Abrahamism
| This page is a work in progress by its author(s) and should not be considered final. |
| Abrahamism | |
| |
| Type | Monotheistic |
| Founded | approx. 1340 CE |
| Jubliakist Split | approx. 1800 |
| Supreme deity | God |
| Holy texts | Book of Faith |
| Followers | approx. 500 million people |
| Practiced in | Hamanian Empire, Great Morstaybishlia |
| Head | None |
The Abrahamist religion is founded upon the Book of Faith, a compilation of principles shared by Christianity, Judaism and Islam, that was published under the auspices of King Bamu approximately four to five hundred years ago. It is a monotheistic religion. It proliferated quickly due to the simplicity of its message, the ease with which it could be adapted to the cultures of ts adherents, the imperialism of the people of Hama, and the proselytism of its missionaries. The largest community of adherents is in Great Morstaybishlia where the branch Jubliakism is dominant.
Contents
Etymology
The term Abrahamism developed a couple centuries ago to distinguish the religious movement that arose in Hama and was guided by the Book of Faith. It is a name that was applied to the set of values observed by the people of this Religion. Because it is essentially a synthesis of the core traits of the three Abrahamic religions at the time, it was named Abrahamism.
Abrahamism is derived from the name of Abraham. He is considered by Christianity, Islam and Judaism to be the first post-Noahic figure to have believed in a monotheistic God. He is said to have gained God’s favour by his devotion to God. It is said that God made a covenant with him, “the Abrahamic covenant”, to restore all humans to a full communion with God.
Abrahamism’s fundamental creed is faith in God even though the Book of Faith is ambiguous about what faith in God comprises. For this reason, many languages have their own name for Abrahamism. Such words as “surrender”, “faith” and “submission to God” are used as names by believers. In the Arabic language, this creates difficulties in distinguishing Abrahamism from Islam. An adherent is called a “believer” or “one who surrenders”. They are collectively referred to as “the family of God”, “the saints”, “the beloved” or “the brethren”.
Symbol
The symbol of the Abrahamic religion is the Ram's Head. This is because when Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son, Isak, the Creator sent a ram instead to die in his place. The ram is a symbol of the Creator's mercy and human devotion and worship. This symbol became associated with the Abrahamic religion when the Doharian Order was founded. The Doharian Order uses the Ram's head to symbolise their devotion to the Creator in the Abrahamic tradition. As the Doharian Order grew in size, power and acclaim, their symbol became the symbol of all believers.
Scripture
The Book of Faith is the scripture of the religion. It forms the foundation of the religion and is relied upon to guide the people. Unlike most religious books, it does not explicitly claim to be the authoritative scripture.
It is a compilation of writings by important scholars of matters that were intrinsic to and similar among the three Abrahamic religions at the time: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It was written in the fifteenth century under the auspices of King Bamu. He attempted to arrive at those things which form the foundation of human faith by looking at common traits of the three Abrahamic religions.
God
Abrahamism is a monotheistic religion. God is one. He is a single entity. He has no equal. Abrahamism does not explicitly repudiate nor support the possibility of God existing in hypostases (such as the Trinitarian doctrine of Christianity). The religion does, however, repudiate polytheism whereby other deities exist and are worthy of worship. Only God is worthy of human devotion; worship of humans, deities or gods is idolatry.
God is said to the have created the universe. Unlike other Abrahamic religions, Abrahamism does not attempt to understand how or when, but it is concerned with why. The Book of Faith accounts that God made the universe to reflect his glory. Nothing exists in the universe that God did not make.
God’s glory refers to his intrinsic qualities. This is the radiance of his splendor, the weight of his importance, the atmosphere of his presence and the nature of his goodness. In this sense God is all-powerful, all-present and all-knowing. He is immutable (he does not change) and inerrant (he makes no mistake). For the most part God is seen as incomprehensible, but the Abrahamist religion acknowledges that he has revealed the most important parts of himself to human beings.
God is a personal God. He loves humans and wants to develop a personal relationship with them. He wants humans to know, enjoy and reveal him to others. He listens to and answers human prayers. He helps humans in distress. He does not test humans beyond their ability to handle problems. He is referred to as a “tower of strength”, the “husband of widows”, the father of orphans”, the “sovereign of the universe”, the “master of time”, the “rest for the weary”, the “home of the homeless” and the “food of the hungry” among others. All of existence depends upon him, but he needs nothing from it. He is self sustaining and self sufficient,trustworthy and reliable.
There are no intermediaries between man and God; there are neither human (clergy) or spiritual (saints) intermediaries between God and man.
Angelology
God is said to have made only two sentient beings: angels and humans. The term humans refers to all the sentient creatures made of flesh and blood and live on Urth. The term angels refers to all the sentient creatures made of light. There are two types of angels: dark and light.
