Abraham

Abraham was born in Mesopotamia to a man named Terah, a shepherd with a side job of making statues and idols of the Gods that the local Mesopotamians worshipped.

Unfortunately, Abraham was not a fan of this. He heard the voice of God telling him how disrespectful it was to have people worshipping these many-faced idols when there was only ONE true God! After his experiences with the people around him, and upon hearing the voice of God telling him to migrate to another place which would in time become a great nation, Abraham left with his family, herds and flocks. He travelled across the Euphrates and west to a place called Canaan, where they did in fact prosper.

He then heard the voice again. This time it said to do something completely different. It told him to take his son Isaac to the top of a mountain nearby and offer him as a sacrifice to God. So far Abraham had only done such a thing with animals, but he did not question the voice of God and took Isaac along with him up to the mountaintop. Arranged some stones and laid some firewood on top of it and tied his trembling son to the firewood. He pulled out his knife and just as he was about to slay his son, the voice of God thundered again.

The voice told Abraham to not slay Isaac. He told him it was a test to prove his loyalty to God, to see if it is indeed stronger than his earthly affections. And since Abraham had proven this, he would spare his son. And the father and son duo went back home that night after offering a ram they came upon to God as a sacrifice.

This story is interpreted in the religious texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as an illustration of the requirement of complete surrender to God’s will above all earthly ties.