Etymolgy of the name Ibrahim
According to Quran, Ibrahim was known by this
name since he was very young:
Qālū Sami`nā Fatáan
Yadhkuruhum Yuqālu Lahu
'Ibrāhīmu
[They said, "We heard a
young man (fata, in Arabic) mention them
who is called
Abraham."] Surah Al-Anbya [21:60]
It seems that his people called him Ibrahim
(since his youth). The reason they called him by that name
(Ibrahim), must be related to his conduct (to what he was doing).
And what that (young man) was doing, is known to us (from the
Quran):
(1) Ibrahim said to his people:
I am BA-RAA
of what you worship
Wa 'Idh Qāla 'Ibrāhīmu Li'abīhi
Wa Qawmihi 'Innanī Barā'un Mimmā
Ta`budūna
And when Abraham said unto his father and his
folk: Lo! I am
innocent (BA-RAA) of what ye worship (26) Az-Zukhruf
And when Ibrahim said to his father and his
people: Surely I am
clear
(BA-RAA) of what you worship
(2) Ibrahim and his followers
said to their people: We are BU-RA-AA
from you and from what you worship
Qad Kānat Lakum 'Uswatun
Ĥasanatun Fī 'Ibrāhīma Wa Al-Ladhīna Ma`ahu 'Idh Qālū Liqawmihim
'Innā Bura'ā'u Minkum Wa Mimmā
Ta`budūna Min Dūni Allāhi
There is a goodly pattern for you in Abraham and those with him,
when they told their folk: Lo! we are
guiltless
of you and all
that ye worship beside Allah. (4) Al-Mumtahina
(3) Ibrahim
TA-BAR-RA-AA from his father
Wa Mā Kāna Astighfāru 'Ibrāhīma
Li'abīhi 'Illā `An Maw`idatin Wa`adahā 'Īyāhu Falammā Tabayyana Lahu
'Annahu `Adūwun Lillāhi Tabarra'a
Minhu
The prayer of Abraham for the forgiveness of his father was only
because of a promise he had promised him, but when it had become
clear unto him that he (his father) was an enemy to Allah he
(Abraham)
disowned (Tabarra'a )
him. (114) At-Tawba
TA-BAR-RA-AA is
a verb, if we say: father TA-BAR-RA-AA
from son = father is no longer linked
or related to son.
(4) Ibrahim said: I am
BA-REE from shirk
Qāla Yā Qawmi 'Innī
Barī'un Mimmā Tushrikūna
O my people! Lo! I am free from all
that ye associate (with Him). (78) Al-An'am
Now we need to notice these above mentioned
Arabic words included in the Qur’anic verses about Ibrahim [BA-RAA],
[BU-RA-AA],
[TA-BAR-RA-AA], and [BA-REE]. All these
words are from Arabic root [BA- RA -AA] or simply [BRA], and it has
to do with meanings like [out from, exclude, not included, innocent,
clear from, clean of, pure from, not part of, …].
If you say in Arabic [I am
baree from this or I am
baraa from it], then it is like you
are saying [I am out of this, I am innocent of this, I have nothing
to do with it, I am pure of it, I am not part of it, …].
Now I think we know why his people called him
by the name IBRAHIM (I-BRAH-im).
Because the deeds or attitude of Ibrahim towards the religion of his
people (worshipping the idols) was negative
or hostile. Ibrahim position or view toward the idols is like
(I have nothing to do with you- I am not part of your thing- I am
out of this, I am rejecting the idols, I am refusing the gods, …).
Quranic verses were pointing and hinting to the
etymology or origin of his name Ibrahim through using these words:
(1) [BA-RAA],
[BA-REE] same meaning=innocent (singular)
(2) [BU-RA-AA]
innocents (plural)
(3) [TA-BAR-RA-AA],
verb (to forsake, abandon, to be not part of).
So, Ibrahim (since he was a young man) was
saying to his people: I am out of
your idol worshipping. Or in his own ancient tongue (which is like
Arabic, but old Arabic) he was saying something similar to this: I
am BARAA or I am
BAREE from your idols.
Therefore, his people called him by a name
which just means that (I.e. the man who is
not part of the gods worshipping) or the man who is (BARAA/BAREE)
of the gods. Or as they really called him by their ancient tongue:
IBRAHIM.
So, the name Ibrahim means (BARAA)
or (BAREE) from the idol worshipping.
But we need to explain the name more.
