آزر
Āzar
Person
The name the Quran gives to Abraham’s father (6:74), and the Bible’s Terah.
What it means
“When Abraham said to his father Azar: ‘Do you take idols as gods?’” (6:74). Genesis gives the father’s name as Terah. Ibn Ishaq gave it as Tarikh, and the commentators offer several explanations: that Azar was a second name, a title or the name of an idol, or that he was Abraham’s uncle.
Often misunderstood as
That the Quran contradicts Genesis.
What the sources say
Arabic uses ab, “father”, for an uncle as well, as the Quran does when Jacob’s sons say “your fathers Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac” (2:133), and Ishmael was Jacob’s uncle. The Quran also says that Abraham’s prayer for his father was ended when it became clear that he was an enemy of God (9:114).