First of the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) of the people of Israel and father of faith in the one God. He is revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Born in Ur of the Chaldees (Mesopotamia) to a family of idol worshippers, he eventually settled in Canaan in response to God's call.
Tradition makes Abraham a paragon of various desirable traits: kindness or grace, absolute trust in God (notwithstanding challenges he put to God), love of fellow human beings, hospitality, pursuit of justice, and humility. Tradition also names him as the one who instituted (morning) prayer. God sealed two covenants with Abraham: one, of nationhood, including the promise of Canaan for his descendants; the other, of faith, expressed in the circumcision rite.
Abraham is the patron of proselytes to Judaism, as both he and his wife, Sarah, were themselves proselytes who brought others into the Jewish fold; hence, newly converted Gentiles are often named “the son of Abraham” or “the daughter of Sarah.”