The name Ibrahim is very ancient name, its
language is ancient North Hijazi (very old Arabic) and it is very
much like Hebrew or Canaanite (Phoenician, Ugaritic, ...) or some
tongue in-between of Hebrew and very old Arabic.
***
We can divide the name Ibrahim into 4 parts: I+
brah + i+ m.
(1)
The first part (I)
or (y) is put in the beginning of the
past verb (brh) like this (i+brh) or
like (y+brh) so that we get present
tense verb (ybrh). Fore example: (drs) in Arabic is like studied,
but (ydrs) is like (is studying).
This ancient verb (ybrh)
ends with (h). But it is now in
Arabic pronounced (ybra), which
ends with (a). So, if you
pronounce Ibrahim with verb ybra,
it will be like Ibra-a-im. But the
name is Ibra-h-im (because it
contains verb: ybr-h not ybr-a).
Ancient tongue prefers the (h) more than (a). For example, ancient
tongue (h-sfr=the book), but Arabic (a-sfr).
(2)
Another little difference between ancient verb
(ybrh) and Arabic (ybra): An Arab will pronounce (ybrh) as ybrh. But
the ancient verb (ybrh) is pronounced like ybrah.
I will exaggerate the pronunciation to make the point very clear… in
ancient tongue ybrh is pronounced like ybraaaaah
That’s why the pronunciation of name Ibrahim is
like Ibraaaaaaahim (I am exaggerating
to show the point). Because it contains verb ybraaaah
not the assumed Arabic pronunciation ybrh (real Arabic is ybra).
So, until now, we explained the (Ibraaaah-im)
or (ybraaaah-im) of the name
Ibrah-im (Ibrahim).
I hope we remember that (ybrah) means (to be
innocent of/be out of/to clear oneself from/...). Because Ibrahim is
(ybrah) from the false gods.
(3)
This letter (i)
in (im) at the end of name Ibrah-im, we shall postpone now and explain it with part 4.
(4)
The last letter (m)
in the name (Ibrahi-m). This last
letter (m) means them (I.e. the false
gods or the idols). So, for sake of simplicity, let’s make the name
Ibrahim like (ybrah-m), this means that Ibrahim [is excluding himself
(=ybrah)] from the false gods (=m).
It’s
like the name Ibrahim means: He is excluding
himself from them/ He is
purifying himself from
them/ He is
cleaning himself from them/ He
is cleansing himself from
them/ He is making himself
innocent from
them/ He is disconnecting
himself from them/ He is
clearing himself from them/ He
is separating himself
from them/..
This is
the simple meaning of the name Ibrahim : (clearing)
himself from (them).
Explaining letter (i)
in Ibrah-i-m
The last thing is letter (i) in (Ibrah-i-m)
name. This (i) is called tsere in Hebrew, it is vowel sound (e),
(ee), (ei) sign represented by two dots " ֵ " underneath a letter. That sound
(e, I, ei) appears in words like El or
אֵל (notice
the two dots under
אֵ) or Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל (notice letter
אֵ). That
sound (e, I, ei) is similar to what is in these English
words: sell, tell, well, kill, ten, red, eight, they, bed.
Examples
These are Hebrew words (reading Hebrew text
from right), notice that the last letter in the Hebrew word is
ם or (m), and it means
(them). This letter
ם is the last letter
in Ibrahi-m. Also notice the letter
before the last (the letter before
ם), you will see
two dots
under it. This is equivalent to the (i)
in the name Ibrah-i-m.
(1)
Joshua 22:6/ to bless them/ (y-ḇā-rə-ḵêm)
or (ybark-i-m)/
יְבָרְכֵם
/ notice the two dots (tsree) under the letter
כֵ
(2)
2 Kings 23:4/ to burn them/ (yiś-rə-p̄êm)
or (ysrf-i-m)/
יִּשְׂרְפֵם
(3)
Leviticus 8:13/ to dress them/ (yal-bi-šêm)
or (ylbsh-i-m)/
יַּלְבִּשֵֽׁם
(4)
Psalm 28:5/ to destroy them/(ye-her-sêm) or (yhrs-i-m)/ יֶהֶרְסֵם
(5)
Psalm 28:5/ to build them/ (yiḇ-nêm)
or (ybn-i-m)/ יִבְנֵֽם / two dots
under
(6)
Exodus 6:1/to drive them out / (yə-ḡā-rə-šêm)
or (ygrsh-i-m)/
יְגָרְשֵׁם / two dots under
Hamed AlAwlaqi