Abstract
The paper traces the migration of Muhammad’s community out of its tribally oriented milieu into the textual world of the biblical tradition. By negotiating with the pagan social order and value systems, the Qur’anic community had already, during the prophet’s Meccan ministry, succeeded in superseding the prevailing tribal order with a new spiritual loyalty towards God. Biblical figures served as role models, most importantly Abraham, who rejected his pagan clan. After establishing themselves in Medina the members of the community found themselves vis-à-vis a new, Biblical concept of clan: the children of Abraham, who claim the privilege of benefiting from the “merits of their fathers”. In a new process of negotiation a new image of Abraham was coined, portraying him as an exclusively spiritual role model, isolated from his genealogical offspring and integrated into a community of prophets, who by then had replaced the community’s physical forefathers and been acknowledged as the true forbears of the believers.