In the footsteps of Abraham [at Urfa in Turkey]

In the footsteps of Abraham by Yoginder Sikand from the Deccan Herald, Oct. 30, 2005

The little shrine of Abraham, below the castle supposed to have been built by the tyrannical king Nimrod in Turkey, consists of a cave where the prophet is said to have been born, writes Yoginder Sikand.

As the road wound its way towards Turkey’s Anatolian heartland, the spires and minarets of Anatkya faded into the distance. Vast stretches of sandy sea-shore, colonised now by rows upon rows of swanky high-rise apartments and show rooms, huddled along the road. Gradually, we moved into dry and mountainous and largely uninhabited countryside, pockmarked by an occasional impoverished village or the crumbling ruins of some medieval castle.

Six hours later, we stopped at Gaziantep, little town, for a bite. After a lunch of Turkish pizza-flat, thin bread topped with fresh goat’s cheese and tomatoes, we headed further east. Our destination was the Biblical city of Urfa, place of birth of the Patriarch Abraham. Abraham, or Ibrahim as Muslims know him, is a central figure in the Bible and the Quran, and as such is deeply revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews alike.


Because of its association with Abraham, Urfa, or Ur as the Bible calls it, is one of the greatest centres of pilgrimages in all of Turkey. We got to Urfa late at night, when all the hotels had closed, and so we had to take a room in a grubby little inn. The next morning we awoke as the call to prayer from the mosque attached to Abraham’s shrine drifted into the room.

Abraham's shrine is situated at the foot of a massive promontory ringed on all sides by steep walls of a castle said to date back to Babylonian and Chaldean times, almost 3500 years ago. Legend has it that the castle was built by the tyrannical king Nimrod, who figures prominently in the story told about Abraham. Nothing of the castle remains today, however, except for its walls and pillars and some underground passageways. The little shrine of Abraham, below the castle, consists of a cave where the prophet is said to have been born, inside which is an underground stream which flows out of the shrine into a large, tree-laced pool outside. According to local lore, Nimrod, angered by Abraham’s vehement denunciations of polytheism and idolatry, threw him into a fire, but the fire miraculously turned into the water which, till this day, continues to feed the pool. Numerous old seminaries and mosques, some over a thousand years old, stand on either side of the pool. Closeby, is the shrine of another Biblical figure, Job, who is highly regarded by Muslims as well, as the prophet Ayub.

Unlike most other Turkish towns, Urfa has still managed to retain its traditional flavour. Narrow cobbled lanes wind through its old quarters with their Ottoman-style mosques and mansions, all converging in the grand bazaar, which dates back to medieval times.

Each section has its own mosque and the bigger sections have a 'hani' or a caravanserai that was, in earlier times, used by itinerant traders as inns to stay in. Today, they are used as restaurants.

On my second day in Urfa, I chanced upon a Sufi master who had come to Urfa to perform a pilgrimage to the prophet Abraham's shrine along with his disciples. Rosy-cheeked, pleasantly plump and ever-smiling Haji Baba Noor Muhammad was the sort of man whom one would think had never harmed a fly in his life.

He invited me to join him and his students at a function that was being organised at the shrine the next morning. Soon after the early morning prayers gave over, three dozen disciples sat together in a large circle and the Haji began a soft, melodious chant from the Quran, his followers then repeating after him.

The recitation of the ninety-nine names of God then followed, and the function, which stretched into over three hours, finally gave over with a cup of water from Abraham's spring being passed round from which all of us took a sip.

Later that day, Haji Baba announced, he and his disciples would be travelling to the village of Harran to visit some of his followers. I joined them, and we set off for Harran, a little Arab village not far from the Syrian frontier.

The bus, which was heading for the border, dropped us off at a little settlement, and, scrambling out, we were greeted by a large crowd of villagers who had come to greet Haji Baba and his entourage. They had a herd of donkeys in waiting to take us all to Harran, some ten miles away. I covered the distance to Harran on foot, instead.

Like Urfa, Harran, too, is associated with the story of Abraham. According to the Bible, when Abraham left Urfa, he first came to Harran and stayed here for several years with his family. Harran was once a flourishing town, today it’s an entirely Arab village and its poverty-stricken inhabitants live in houses that are almost unchanged since Biblical times.

That night Haji Baba’s host invited us all for a ceremony at his house. Sufi litanies and prayers carried on till the wee hours of the morning, and finally we settled down to a simple dinner of fresh bread, cheese, dates, milk. The call to prayer was sounded, and that over, I made my way back through the cotton fields to the highway, hitching a ride to the Syrian border, my next destination.