How It All Began
Nearly four thousand years ago, in the Sumerian town of Ur
in the valley of the river Euphrates, lived a young man named
Abraham. The people of Ur had once worshipped Allah but as
time passed they forgot the true religion and started praying
to idols, statues made of wood or clay and sometimes even of
precious stones. Even as a small child Abraham could not
understand how his people, and especially his father, could
make these images with their own hands, call them gods, and
then worship them. He had always refused to join his people
when they paid respect to these statues. Instead he would
leave the town and sit alone, thinking about the heavens and
the world about him. He was sure his people were doing wrong
and so alone he searched for the right way. One clear night as
he sat staring at the sky he saw a beautiful shining star, so
beautiful that he cried out: ‘This must be Allah!' He looked at it
in awe for some time, until suddenly it began to fade and then
it disappeared. He turned away in disappointment saying: I
love not things that set. (Koran vi.77)
On another night Abraham was again looking at the sky and
he saw the rising moon, so big and bright that he felt he could
almost touch it. He thought to himself: This is my Lord. (Koran
vi.78) But it was not long before the moon set as well. Then he
said, Unless my Lord guide me, I surely shall become one of
the folk who are astray. (Koran vi.78) Abraham then saw the
beauty and splendor of the sunrise and decided that the sun
must be the biggest and most powerful thing in the universe.
But for the third time he was wrong, for the sun set at the end
of the day. It was then that he realized that Allah is the Most
Powerful, the Creator of the stars, the moon, the sun, the
earth and of all living things. Suddenly he felt himself totally at
peace, because he knew that he had found the Truth.
Nearly four thousand years ago, in the Sumerian town of Ur
in the valley of the river Euphrates, lived a young man named
Abraham. The people of Ur had once worshipped Allah but as
time passed they forgot the true religion and started praying
to idols, statues made of wood or clay and sometimes even of
precious stones. Even as a small child Abraham could not
understand how his people, and especially his father, could
make these images with their own hands, call them gods, and
then worship them. He had always refused to join his people
when they paid respect to these statues. Instead he would
leave the town and sit alone, thinking about the heavens and
the world about him. He was sure his people were doing wrong
and so alone he searched for the right way. One clear night as
he sat staring at the sky he saw a beautiful shining star, so
beautiful that he cried out: ‘This must be Allah!' He looked at it
in awe for some time, until suddenly it began to fade and then
it disappeared. He turned away in disappointment saying: I
love not things that set. (Koran vi.77)
On another night Abraham was again looking at the sky and
he saw the rising moon, so big and bright that he felt he could
almost touch it. He thought to himself: This is my Lord. (Koran
vi.78) But it was not long before the moon set as well. Then he
said, Unless my Lord guide me, I surely shall become one of
the folk who are astray. (Koran vi.78) Abraham then saw the
beauty and splendor of the sunrise and decided that the sun
must be the biggest and most powerful thing in the universe.
But for the third time he was wrong, for the sun set at the end
of the day. It was then that he realized that Allah is the Most
Powerful, the Creator of the stars, the moon, the sun, the
earth and of all living things. Suddenly he felt himself totally at
peace, because he knew that he had found the Truth.