Medieval Christian translators rendered the Qur’an’s claim about Abraham as ‘Ismaelite’ rather than ‘Muslim’

Evidence

O ye who received the Book, why do ye dispute about Abraham, when the Decalogue and the Gospels were not given until after him? Do ye not understand? Do ye not dispute about what ye know — why then do ye dispute about what ye are ignorant of? And God knows, and ye do not know. Abraham was not a Jew, nor was he a Christian, but he was a Muslim and not an idolator. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 156

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates the core Qur’anic claim that Abraham was a Muslim before Judaism or Christianity existed — a root of Islam’s self-understanding as the original monotheism.