Abraham and the 12 Tribes of Israel

In the third millennium BCE, Abraham was born to an idol manufacturer and salesman called Terah who also worshipped them. According to a famous story mentioned in Midrash Genesis Rabbah Chapter 38 (this is basically a commentary on the Bible by a Jewish Rabbi) and in the Quran, Chapter 21, Verses 51-70, when Abraham’s father went on a journey far away, Abraham was left in charge of the shop. One day an old man came to the shop and requested to buy a statue. Abraham asked the man how old he was and the man duly answered that he was fifty years old. Then, a perplexed Abraham asked why a learned fifty-year-old would worship something not even a year old. Ashamedly, the man walked out without purchasing anything.

Upon another occasion, Abraham disillusioned with the practice of idol worship, smashed all the sculptures with a stick except for the biggest one and placed the stick in his hand. When all the locals heard the ruckus, they were welcomed with disgust by the disgraceful clutter that lay before their feet. Knowing that Abraham had always opposed this practice, the public immediately blamed Abraham and queried why he would do such a thing. Abraham responded that it was the biggest sculpture that had obliterated all the others in a fit of rage after a commotion took place but the frustrated public instantly dismissed Abraham’s tale as the statues couldn’t move or hit each other and angrily told him to tell the truth and stop making up false stories. Abraham then asked them why they paid their obeisances to them. The unconvinced crowd demanded that Abraham walk into a smouldering pyre and the ‘real’ God would save him which Abraham survived. Miraculously, Abraham emerged from the smouldering inferno unharmed, a divine mediation which is seen as the grounds upon which to prohibit fetishism.

As Abraham matured, he received a divine calling to leave with his wife Sarah, nephew Lot and his possessions in search of a land that God would lead him to. God promised Abraham to make him a father of a great nation and give his descendants the plentiful land of Canaan. Eventually, Abraham reached there but was forced to temporarily move to Egypt due to a famine. As Sarah was a beautiful woman, Abraham thought that her admirers would kill him for being her husband and therefore claimed to be her brother to maintain his own safety. The Pharaoh was captivated by Sarah so Abraham and Lot were initially lavished and showered with gifts such as cattle and other valuable items being the kin of Sarah. However, it wasn’t soon before the Pharaoh found out and banished the group from his kingdom.

Along the way, an uproar emerged between the shepherds and therefore Abraham and Lot decided to split up the possessions in half to continue their individual journeys to Canaan and the fertile Jordan Valley respectively. God reaffirmed his promise on the way saying that Abraham’s successors would be as numerous as the number of stars in the night sky. After this incident, Abram’s name was changed to Abraham and Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah by God.

As Abraham settled with his family, he yearned to have children and grew impatient although God promised Abraham that he would provide him with a son, so Abraham sought his own means to reproduce. As Sarah was barren at the time, she offered her maidservant Hagar to bear a child with Abraham who gave birth to Ishmael but this only fueled tensions between the two women. Despite the unexpected turn of events, God remained truthful to his word as always and Sarah soon delivered Isaac. However, God paradoxically commanded Abraham immediately to sacrifice on the top of the hill as a sacrifice. Just as Abraham was about to kill his son God intervened and instead asked him to offer a substitute ram. This rigorous test of Abraham’s faith proved his sincere, unwavering devotion towards God.

As the two sons grew up, their paths soon diverged. Ishmael eventually developed a rebellious streak and Sarah suggested that they send Ishmael away. At first, Abraham hesitated to send his son away and asked God what he should do. God tells him to send his son away with Hagar into the desert which a conflicted Abraham abided by eventually. He promised to provide them with water and Hagar that her son would once become the father of a great nation. Muslims believe that they are the descendant of Ishmael while Jews and Christians trace their lineage to Isaac. Isaac’s son Jacob, who was renamed Israel, is considered the ancestor of the 12 Tribes of Israel.

Brahma is known as the Creator in Sanatana Dharma whose wife is Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom. Abraham and Sarah are simply derived from these two in name and character. Just as Abraham, becomes the father of a great nation, Brahma is the source of all mankind. Although Brahma is a respected figure in Sanatana Dharma, he is known for his ego, mistrust at times and other flaws in the same way that Abraham loses trust in God and makes offspring of his own accord along with his other failure of tests. In the Bible, Abraham’s father is called Terah or the Hindi word for 13 while Brahma is considered to be the creation of Krishna according to the Shrimad Bhagavatam. 13 or one supreme entity with three manifestations or Krishna, who is the supreme entity, and his three main manifestations of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

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