The angels refered to in this article are the angels of light. They are messengers of God. He uses them to carry out his will in the Universe and deliver instruction to his creatures. Unlike other Abrahamic religions, there is no physical description of angels.
It is said that Shatanu was once an angel of light who became prideful and rebelled against God. He was defeated, and was removed of all his light along with his other angels. He attempts to lead humans to rebel against God as well.
Universe
The Universe is all that exists. God is immanent and transcendent. He is bigger than the universe. He is not confined in space or by time. He is also fully present in it.
Abrahamism divides universe into three pieces: physical and spiritual. Urth is the metonym for the physical universe. It is the space inhabited by humans, over which he has given them “dominion”. He calls upon humans to multiply, to subdue and to rule the physical universe.
The spiritual part of the universe is divided into two parts: heaven and hell. Heaven is the non physical state of being of all that is good. It is referred to as “paradise”, a place of light and wonders incomparable. It is not a physical place. But is a state of being and a spiritual realm. Hell is the state of being of being totally polar to God. It is referred as place of fire, and darkness.
Eschatology
It is said that at the end of time, God will judge everything in the universe. That which has rebelled against him will be cast into an eternal state without God. This is a place bereft of the comfort, love and hope that comes with enjoying fellowship with God and being in his presence. This is place of pain, despair, desolation and horror. His judgement at this time is irreversible.
Those who believe in God will not be cast from him and thrown into hell. They will enjoy his presence and fellowship forever more. God will, however, weigh the deeds of each person to reward them in heaven. Those whom God commends will be rewarded with affirmation, celebration and promotion. He will say, “Good job, well done”. He will celebrate you. He will promote you with more responsibilities in heaven.
Abrahamism does not cover what happens to the humans when they die. The Book of Faith simply deals with what will happen to humans at the time of judgement. All humans dead or alive will be judged. It says absolutely nothing about what happens to souls when a human dies.
Being
A human is a spirit that lives in a body of flesh and blood that possesses a soul. A body is referred to as “dust”. It will perish. It will become sick, old and weak. It is just a vessel in which the spirit dwells while on Urth. The soul, however, is the eternal and spiritual aspect of a person. It lives forever. It will be forced to endure the horrors of hell and will be be rewarded with the wonders of heaven based on what the spirit did on Urth when the body was still alive.
Life
Life is seen as three things: a test, a trust and a temporary assignment.
God reveals and develops character through tests. He tests humans in every single aspect of their existence; no matter how small or large, he observes, records and weighs all human actions. He tests our love, discipline, obedience, patience, hope and resilience. God does not test humans beyond the strength they have to endure their challenges. He always wants humans to pass the tests and so provides them help and a way out.
God gives humans the Urth as a trust. God owns everything, but he has appointed humans to take care of the Urth. This can include building families, establishing nations, protecting nature, building industries and working. Everything that humans have: possessions, families, jobs and education is given to them to take care of.
Life is a temporary assignment. All humans are said to be given five purposes. Life is seen as transient, temporal and finite. The afterlife is an infinite and eternal time that this life is meant to help humans prepare for. In life humans must: worship God, fellowship with fellow believers, develop spiritual maturity, minister within the the body of believers and bring others to God. These five purposes form the basis of the assignment every human has.
Prayer
Abrahamism prescribed only one ritual: prayer. Humans must pray to communicate God. While God already knows the desires of the human heart, humans must speak to God and listen to him through prayer. Humans are encouraged to pray as often as possible. Prayer does not follow a format, but it is encouraged that it follws the following pattern: praise (extolling God's goodness and greatness), repentance (asking for forgiveness for sins and asking for help to overcome sin), asking (requesting anything from God) and yielding (believing that God will answer your prayer and yielding all your desires to him).
Prayers usually begin with an affirmation of faith eg. “God I believe in you, and because of your love and mercy, you will hear and answer me”. They usually end with “may it be so”. It is not compulsory to face any particular direction when praying. Many Abrahamists usually face Irusalemu (Jerusalem), but this is a cultural rather than a religious practice.
Charity
Zakatu or charity is obligatory. Those who are not abjectly poor must give a portion of their accumulated wealth to the poor. Those who fail to do this are seen as lacking a sincere love for God. It is written: "He who does not love those who are made in the likeness of God, do not love God". If one acquires wealth by corrupt means must give all of it to charity or face damnation. Abrahamists provide the second highest donor aid in the world after Muslims.
Fellowship
Being part of a community of Believers is encouraged. It is part of God’s five purposes. The entire community of Believers is called God’s family. Being part of God’s family is a necessary exercise of faith.
Abrahamists are encouraged to meet regularly. There is no set day for this as long as believers commit to meeting once a week. Due to the cultural dynamics of Hamanite working conditions, most believers meet on a Saturday. They usually meet in a “house of worship”. Houses of worship are structures dedicated to meeting. There are no specifications for the dimensions of a house of worship and they are all built according to the style of the people.
