Scrolls of Abraham

The Scrolls of Abraham (, Ṣuḥuf ʾIbrāhīm) are a part of the religious scriptures of Islam. These scriptures are believed to have contained the revelations of Abraham received from the God of Abrahamic religions, which were written down by him as well as his scribes and followers. Background In two surah (chapters), which are dated from the first Meccan period, there is a reference to the 'Leaves, Scrolls, Journals' (Ṣuḥuf) of Abraham (and the Scrolls of Moses), by which presumably certain divinely inspired texts handwritten by the patriarchs are meant. These passages say 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 The Quran refers to certain Scrolls of Abraham, which have alternatively been translated as the Books of Abraham. Muslim scholars have generally agreed that no scrolls of Abraham survive today, and therefore this is a reference to a lost body of scripture. However, Jordanian scholar and professor of philosophy Ghazi bin Muhammad mentions that the message of the "Scrolls of Abraham" are self-described in the Qur'an. They include: (1) belief in One God; (2) belief in the Afterlife (and hence in judgement); (3) prayer and remembrance of God; and (4) purification of the soul from the ego and evil (and hence virtue). The Scrolls of Abraham are understood by Muslims to refer to certain revelations Abraham received, which he would have then transmitted to writing. The 87th chapter of the Quran, surah Al-Ala, concludes saying the subject matter of the surah has been in the earlier scriptures of Abraham and Moses. It is slightly indicative of what were in the previous scriptures, according to Islam: