Abraham and Moses lived in the Indus Valley?

My hypothesis is that the Five Prophets namely Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham and Moses lived in the Indus Valley. Moses let the exodus from Indus Valley to Yisrael. If this hypothesis is true then we have to show that Abraham…. known as Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition, lived in the Indus Valley.

Moses let the exodus from Indus Valley to Yisrael. If this hypothesis is true then we have to show that Abraham, known as Ibrahim in the Islamic tradition, lived in the Indus Valley. On the other hand, the Islamic tradition holds that Ibrahim lived at Ur near Nasiriya in Iraq and left Hazara and Ishmael near Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The location of the two places is given in Picture 1. In order to assess this possibility we have to review the four times that Ibrahim travelled to the place where he left Hazara and Ishmael.

First time, Ibrahim left Hazara and infant Ishmael in a barren valley where there was no water. Hazara ran between the Safa and Marwah mountains looking for water for her thirsty son at this time.

Second time Ibrahim went to visit Ishmael. He did not find Ishmael at his home because Ishmael had gone out for some work. Ibrahim did not wait for Ishmael to return until the evening. He told Ishmael’s wife to tell her husband that he should change the stand-post of his house, and returned. His wife told Ishmael of Ibrahim’s visit during his absence and gave him Ibrahim’s message. Ishmael understood the message as an order from Ibrahim to change his wife and that is what he did.

Third time Ibrahim again went to visit Ishmael. Once again, he did not find Ishmael at his home because Ishmael had gone out for some work. Ibrahim again did not wait for Ishmael to return in the evening. He told Ishmael’s wife to tell her husband that he should retain the stand-post of his house, and returned. His wife told Ishmael of Ibrahim’s visit and gave him Ibrahim’s message. Ishmael understood the message this as an order from Ibrahim to retain his wife and that is what he did.

Fourth time, the Quran says that Ibrahim and Ishmael together made a House of Prayer.

According to the convention, Ibrahim travelled about 1700 kilometers from Ur to Mecca four times as described above. The question is this: having travelled 1700 kilometers on foot, horse or chariot, why would Ibrahim not wait till the evening and meet Ishmael? Therefore the tradition of Ibrahim having settled Hazara and Ishmael at Mecca does not match with geographical descriptions.

The archaeological description are also not favourable. Arabia was not inhabited till 10th century Before Common Era (BCE), whereas Ibrahim lived in the 21st century BCE. No evidence for human habitation is available in the 21st century BCE at Mecca. This casts doubt on Ibrahim having left Hazara here.

The evidence from similarity of names is certainly in favour of Mecca. There are mountains names Safa and Marwah here. The living tradition also holds that Ibrahim at settled Hazara and Ishmael at Mecca.

Overall, the geographical and archaeological evidence stands against Ibrahim having settled Hajara and Ishmael at Mecca; whereas the similarity of names and living tradition suggest that they lived here. Our assessment is that similarity of names and living traditions “flow the air.” People often make new living traditions so as to glorify their places. For example the Garden of Eden is claimed to exist at seven different places lying as far as Africa, Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. We feel that it is more important to rely on geographical and archaeological evidences in trying to locate the narratives given in the text. On this basis we suggest that Ibrahim did not leave Hazara and Ishmael at Mecca.

We would like to mention that Quran, which is a Word of God, does not say that the Ibrahim left Hazara and Ishmael at Mecca. There is an Ayat in the Quran which tells about Safa and Marwah Mountains but that Ayat does not give any connection with Hazara or Ishmael. Therefore, insofar as the Quran is concerned, the Safa and Marwah Mountains could be located in the Indus Valley. These names could be given to the two mountains near Mecca at a later period when Mecca began to be inhabited.

The tradition that Ibrahim settled Hazara and Ishmael at Mecca is drawn from the Hadith, which are sayings of Prophet Mohammed, and are distinct from the Quran, which is the Word of God revealed through the Prophet. Thus, our suggestion is consistent with the Quran though not with the Hadiths.

Now the question is: Why do we suggest that Ibrahim settled Hazara and Ishmael in the Indus Valley? Answer is that we find remarkable match of the narrative of Hazara finding water in the barren land and India. The texts say that Hazara ran six times between the Safa and Marwah Mountains hoping to find some water. On the seventh run an angel showed her a source of water by digging earth. This means that the source of water was hidden in the sand.

A particular well named beri is made in the Thar of India. This is a small well which is made in the bed of seasonal pond after the water in the pond has dried up at shown in Picture 2.

The mouth of the beri is covered by stone before the onset of the monsoons as shown in Picture 3.

The well remains submerged in the water during the monsoons. The beri is covered by sediments during the monsoons and it is not visible from the surface after the monsoons. A person with prior knowledge alone can remove overlaid sediments, remove the stone and take out water from the beri as shown in Picture 4.

The angel may have known of such a beri, removed sediment on top of it, removed the stone, and Hazara may have taken out water from it. The beri matches with the descriptions given in the Islamic texts hence we suggest that Ibrahim left Hazara and Ishmael somewhere in the Thar Desert near a beri; and not near Mecca.

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