Abraham: the Middle Eastern patriarch provides a bridge that connects the monotheistic religions

Amal with Palestinian funnel cakes for her class and for iftar at her mosque
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Abraham - between 2000 BC/BCE and 1500 BC/BCE, (ʾAbrəham ; "Father/Leader of many") is regarded as the founding patriarch of the Israelites whom God chose to bless, and to make into a blessing for all peoples on Earth. He is a critical figure in Judaism later adopted by other religions like Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith.

The accounts of his life found in the Book of Genesis (and for Muslims and Bahai, those in the Qur'an also) are believed to be accurate within the major religions respectively associated with these books, but they have sometimes been assumed to be myths (as opposed to factual) by some secular historians.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions", because of the role Abraham plays in their holy books and beliefs. In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Abraham is described as a patriarch blessed by God (Genesis 17:5). In the Jewish tradition, he is called Avraham Avinu or “Abraham, our Father”. God also promised Abraham great things, such as that through his offspring, all the nations of the world will come to be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people of Israel through his son Isaac (cf. Exodus 6:3, Exodus 32:13). Classical Islamic historians speculated that he was the ancestor of Muhammed through his other son Ishmael. In Christian belief Abraham is a model of faith. In Islam, Abraham obeyed God by offering up Ishmael, and is considered to be one of the most important prophets sent by God.

His original name was Abram; he was the foremost of the Biblical patriarchs. Later in life he went by the name Abraham (Genesis 17:5)
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