The Religion of Abraham during the “Days of Ignorance” (Al-Jahiliyyah)

Abstract

The Islamic concept of Al- Jahiliyyah (“Days of Ignorance”) refers to the perceived paganism of pre-Islamic Arabia before the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. During this period of “spiritual darkness,” God instructs Muhammad to follow the religion of Abraham: “ Then we revealed to you ( O Muhammad ), to follow the religion of Abraham , inclining toward the truth ...”. The Quran uses the Arabic term ḥ anīf (literally: revert), which is often translated as “ inclining toward the truth .” Traditionally, this term refers to those who return to the tenets of the Abrahamic religion. The term ḥ anīfiyyah refers to the “ true religion of Abraham ”. The Quran references the “Scrolls of Abraham” as among the religious scriptures of Islam, but they are believed to have been either lost or destroyed. Within the rabbinical community, there is one extant text attributed to the patriarch Abraham known as the Sefer Yetzirah : The Book of Creation . This text defines the origins of Jewish mysticism, better known as Kabbalah, which is said to embody the esoteric meaning of the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Creation is “ the first document of Jewish speculative mysticis m vital to ‘ Kabbalah ’” ( Churton, 2021 : p. 94). “ According to a reliable tradition , it was Rabbi Akiba who actually wrote the Sefer Yetzirah , even though its teachings are attributed to Abraham ” ( Kaplan, 1979 : p. 185), or to the person that history has come to know as Abraham. Within the Hebrew Bible, Abraham knew God as אלוהים (transliteration: Elohim ), Moses knew God as יהוה (transliteration: YHVH , Yahweh , or Jehovah ), and within the Quran, Muhammad knew God as الله (transliteration: Allah ). The Book of Creation is the only text that definitively explains the deep and hidden meaning of these “Words of God”. Proof that this is an Abrahamic text at its core rather than an exclusively Jewish text, is embodied by the concept of Ṭ aw ḥ īd (“Oneness of God”) as the essence of Islam. Another core Islamic concept is Ṭ awāf (“Circumambulation of the Ka’bah seven times”) ( Philips, 2005 : pp. 11, 235). The Book of Creation describes how these two Islamic concepts are encrypted within the deep and hidden meaning of יהוה , the holiest Hebrew name of God. As of this writing, the rabbinical community has never been able to decipher יהוה as the Book of Creation’s deep and hidden Kabbalistic meaning, nor is this author aware of any other cleric or scholar who has plausibly authenticated the Book of Creation as Abrahamic. Christian scholars may be aware of the text’s existence, but not its relevance to Christian theology. This author’s research attempts to establish that this text was intended for all “children of Abraham.”