When the first houses of worship were built, the Hamanian government was in control of them. To prevent politicisation of religion, the government built and owned all the houses of worship in Hama. It prescribed that they were merely places to worship and learn the word. It appointed an overseer to (1) manage the running of the house of worship and (2) prepare a program for the weekly meeting. This practice is followed in other countries where Abrahamism is practiced. If Abrahamism is not an established religion, then the Hamanian government will be responsible for that house of worship or the community will be in charge of it.
The weekly meeting usually consists of prayer and recitation of the Book of Faith. Some have singing as well. Instruments are not common. There is no set language by which the meetings are conducted. Each community is free to do so in its own language. The overseer or representative thereof presides over the meetings and administers the program. Services are fairly short and the bulk of meetings comprise of prayer. The Book of Prayer is a book to help guide the congregation in prayer. It is quite popular, but it is not a statutory part of the meeting. Sermons are not permitted at all. Confession of sin is a big part of faith. It is helpful to confess ones sins to an elder (spiritually mature person) in the church and seek the guidance of a counsellor.
Giving to the family of God is very important. It is important for believers to give in the ways that they can. This can be offering money or working in the house of worship in some form. Offering is a personal choice and private exercise. Offering cheerfully and willingly is important and is the only offering acceptable to God. A lack of offering indicates the lack of a relationship with God. Believers sometimes meet on other days to discuss and share.
There is no superstructure over the religion. In Hama the Hamanian Abrahamist Association is a free and voluntary association of communities. They work together and help each other. In the HAA, communities are grouped into according to the subdivisions of Hama. The mature congregants elected representatives to upper structures that simply facilitate cooperation and coordinate between communities.
Religious education
There are various offices in the family of God. There are teachers. Any believer can be a teacher if they have been present and active for a specified amount of time and attended weekly lessons for a certain time. There are weekly lessons provided by teachers available to all believers and non believers wishing to convert. Then there are counsellors. These are teachers with a great deal of experience. They can be trusted and their opinions are significant. This role is generally a person who acquires a great deal of recognition and trust beyond their community.
The highest echelon is comprised of the scholars. These are people who have been educated in the religion at a tertiary-level school of faith. Many universities provide degree level qualifications. Scholars with Baccalaureate Degree equivalent qualifications are called junior scholars, those with Master's degree equivalent qualifications are called Master Scholars. Those with Doctoral (or Scholar) level qualifications are called Eminent Scholars.
Eminent scholars, and sometimes, master scholars, have the right issue fatawu. A fatawu is a non binding opinion on a question of faith. The scholar relies on the following sources (in order of supremacy): the Book of Faith, widely agreed-upon scholastic research, and their own sense. If a matter does not rely on the Book of Faith at all, it is not considered a valid fatawu. Fatawus can be appealed for assessment by another scholar of the same or higher rank. The Fiku Council of each jurisdiction is comprised of eminent scholars who issue fatawu from time to time to help guide the broader community of the faithful. The International Fiku Council is the highest and most respected of these bodies.
Rituals
Fasting is encouraged, but not compulsory. Fasting is the process by which one refrains from a particular thing or activity for a specified time. It is not prescribed in scripture, but is encouraged. Fasting is used to refocus believers to God. It prepares one for good and bad things to come.
Pilgrimage is encouraged but is not compulsory. It is the process of journeying to places of importance. Abrahamism itself does not look at specific places as holy or sacred. Irusalemu is a favourite place for Abrahamists to visit. It is the destination of many of the beliefs of the Abrahamic religions and many martyrs died here.
There are no prescribed holidays. In fact holidays are not even discussed as part of the faith. As far as Abrahamism is concerned, there is no such this is as a religious holiday. Birthdays are seen as good days to reflect on the past year and look forward to the future ahead. They are encouraged to feature prayer and meditation on the scriptures, but this is far from mandatory. Special events are marked by some sects such as the deaths and births of martyrs, but this not a formality.
Arts and Science
The Abrahamist religion promotes and encourages critical and analytical assessment of the universe and communication of ideas. It promotes scientific research. King Maduallahu of Hama published an article on 21 January 2018, speaking of scientific research and innovation as an intrinsic element of human work as part of the "Mandate of God" to subdue and rule over the physical universe.
Abrahamist art is not a cohesive movement. It includes a variety of media such as sculpture, tapestry, painting and architecture. In general, especially in Hama, Abrahamist art is very similar to Islamic art: it rejects the portrayal of figures such as animals and humans in buildings dedicated to Abrahamism. Abrahamism expressly forbids any attempt to depict the appearance of God and angels and considers this tantamount to idolatry. Most art features images of plants, quotes from scripture and geometric patterns called arabesque.
