْرِي قَالُوا أَقْرَرْنَا قَالَ فَاشْهَدُوا وَأَنَا مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ The Christians of Najran and the Jewish rabbis gathered at the Prophet's. They argued with the Prophet, with the rabbis claiming that Abraham was a Jew, and the Najrani Christians claiming that he was a Christian. Allah revealed:

O People of the Scripture, why do you argue about Abraham while the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed until after him? Then will you not reason? Here you are - those who have argued about that of which you have [some] knowledge, but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows, while you know not. Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah ]. And he was not of the polytheists. (Qur'an 3:65-67) A rabbi then asked the Prophet: "Do you want us, Muhammad, to worship you as the Christians worship Jesus son of Mary?" A Najrani Christian said: "Is this, Muhammad, what you are inviting us to?" The Prophet said: "I forbid myself to worship any other than Allah, or to command others to worship any other than Allah". Allah then revealed:

It is not for a human that Allah should give him the Scripture and authority and prophethood and then he would say to the people: "Be servants to me rather than Allah," but [instead, he would say]: "Be pious scholars of the Lord because of what you have taught of the Scripture and because of what you have studied." Nor could he order you to take the angels and prophets as lords. Would he order you to disbelief after you had been Muslims? (Qur'an 3:79-80) Then the Prophet reminded them of the covenant of the prophets:

And when Allah took the covenant of the prophets, [saying], "Whatever I give you of the Scripture and wisdom and then there comes to you a messenger confirming what is with you, you [must] believe in him and support him." [Allah] said, "Have you acknowledged and taken upon that My commitment?" They said, 'We have acknowledged it." He said, 'Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses." (Qur'an 3:81) Allah revealed to the Prophet that Ibrahim was neither Jewish nor Christian (Qur'an 3:67), but a Muslim, and that the Torah and the Gospel were revealed after his time, so he could not have followed either (Qur'an 3:65).

The fact that the Qur'an was revealed after Ibrahim is irrelevant since the term "Muslims" does not refer solely to followers of Qur'an or Prophet Muhammad, but to followers of Allah and his message at the time (Qur'an 22-78). According to the same chapter, the most worthy of Ibrahim are Ibrahim's followers and the followers of the Prophet and those who believe in Allah and his messages (Qur'an 3:68), all of which are called Muslims according to Islamic teachings (submitting to Allah), irrespective of which time period they belong to, or which scripture they follow. In other words, true followers of Issa would be worthy of Ibrahim, and would be called Muslims, too. The Qur'an has numerous references to people prior to the revelation of the Qur'an being called Muslims, e.g., followers of Issa in Qur'an 3:52, Ibrahim and his sons and grandsons in Qur'an 2:132-133 and in Qur'an 2:128, Nooh (Noah) as in Qur'an 10:71-72, etc.

Being called a Christian, on the other hand, is restricted to a follower of Jesus Christ and his teachings (according to Christianity); and being called a Jew is restricted to being a follower of Moses and his teachings, having Jewish ancestry, or being People of God (according to Judaism).

On another note, the tafsir by Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Firuzabadi, although it is being attributed to Abdullah Ibn-'Abbas, there is uncertainty about its attributions and authenticity of multiple hadiths in it (Al Tafsir). The book has a huge wealth of knowledge, but one needs to be able to discern authenticated from unverified references.

to add to this,

Dictionary definitions of a “Jew” include “a member of the tribe of Judah,” “an Israelite,” “a member of a nation existing in the land of Israel from the 6th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D.,” “a person belonging to a continuation through descent or conversion of the ancient Jewish people,” and “one whose religion is Judaism.”

According to rabbinical Judaism, a Jew is one who has a Jewish mother or one who has formally converted to Judaism. Leviticus 24:10 is often cited to give this belief credibility, although the Torah makes no specific claim in support of this tradition. Some rabbis say that it has nothing to do with what the individual actually believes. These rabbis tell us that a Jew does not need to be a follower of Jewish laws and customs to be considered Jewish. In fact, a Jew can have no belief in God at all and still be Jewish based on the above rabbinical interpretation.

Other rabbis make it clear that unless the person follows the precepts of the Torah and accepts the “Thirteen Principles of Faith” of Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, one of the greatest medieval Jewish scholars), he cannot be a Jew. Although this person may be a “biological” Jew, he has no real connection to Judaism.

to be a jew 1 you need to be from the tribe of judah right. Abraham cannot be from the tribe of judah, as judah is the son of jacob, which is the son of isaac, which is the son of abraham. So first thing to do to be a jew is to be from that tribe

according to jewfaq.com It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do. A person born to non-Jewish parents who has not undergone the formal process of conversion but who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of Judaism is still a non-Jew,

and i said to be a jew you have to be from the tribe of judah which abraham was not.

it says the scriptures were not revealed until far after abraham, so far after abraham the scriptures were revealed so how can he be a jew as you need to be from the tribe of judah, which he wasnt, nor did he even believe in the scriptures, nor read them

the second one it mentions the gospel. To be a christian. Answer: A dictionary definition of a Christian would be something similar to “a person professing belief in Jesus as the Christ or in the religion based on the teachings of Jesus.” While this is a good starting point, like many dictionary definitions, it falls somewhat short of really communicating the biblical truth of what it means to be a Christian. The word “Christian” is used three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ. The word “Christian” literally means, “belonging to the party of Christ” or a “follower of Christ.”

according to christianity, you need to believe in the trinity, to believe jesus was god, to believe he died for your sins and believe the bible to be the word of god. The bible was far later than abraham, he could not have believed in the trinity, he didnt believbe jesus died for his sins, as he hadnt died yet according to christianity, jesus is not god according to him, nor is he a follower of christ.

the word quran doesnt need to be mentiones, cus to be a musim you dont need to follow the quran. A muslim is one who submits his will to god. Of course abraham submitted his will to god, so he was a muslim. The quran doesnt need to be mentioned cus before the quran there were submitters to god, and he who submits to god is a muslim

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