Abrahamic religion

The Abrahamic religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, so-called because they are all descendants of the religious tradition of Abraham, the biblical patriarch. The term "desert monotheism" offers an alternative descriptive categorisation. The standard Islamic name for the three monotheistic religions is people of the book.

According to the Bible, the patriarch Abraham had two sons: one (Ishmael) by his wife's servant Hagar, and one (Isaac) by his wife Sarah. According to this account, Jews are descended from Isaac's son Jacob, also called Israel. Biblical Judaism is based on the covenant between God and the "children of Israel" (descendants of Israel's twelve sons) at Sinai.

Christianity recognizes Jesus as its messiah, as the son of God, and as being partof the Godhead himself. Islam recognizes Jesus and the Jewish prophets (such as Moses) as being divinely inspired (though not divinely born), and in crucial distinction recognizes Mohammed (the religion's founder) as a prophet.

Although the Baha'i Faith is not traditionally included among the Abrahamic faiths, it recognizes the same prophets, plus Bahá'u'llá'h. Rastafarianism similarly recognizes Biblical authority and believes itself to be a descendant of the religion of Abraham. Most Bibilical prophets are recognized, along with Emperor Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey.

There are other religions that recognize, to a greater or lesser degree, the prophets of the Bible, including the Mormon faith, the various Voodoo faiths (a syncretic blend of Christianity and African pagan religions), and Unitarian-Universalism.

See also: Monotheism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam , Judeo-Christian tradition, Christo-Islamic tradition , Religions of the world, vedic religions