The Secret Behind Emphasizing Abraham’s Freedom from Polytheism

The Qur’an emphasizes certain positive attributes of Abraham, such as his being upright (ḥanīf): “He was upright, submitting to God”(447), “Indeed, Abraham was a [comprehensive] leader, devoutly obedient to God, inclining toward truth”(448). It also emphasizes some of his negative attributes, such as his freedom from polytheism: “and he was not of those who associate others with God”(449), “and he was not of the polytheists”(450). Mentioning this point in the verse under discussion indicates that neither Judaism nor Christianity follows the religion of Abraham, because he was not a polytheist, but they fell into polytheism by considering some humans as sons of God and believing in dualism or trinity and the like: “They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘God is the third of three’”(451), “The Jews say, ‘Ezra is the son of God’; and the Christians say, ‘The Messiah is the son of God.’ That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before”(452).

The Qur’an’s intriguing insistence on Abraham’s, the Friend of the Most Merciful, freedom from polytheism: “and he was not of those who associate others with God,” is to invalidate the polytheistic Judaism and Christianity and to protect him from these dust-covered sects of polytheism. Otherwise, no one had any suspicion of polytheism about him. The mention of other attributes of Abraham in their appropriate contexts is properly received and does not have this particular characteristic.