1. The Garden of Prophets – The prophet
Abraham as a Forefather of Holy religions
God created all the beings on a specific purpose and never left any species
without a leader to guide them like the queen of the bees, and ants. As for the
most valuable creation of God, human beings, is not left alone without a leader
too. Although the man is capable of finding his creator through His art, without a
prophet, he is unable to figure out the purpose of his creation and unable to
answer the questions: where did he come from? Why is he created? What is his
destination and how should he worship his creator?
Moreover, the whole universe is like a big fair that requires a guidance to introduce each
item exhibited in the fair. This amazing universe along with his own physical rules is like
a big fair in which God created with countless creatures, and for that big fair requires a
guidance and guide who will introduce everything through physical and spiritual rules.
In other words, this entire universe is a book written by God and given to the human
being to read it. But these heavenly facts and truths in that book require a guidance
book, like a manual book with a guide; and God sent His prophets with the holy books
to guide, teach and educate His servants through his guidance book--‐like Holy Books.
The prophets with their extraordinary spiritual equipment are the chosen ones and
special ones s e n t by God. Having both spiritually and physically well--‐equipped with
perfect traits, the prophets s u r e l y set a good example to their people and for the
future generations as well.

2. That’s why people accept the prophets as the best example and follow in their
footsteps. The prophets are also revealed that they have to guide people in each
area of life like, society, state, judiciary, family and science as well as in spirit.
The prophets are open to Metaphysics and are connected to the world of existence of
the things beyond our vision and conception. We still cannot figure out the revelation
on Prophets and the connection between angels and prophets because of our worldly
conceptions and boundaries.
God did not choose ordinary people to be HIS messengers but special people who are
capable of enlightening humans’ lives physically and spiritually, solving their problems
and guiding them in any area humans need to improve, and the prophets
accomplished
their missions through God’s Ultimate Wisdom and Knowledge.
The prophets foretold and drew the ultimate boundaries of the science through their
miracles for the human kind so that they can search and find out scientific discoveries
and to make a progress in human’s life.
The Prophet Adam guided his people to the way they could farm and grow the things
from the soil. The Prophet Noah taught His people how to build up a stable unsinkable
ship. The prophet Abraham drew the lines of physical improvement as well as spiritual
improvement. He set another good example of being patient, trusting in only God.
The Prophet Solomon brought the throne that belonged to a Queen with the speed of
Light. Today the invention of Television proves that people advanced in this area as much
as the Prophet Solomon pointed out with his miracle. Jesus Christ raised the dead with
God’s help and he cured the leper. God delivered His message with Jesus Christ’s miracle
that time will come and people will advance in medicine to the limit of raising the dead
Today the doctors bring the person into life back, whose heart stopped for
a short time. In future, Medicine might go make more advances in raising
the dead similar limit to Jesus’ miracle.

3. The prophet Abraham again guided the human kind in the inventing of special
clothes that bear the fire.
As for the last prophet Muhammad, since in his time eloquence was very popular,
his miracle was the Holy book of Qur’an in which eloquence was unreachable level
that all the poets of that time were amazed, so are the poets and authors of our
time. (By Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and preacher)
Briefly, the prophets became the boundaries for Science, a divine guide for happy
life here and Hereafter and set a very good example to be followed.
In this presentation, I will try to picture the Prophet Abraham. First I would like to
quote verses about him in regard of his life and his contribution to leading Human
beings to right path starting from Old Testament, New Testament and Qur’an
respectively to compare these three holy religions.
Genesis 12 (Old Testament)
The Lord appeared to him and said, “This is the country that I am going
to give to your descendants. “Then Abraham built an altar there. (7)
Genesis 16 (Old Testament):
The angel of the God met Hagar and at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur and
said, “Hagar the slave of Sarah where have you come from and where are you going?
She answered, “I am running away from my mistress.”
He said, “ Go back to her and be her slave.” Then he said, “I will give you so many
descendants that no one will be able to count them. You are going to have a son and
you will name him Ishmael because the Lord has heard your cry of distress. (7 --‐12)

