The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims

237 Pages·2006·0.9 MB·English

by  Joan Chittister

THE TENT OF
—
ABRAHAM
Also by Joan Chittister, OSB
Called to Question: a spiritual memoir
Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope
The Friendship of Women
The Hidden Tradition of the Bible
Also by Neil Douglas-Klotz (Saadi Shakur Chishti)
The Genesis Meditations
A Shared Practice of Peace for Christians, Jews, and Muslims
The Sufi Book of Life
99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish
Blessings of the Cosmos
Benedictions from the Aramaic Words of Jesus
Also by Arthur Waskow
Godwrestling—Round 2
Seasons of Our Joy
Down-to-Earth Judaism
THE TENT OF
—
ABRAHAM
Stories of Hope and Peace for
Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Joan Chittister, OSB
Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Foreword by Karen Armstrong
Beacon Press, Boston
Beacon Press
25 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02108-2892
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2006 by Benetvision, Neil Douglas-Klotz, Arthur Waskow
Foreword © 2006 by Karen Armstrong
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
09 08 07 06 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the uncoated paper
ANSI/NISO specifications for permanence as revised in 1992.
Text design by Bob Kosturko
Composition by Wilsted & Taylor Publishing Services
Chittister, Joan.
The tent of Abraham : stories of hope and peace for Jews, Christians,
and Muslims / Joan Chittister, Saadi Shakur Chishti (Neil Douglas-Klotz),
Arthur Waskow ; foreword by Karen Armstrong.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8070-7728-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Abraham (Biblical
patriarch) 2. Christianity. 3. Judaism. 4. Islam. I. Douglas-Klotz, Neil.
II. Waskow, Arthur Ocean III. Title.
BS580.A3C45 2006
222'.11092—dc22 2006001274
To Dena Merriam,
in gratitude for her global vision and her
persistent commitment to the spirituality of peacemaking,
and to the
Reverend Joan Brown Campbell,
in recognition of her unending determination
to raise the public voice of women everywhere.
—JC
For Murshid Shamcher Beorse and Haji Shemseddin Ahmed,
who worked tirelessly for the common good
of all the children of Adam and Eve.
—SSC
To honor Vincent Harding, sage,
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, rabbi of deep ecumenism,
and
Father David Gracie, priest and prophet.
—AW

CONTENTS
FOREWORD
Abraham: Meeting Guests, Meeting God
Karen Armstrong
ix
INTRODUCTION
Hearing the Voices of the One Who Hearkens
xiii
TWO TELLINGS OF ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY
1
ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY IN THE BIBLE
AND THE JEWISH MIDRASH
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
3
THE STORY IN ISLAM
Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti
18
PART I
JEWISH INTERPRETATIONS
OF ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
29
PART II
CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATIONS
OF ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY
Joan Chittister, OSB
79
PART III
MUSLIM INTERPRETATIONS
OF ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY
Murshid Saadi Shakur Chishti
125
EPILOGUE
From Hearing to Doing
175
RESOURCES FOR PRACTICAL USE
IN ABRAHAMIC PEACEMAKING
179
Introduction to the Resources
181
How to Pitch Your Own Tent
183
The Journey Told Anew
191
The Tent of Abraham, Hagar, and Sarah
197
The Sacred Season of Abrahamic Sacred Seasons
201
Why Hagar Left
207
FOREWORD
Abraham: Meeting Guests, Meeting God
Karen Armstrong
T
he story of Abraham,explored here by the authors
from the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish perspectives, is
a story of pluralism that is sorely needed in this time of re-
ligious hatred. In the Christian tradition, Abraham is often
called the father of those who believe, but he has none of
the hard certainties of dogmatic faith. Instead, the Bible re-
peatedly shows Abraham in the dark, asking questions of
God and getting remarkably unsatisfactory answers. At a
time when we have seen too much certainty, The Tent of
Abraham reminds us that the kind of confusion, fear, and
dismay that so many of us are experiencing can be the start
of a new religious quest.
Yet Abraham did have one luminous encounter. Gene-
sis 18 tells us that one day while he was sitting outside his
tent at Mamre in the broiling heat of a Middle Eastern af-
ternoon, he saw three strangers on the horizon. Strangers
in the ancient world were potentially lethal people, because
they were not bound by the local laws of vendetta and could
strike with impunity. Even today, very few of us would in-
vite three total strangers off the street and into our own
ix