98 JUDAISM AND ISLAM.
idols, and put the stick into the Lands of the largest idol. When his father returned, he said, f Who has done this ?' On which Abraham replied, c Why should I deny it ? ' A woman came with a dish of wheat and bade me set it in front of them. I had scarcely done so when each wanted to eat before the other, and the greatest beat them all down with -the stick which he had in his hand. Terah said : ' What art thou inventing for me ? Have they then understanding ? ' Abraham replied. 'Do thine ears not hear what thy mouth says ? ; Then Terah took him and gave him over to Nimrod, who said : ' We will worship fire.' Abraham said: 'Bather water, which extinguishes fire.' Nimrod replied : e Water then.' 'Bather the cloud which carries water.' ' The cloud then.' ' Bather the wind which scatters the cloud.' 'The wind then.' 'Bather men, who endure the wind.' Nimrod at this became angry and said: 'Thou art only making a speech. I worship fire and will throw thee into it. The God whom thou dost worship may come and save thee out of it.' Abraham was then thrown into a glowing furnace, but was saved from it." The intercession for his father is not men- tioned in Jewish writings; and that this was fruitless, yea that Abraham, arriving at a clearer understanding, desisted from his attempt, 1 seems to directly contradict the Jewish view as expressed in the following passage. 2 " By the words, thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, it was shown to Abraham that his father was a partaker in eter- nal life." Further, a Babbinical saying 3 declares as a general rule that " the son makes the father clean, but not the father the son." But Muhammad very often combats
Stira IX. 115. 2 Midrash Rabba on Genesis, para. 38.
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See Genesis, xv. 15. NSH 3 Sanhedrin 104.