4. Genesis 17 (Old Testament)
God said to Abraham. “You must no longer call your wife Sarah. From now on, her name
is Sarah. I will bless her and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and she will
become the mother of nations, and there will be kings among her descendants.
” Abraham bowed his face touching the ground, (It is similar to the way Muslims
pray), but began to laugh when he thought, “Can a man have a child when he is a
hundred years old? Can Sarah, have a child at ninety? He asked God, “Why not let
Ishmael be my heir?
But God said, “No, your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will
keep my covenant with him and with his descendants forever. It is an everlasting
covenant. I heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and gave him many
children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes and I will make a
great nation out of his descendants. (15--‐22)
In Old Testament, there are more verses about Ishmael and his descendants.
Genesis 21
The Birth of Isaac
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he
had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the
very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore
him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God
commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh
with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse
children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a
great feast.
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was
mocking.
10 And she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s
son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

5. 11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to
him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever
Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make
the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave
them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She
went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I
cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said
to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he
lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled
the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an
archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for
him from Egypt.
The Descendants of Ishamel
Genesis 25 (Old Testament)
Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham, had the following
sons listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah,
Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedamah. They were the ancestors of twelve
tribes, and their names were given to their villages and camping places.
Ishmael was a hundred and thirty seven years old when he died. The descendants of
Ishamel lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the East Egypt on the way
to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham. (12--‐18)
The Old Testament states that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac
while Qur’an reveals that God asked Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael.
James 2--‐ 21 through 25
How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he
offered his son on Altar. Can’t you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his
faith was made perfect through his actions. Abraham believed God, and because of His
Faith God accepted him as righteous. And so Abraham was called God’s friend.

6. The prophet Abraham in Qur’an
“And we bestowed upon him Isaac and Jacob as a grandson. Each of them we made
righteous.” 21/72)
We are not sure how the other prophets worshipped to God! But one thing is sure
all the prophets proclaimed that there is only one God and Judgment Day. The last
words of Jacob took place in Talmud but not in Old Testament.
“Or were you present when Jacob was on the deathbed and asked his sons ‘to
whom will you worship after me? Hıs sons answered him, ‘ We will worship your
God and the only one and unique God of your ancestors, Abraham, Ishmael, and
Isaac.”
(2--‐133)
“Among people, the closest ones to Abraham were the ones who followed him and
believed in this prophet and his followers. God is the friend of believers. Tell them
that you or God knows better? Who could be crueler than the one who conceals
the truth through the Scripture that was revealed by God? God is not unaware of
what you have been doing?” (3/68)
“And Abraham once said. ‘ O, my God, make this place safe and keep my sons
from worshipping idols. (Abraham, 14/35)
The descendants that came from Isaac ended wit the Jesus Christ but the descendants
that came from Ishamel ended up with the last Prophet Muhammad. New testaments and
Qur’an are almost the same regarding telling the stories of Abraham.
Let’s have a look at the important corner stones of the prophet Abraham.

7. The Mercy of Abraham
“O my God, it is fact that Idols strayed most people. From now on, the one who
follows me is a follower of me. The one who is against me is left to your Mercy.
No doubt you are All Merciful and All--‐Forgiving.” (Abraham, 14/36) Merciful and
All--‐Forgiving.” (Abraham, 14/36)
Unlike the other prophets, the prophet Abraham prayed for those non--‐believers to
be blessed by God instead of asking punishment for them. The prophet Jesus
Christ and Mohammed(peace be upon them) had the same mercy for non-‐believers.
“Praise to God, God granted me Ishmael and Isaac even though I was so old No doubt
God accepts the praying.” (Abraham, 14/39)
“O, My God, Make my descendants and me righteous servants who continuously and
properly pray. O. My God. Accept my praying.”(Abraham, 14/40)
“O, my God Bless all believers, my father and my mother and me.” (Abraham, 14/41)
“O we revealed upon you as we revealed upon Noah and the prophets after him,
Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and their grandsons, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron
and Solomon. We grace Psalms to David too.” (Women 4/163)
Abraham as a son of Idol maker and Abraham’s uprising
As a prophet, Abraham had been through many divine tests by God; One of them was that
his father was a polytheist and worse he was an idol maker; he was selling the idols to
town people. This was making the prophet Abraham so sad. He tried to convince his
father that there is only in God but he failed.
Once there was a town festival and all the town people but him were outside the town for
a celebration. The prophet Abraham made an excuse and stayed behind. After he was all
alone in the town, he went to the temple and he broke all the idols there except the very
big one with an axe Then he hung up the axe around the big idol. When the town people
came back from festival, they saw that all idols were broken. When they asked Abraham,
he replied divine smartly and he said,
“ Maybe, the big idol did it.” The prophet Abraham was planning to prove that how come
the idols which were even unable to defend themselves, could be God?The town people
were stuck; If they agreed that the big idol did it, then they would have self-proved that
idols are not God because even they cannot protect themselves. If somebody did it, then
the same conclusion was on; The idols were unable to protect they.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5zQ7NCK0Dg (Abraham Biblical version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoQZLnSpAKY ( Abraham Qur’anic version)

