Scrolls of Abraham (Islam)

The Scrolls of Abraham (Arabic: صحف إبراهيم, Suhuf Ibrahim) are part of the religious scriptures of Islam. These scriptures are understood by Muslims to have contained the revelations which Abraham received, which were then written down by Abraham (Ibrahim) himself, as well as his scribes and followers. They are generally believed by Muslims to have perished over the course of time and are now considered a lost body of scripture.

Background

In two Chapters, which are dated from the first Meccan period, there is a reference to the 'Leaves, Scrolls, Journals' (Suhuf) of Abraham (and Moses), by which presumably certain divinely inspired texts handwritten by the patriarchs are meant. These passages refer to the fact that the truth of God's message is present in the earliest revelations, of Abraham and Moses. Although Suhuf is generally understood to mean 'Scrolls', many translators - including Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Marmaduke Pickthall - have translated the verse as "The Books of Abraham and Moses".

Qur'anic mention

Abraham, being a righteous prophet of God, received many revelations over his lifetime - the contents of which could be contained in these Scrolls of Abraham.

As God says in the Qur'an, in two sections:

• And this is in the Books of the earliest (Revelation).
  The Books of Abraham and Moses.

• Or, has he not been informed of what is in the scriptures of Moses?
  And (of) Abraham who fulfilled (the commandments):

Identification

The contents of this revelation are not known from the Qur'an. The Qur'an also does not speak explicitly of their possible extinction or corruption as it does in the case of the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel). It is speculated that this may be a reference to Sefer Yetzirah as Jewish Tradition generally ascribes authorship of that book to Abraham.

See also

• Zabur
• Islamic holy books