✡️ ✝️ ☪️ Abraham, His Sons, and the House of God: Bible vs Qur’an

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1. The Qur’an: Abraham, Ishmael, and the Kaaba ☪️🕋

The Qur’an explicitly ties Abraham (Ibrāhīm) and Ishmael (Ismāʿīl) to the Kaaba, the House of God in Mecca:

• Building the Kaaba 🧱🕋

“And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House, and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], ‘Our Lord, accept [this] from us…’” (Qur’an 2:127).

• Dedication 🙏✨

Abraham and Ishmael were commanded to cleanse the House for those who worship (Qur’an 2:125, 14:37).

• Central Role 🌍🏛️

The Kaaba is framed as the first House established for mankind (Qur’an 3:96), directly linked to Abraham’s mission.

👉 Thus, in Islamic tradition, Abraham and Ishmael are the builders and consecrators of the Kaaba — a universal sanctuary.

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2. The Bible: Abraham, Isaac, and the Temple ✡️📖🏛️

In contrast, the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) does not make the same kind of direct connection between Abraham and Isaac and the Temple in Jerusalem.

• Abraham and Isaac at Mount Moriah ⛰️🔥

Genesis 22 (the Akedah, or Binding of Isaac) locates the near-sacrifice at “the land of Moriah” (Gen. 22:2).

Later, in 2 Chronicles 3:1, it says:

“Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father…”

👉 This creates a retrospective link: the site where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac is identified with the Temple Mount.

• But Abraham and Isaac are not temple-builders 🚫🧱

Unlike the Qur’an’s narrative of Abraham and Ishmael building the Kaaba, the Bible portrays the Temple as first conceived by David and built by Solomon (2 Samuel 7; 1 Kings 6).

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3. Key Difference 🔑⚖️

• Qur’an ☪️🕋 → Abraham + Ishmael are active builders of the House of God (Kaaba).

• Bible ✡️📖🏛️ → Abraham + Isaac are passive figures whose testing (Akedah) happened on the same mountain later associated with the Temple, but they are not temple builders.

👉 The connection in the Bible is associative and retrospective (site of Isaac’s binding = later Temple Mount), whereas in the Qur’an it is foundational and constructive (Abraham and Ishmael establish the Kaaba itself).

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✅ In short:

The Bible links Abraham and Isaac to the location of the future Temple (through Mount Moriah) ✡️🏛️,

but only the Qur’an directly connects Abraham and Ishmael with the founding and building of the House of God (Kaaba) ☪️🕋.

— Azahari Hassim

Founder, The World of Abrahamic Theology