8. Later on the town people accused the prophet Abraham and they decided to burn him in
a very big fire. So they collected lots of woods to make a very big fire as tall as a building.
Then they put Abraham on a catapult and threw him into fire.
On the way, and Angel came and asked him whether he wanted help or not. The prophet
of obedience and Trust said, “ No, My God is knows it. That is enough for me!”
Before the prophet Abraham landed into the fire, God changed the huge fire into a rose
garden. And when town people came to see what happened; they could have not believe
their eyes; the prophet Abraham was sitting inside a rose garden. It is believed that rose
garden is in Urfa , Turkey. It is now a pool where red fish live in it.
The prophet Abraham was the one who trusted and obeyed God’s orders without thinking
it. That is way he was honored and decreed as the closest servant of God. He even did
not hesitate to sacrifice his son Ishmael to God. Being thrown into fire and getting not
hurt is a sign of future scientific invention? Like we discussed in earlier, God wills to
do many things through performing one act. When God allowed his messengers to work
miracles, HE also pointed out at the future inventions for humanity.
Today firefighters are able walk into fire wearing special fire-proof clothes called as fire
proximity suit (also, silvers or silver bunker suit. Miracles of the prophets drew the limits
of Human civilization.

9. Sodom and Gomorrah and the Wrath of God
According to the Quran, the prophet Lot was the nephew of Abraham. A group of angels
visited Abraham as guests[ and gave him good news of a son "endowed with wisdom; they
told him that they had been sent by God to the guilty people of Lot to destroy them with "a
shower of stones of clay. But they would save the prophet Lot and his believers except his
wife who does not believe in Lot. saying "she is of those who lagging behind.”
The Qur'an also draws upon Lot's wife as an "example for the unbelievers" as she was
married to a righteous man but cheated him by not believing in his message and was thus
condemned to Hell. She was so close to the truth but she chose not to believe in Lot.
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the twin cities which Lot was sent to with God's
message, transgressed consciously against the boundaries of God. Their greediness led
to inhospitality and robbery, which in turn led to the humiliation of strangers by
mistreatment.
It was their disgusting and ugly sin of homosexuality which was seen as characteristic of
their attitudes, and upon Lot's exhorting them to abandon their wrongdoing against God,
they ridiculed him, threatening with terrible consequences; Lot only prayed to God to be
saved from doing as they did.
As for today, we are worse than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. We have been
committing every misdeed they did and we have been killing innocent people for
make-up excuses. So what is going to happen to us? Our earth got spiritually dirtied
because of our sins.
Then two angels in the disguise of handsome young boys came to Lot, who became

10. distressed knowing the character of the people, and feeling himself powerless to protect
the visitors; he said, "This is a distressful day."
When the people overjoyed at the news of new young boys in the village came to snatch
them away from Lot, he tried to convince them to refrain from practicing their lusts on the
visitors, and offered his own daughters to them to marry, in return for the boys' free
release, but they were unrelenting and replied;
"We have no need of your daughters: indeed you know quite well what we want!"
The Qur'an remarks "they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death".
Lot was powerless to protect the boys. Upon seeing Prophet Lot’s sadness and fear,
the boys revealed to him that they were indeed angels sent by God to punish the people
for their transgressions.
They advised Lot to leave the place during the night and not look back, informing him that
his wife would be left behind on account of her sinful nature and that they "were about to
bring down upon the city the wrath of God from the sky because they are evil-doers".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aJecGDvS8c ( A you tube clip about the prophet Lot)
Keeping his faith in God, Lot left his home and the cities during the night with his family
and others who believed in him, and only his wife stayed behind. When morning came,
God turned the cities upside down, and rained down on them stones hard as baked clay,
putting an end to the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once and for all.
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord
out of heaven. (Bible - Genesis 19:24)
But the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning, And We turned (the cities) upside
down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay. (Qur’an Hijr: 73-76)

