The Book of Abraham and the Islamic Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ (Tales of the Prophets) Extant Literature

Abstract

Cook is a Mormon religious scholar. His article attempts to compare and contrast the Mormon Book of Abraham with the Muslim genre of Qisas al-Anbiya. In doing so, Cook gives a broad outline of the genre and highlights some of its most important features. He specifically discuss the importance of the works Mubtada’ al-Dunya wa Qisas al-Anbiya by ibn Bishr, Tarikh al-Rusul wa’ al-Maluk by Al-Tabari and ‘Ara’is al-Majalis: Qisas al-Anbiya by Al-Tha’labi. Throughout the article Cook describes the depictions of Abraham in these various works, and studies their similarity to those put forth in The Book of Abraham. It should be noted that the article is written from a theological rather than a historical perspective.