A concept that appears straight out of a dystopian movie, Arab countries have started discussions of propagating a new religion named ‘Abrahamism’ that will be a mish-mash of three Abrahamic religions viz. Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This particular religion is named after prophet Abraham. Reportedly, the common teachings of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are supposed to be included in this religion, which has neither any follower nor any religious text.
The first time the word ‘Abrahamia’ was used, was in September 2020 when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed a normalization agreement with Israel, brokered by none other than former American President Donald Trump.
It was stated by the US State Department at the time that the US encourages efforts to support intercultural and inter-religious dialogue to advance peace between the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity.
What connects the three Abrahamic religions?
In all the three aforementioned religions, Abraham – or Ibrahim – is the central figure. According to scholars, the three religions trace their origins back to Abraham, who, in Genesis, had humanity’s first relationship with God after the failures of Noah’s flood and the Tower of Babel. Judaism and Christianity trace their tie to Abraham through his son Isaac, and Islam traces it through his son Ishmael.
Most Abrahamic faiths tend to look down upon Hindus. Christians consider Hindus as Pagans, while Islamists consider them as kaafirs. Thus, it doesn’t take much to join the dots, what will be the discourse when an amalgamation of such rancid thoughts occurs.
Primary and secondary religions:
Hinduism is what the purists call a primary religion. It evolved over thousands of years, usually within a single culture, society, and language with which the religion is inextricably intertwined.
The words ‘Sanatan Dharma’ in etymological terms are simply called ‘Eternal’, which explains the existence of Hinduism since the time of dawn. This is the reason why Hinduism has metamorphosed into a polytheistic religion.
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However, compare that to secondary religions like the three Abrahamic faiths – they all emerged from a supposed singular miracle, an act of revelation, a single book, and thus have monotheism as the core of their beliefs.
Secondary religions denounce primary religions as paganism, a collection of superstitions, and idolatry. Monotheistic faiths rest firmly on the distinction between their true god and the falseness of other gods. The three Abrahamic faiths fit this description to the tee.
Not everyone is happy with the proposed new religion:
While the Arab world is trying to conjure the aforementioned religion, the gatekeeper of the respective religions are not entirely happy with the proposal.
Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar mosque in Cairo remarked, “Emanating from our belief in our heavenly religions, we believe that it is impossible for humankind to concur on one religion, given differences among people in colours, creeds, minds, languages and even fingerprints. All this is a historical and scientific fact, and before this it is a fact confirmed by the Holy Quran.”
Judaism is 3500 years old, Islam is only 1400 years old, and Christianity is over 2000. In the grander scheme of things, these religions have been a blip on the human evolution calendar, and yet their role in violence and conversion has far exceeded that of the Indic civilizations and in particular, a polytheistic faith like Hinduism.
The success of the new religion appears rather tiny at the moment, but the fact that such discussions have been ongoing should put Hindus on a tight vigil.