Formulation of the Claim
The Qur’anic Abraham combines biblical, Arab, and Hanif elements.
Explanation
The text presents Abraham as a composite figure in whom elements from multiple religious and cultural sources converge. In this sense, Abraham does not appear as a name within a closed, single narrative, but as the bearer of a unifying function that transcends belonging to one origin alone.
This composition helps show how Qur’anic meaning is formed through the reworking of earlier materials and their insertion into a new religious horizon. Abraham here is therefore linked to the process of bringing together reference points, rather than simply to a single historical lineage.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom belongs to the way Arkoun reads Qur’anic figures as points of intersection between layers of religious memory. It is close to theses that show the presence of biblical material within the Qur’anic formulation, while highlighting the transformation that gives it another function within Islamic discourse.
Limits of the Claim
This atom should not be taken to mean that the text offers a final historical account of Abraham’s origins, nor that it reduces the figure to a single source or to a fixed, unchanging composite.
Brief Evidence
The Qur’anic Abraham is presented as a composite figure in whom biblical, Arab, and Hanif elements converge. He does not appear here as a name within a closed narrative, but as the bearer of a unifying function that goes beyond belonging to a single origin. This composition shows how Qur’anic meaning takes shape through the interweaving of multiple inheritances.
Related Links
- Abraham