11. As an obedient and devoted prophet, Abraham
Leaving his wife Haier and his son Ishmael in the desert alone
Hagar is the second wife of Prophet Abraham and mother of Prophet Ismael (peace be
upon them all). At first, Hagar was a slave-girl, who worked in the house of Prophet
Abraham and his wife, Sara.
Sara bore Abraham no children, and Prophet Abraham decided to marry Hagar by the
suggestion of Sara after Sara proved to be infertile. After a while, Hajar gave birth to a
blessed child, who was named Ismael. God ordered Abraham to emigrate from Egypt to
Mecca along with his second wife Hajar and their little son Ismael, and to leave them alone
in that barren land and returned to Egypt with a heart full of confidence and faith in
Almighty God.
After this event, Sara, too, became pregnant with a child, who was given the name of Isaac.
Hajar had fully trusted in her God too; therefore, after return of Abraham she was obedient to
her Lord’s will. Really it seemed too agonizing to stay at a strange, barren, hot, and desolate
land, where hot winds blew and direct sunshine burned everything.
Although some people came to Mecca to perform Hajj or to pray, nobody dwelled there due
to the unbearable living conditions. While leaving his wife and son in Mecca, Prophet
Abraham prayed to God:
“O our Lord! Surely I have settled a part of my offspring in a valley unproductive of fruit
near Your Sacred House; our Lord, in order that they may keep up prayer; therefore make
the hearts of some people yearn towards them and provide them with fruits; maybe they
may be grateful” (The Holy Koran, ( Verse 37)
,,,

12. Hajar endured the hard conditions until their food and water exhausted. Her little son
was dying from thirsty in that hot desert; so Hajar started to search for water. Seeing
a mirage at a distant, she ran seven times between the two mounts of Safa and Marwa
with the hope of finding water to save her baby.
She was so determined that did not choose to sit beside her child and wait for a divine
miracle to save them; rather, her ‘decisive will’ made her to make efforts for this purpose.
In that hard moment, the heart of Hajar was focused on the divine mercy.
She had no connection with the materialistic causes. She had pinned her hope in God and
sought assistance from Him.
Suddenly, she noticed that a spring is bubbling under the feet of Ismael. Seeing that,
she realized that Divine Grace was still with them and the Merciful God would never
let them alone. Tired of her running, she came near her baby and watered him.
Patience and sincere efforts of Hajar was so important that was selected by Almighty God
as a big sign for the generations to come, and it was included in the ritual rites of all those
Muslims who go to Mecca to perform Hajj, pilgrimage throughout the history up to the end of
the world. And the place, where water came to the surface, is now called Zam Zam Spring.
The pilgrims of Kaba are much eager to drink from its water and seek blessings
from it. Hajar was favored by Almighty God’s’ grace as she had pinned her hope
in His mercy.
She and her son were saved from a definite death, and their names were made eternal.
When the Zam Zam spring appeared, the birds of that hot desert started to fly around it.
Observing the flock of birds, a tribe named Jarham, who lived in the vicinity of Mecca,
realized that there might be a source of water.
,,,

