ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A question about Muḥammad and Abraham asked by Christopher Henderson, then age fourteen, was the hook that tugged me into the story of Abraham. Shahin Borhanian and Professor Richard Thomas were the first to suggest that it was time to write a book. My good friend Jan Ray cheered the project on with unfailing enthusiasm. The patient attention and probing questions of a group of students who signed up for my course on Abraham in the fall of 2008 through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Furman University influenced the organization of the chapters, though they might not have realized it at the time. Dr. Michael Gauderer was kind enough to translate an article from “Der Spiegel.”

An angelic host of collaborators from several different religions provided invaluable assistance by reading various incarnations of the manuscript and courageously providing sharp and very helpful feedback. They include Carol Ann Heymann, Samir Jaber, Dr. Fred Leffert, Tariq Rashid, Liz Rose, Shaun Stone, Al Tompkins, and Shahin Vafai, plus fellow members of the Women’s Interfaith Book Club: Dorcus Abercrombie, Bonita Bost, JoAnn Borovicka, Carolyn Dicer, Rev. Dr. Michelle McClendon, Rev. Julie Schaff, Mareon Stall, and Louise Tajuddin. Christopher Martin, working from his lair deep in the heart of Texas, introduced me to the paperless process of computer-assisted editing and patiently polished the chapters one by one.