13. So they traced the spring in that region, found it near Kaba, and dwelled there. In this way,
Hajar and her son were rescued from loneliness, and Abraham’s prayer was responded.
After a while Abraham came to visit Hajar and Ismael. Much pleased was he to observe
so many people living there. Afterwards, Abraham came to visit them from time to time.
Although Ismael was deprived of his father’s direct care in Mecca, he grew up under his
mother’s training.
It was predestined that the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad be an offspring of Ismael.
Sacrificing Ishmael for God
God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ishmael and Abraham obeyed God’s order.
Ismael gradually prepared himself for a divine examination. He had reached the age of
13 when Almighty God ordered Abraham to sacrifice him.
Here, we can observe the outcome of Hajar’s lessons of patience, endurance, and
faith. The full story has been related in verses (37- 102-111) in the Holy Koran:
102. Then, when he was old enough to accompany him, he said, “O my son, I see in a
dream that I am sacrificing you; see what you think.”
He said, “O my Father, do as you are commanded; you will find me, God willing, one of the
steadfast.”
103. Then, when they had submitted, and he put his forehead down.
104. We called out to him, “O Abraham!
105. You have fulfilled the vision.” Thus We reward the doers of good.
106. This was certainly an evident test.
107. And We redeemed him with a great sacrifice.
108. And We left with him for later generations.
109. Peace be upon Abraham.
110. Thus We reward the doers of good.
111. He was one of Our believing servants.
112. And We gave him good news of Isaac, a prophet, one of the righteous.
113. And We blessed him, and Isaac. But among their descendants are some who
are righteous, and some who are clearly unjust to themselves.” (qur’an 37 – 102 -112)

14. When we think about our kids, we might understand to some extent what kind of test
is it when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son and Abraham’s complete obedience
to God.
It is believed to happen that the prophet Abraham took his son to the place he would cut
him. When he tried to cut his son, the knife did not cut Ishmael as a miracle. When the
prophet hit the same knife to a rock nearby, the rock was split into two pieces. This
happened a couple of times and then angel came upon the prophet with a sheep and
angel said, “ You passed this hard test, and from now on, God granted you and your
followers a sheep to sacrifice for the sake of GOD
Abraham and his families’ obedience and trust in God was rewarded by God making
Abraham forefather of three religions, Judaism Christianity and Islam and allowing
Abraham and Hacer to have a sainted child who became the forefather of the last prophet
Muhammad of the last religion, Islam. God blessed the prophet Abraham with Isaac from
whom Solomon David Moses and Jesus Christ was descended.
Building the alter Kaba by his son Ishmael;
This Altar, Kabe, is today the praying direction for Muslim people and their divine and holy
destination for Islamic pilgrimage. This event was told in Old Testament as well although it
was mentioned more than one time.
Briefly, the prophet Abraham became like a seed of three holy religions as God
accepted one of his praying saying that;
“Oh, God, make me and my next descendants righteous and pious”

15. If these three religions have the same seed and root, why are they away from each other,
while the same God revealed their books upon their prophets?
A Mercy lesson from God To the Prophet Abraham
The prophet Abraham had a very good generous habit; He was always inviting believers to
eat with him. He never sat and ate without any guest. Then one day, an old man came to
Abraham’s house to get feasted. But the old man said he was an unbeliever. Upon hearing
this, the prophet Abraham said, “No food for you because you don’t believe in God”
God who Ever-knowing everything said to Abraham, “why don’t give some meals to the
Old Man? I have blessing him with leading his life without any difficulty though I know that
he is a non-believer.” The prophet Abraham understood his goof and apologized the Old
Man and told him what God said! The old man was so happy and he said “ If your God is
graceful and merciful that much, I believe in your God too!”
As we see that all holy books and the prophets acknowledge each other, state the
truth in their revealed holy books that that God is the one who sent upon all
prophets upon humanity to lead the to the right path. The holy books acted like a
lighthouse to lead people to the safe land. Or Holy books were updated within
time according to the people’s needs, conceptions, progress and civilizations.
The prophets did their God--‐given mission and delivered the message to his people;
they also acted like an interpreter of holy books for their people so their people can
find the right path.
Closing
The prophet Abraham taught us how to be sincere and close to God; and he never lost his
trust and faith in God and his destiny while he was being thrown into huge fire, leaving his
wife and his son alone in the desert nor was preparing his son to sacrifice for God.
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-video-12999908-religions-wordscomposite.php?st=1e61602
.
I hope and pray that these three holy religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other
religions like Mormons, Buddhism and monotheistic religions can come to an agreement
to make a world peace on Earth.

16. The Prophet Abraham
The prophet Isaac
The Prophet Ismael
 The prophet Moses
Jesus Christ
The prophet Muhammad