The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions, most notably Judaism, Christianity and Islam, centered around the worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned in the religious scriptures of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the Quran.

Jewish tradition claims that the Twelve Tribes of Israel are descended from Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, whose sons formed the nation of the Israelites in Canaan; Islamic tradition claims that twelve Arab tribes known as the Ishmaelites are descended from Abraham through his son Ishmael in the Arabian Peninsula.

In its early stages, the Israelite religion was derived from the Canaanite religions of the Bronze Age; by the Iron Age, it had become distinct from other Canaanite religions as it shed polytheism for monolatry. The monolatrist nature of Yahwism was further developed in the period following the Babylonian captivity, eventually emerging as a firm religious movement of monotheism. In the 1st century AD, Christianity emerged out of Judaism in the Land of Israel, developed under the Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth; it spread widely after it was adopted by the Roman Empire as a state religion in the 4th century AD. In the 7th century AD, Islam was founded by Muhammad in the Arabian Peninsula; it spread widely through the early Muslim conquests, shortly after his death.

Alongside the Indian religions, the Iranian religions, and the East Asian religions, the Abrahamic religions make up the largest major division in comparative religion. By total number of adherents, Christianity and Islam comprise the largest and second-largest religious movements in the world, respectively. Abrahamic religions with fewer adherents include Judaism, the Bahá'í Faith, Druzism, Samaritanism, and Rastafari.

Etymology
The Catholic scholar of Islam Louis Massignon stated that the phrase "Abrahamic religion" means that all these religions come from one spiritual source. The modern term comes from the plural form of a Quranic reference to dīn Ibrāhīm, 'religion of Ibrahim', Arabic form of Abraham's name.

God's promise at Genesis 15:4–8 regarding Abraham's heirs became paradigmatic for Jews, who speak of him as "our father Abraham" (Avraham Avinu). With the emergence of Christianity, Paul the Apostle, in Romans 4:11–12, likewise referred to him as "father of all" those who have faith, circumcised or uncircumcised. Islam likewise conceived itself as the religion of Abraham. All the major Abrahamic religions claim a direct lineage to Abraham:
 Abraham is recorded in the Torah as the ancestor of the Israelites through his son Isaac, born to Sarah through a promise made in Genesis.
 Christians affirm the ancestral origin of the Jews in Abraham. Christianity also claims that Jesus was descended from Abraham.
 Muhammad, as an Arab, is believed by Muslims to be descended from Abraham's son Ishmael, through Hagar. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, while the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites.
 The Bahá'í Faith states in its scripture that Bahá'ullah descended from Abraham through his wife Keturah's sons.

Debates regarding the term
The appropriateness of grouping Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by the terms "Abrahamic religions" or "Abrahamic traditions" has, at times, been challenged. The common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity, and the resurrection of Jesus, for example, are not accepted by Judaism or Islam (see for example Islamic view of Jesus' death). There are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity (such as abstinence from pork), and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Bahá'í Faith not shared by Judaism (such as the prophetic and Messianic position of Jesus, respectively).

Adam Dodds argues that the term "Abrahamic faiths", while helpful, can be misleading, as it conveys an unspecified historical and theological commonality that is problematic on closer examination. While there is a commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. Alan L. Berger, professor of Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University, wrote that although "Judaism birthed both Christianity and Islam", the three faiths "understand the role of Abraham" in different ways. Aaron W. Hughes, meanwhile, describes the term as "imprecise" and "largely a theological neologism".

An alternative designation for the "Abrahamic religions", "desert monotheism", may also have unsatisfactory connotations.

Religions

Judaism

One of Judaism's primary texts is the Tanakh, an account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (). Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. One of his great-grandsons was Judah, from whom the religion ultimately gets its name. The Israelites were initially a number of tribes who lived in the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah.

After being conquered and exiled, some members of the Kingdom of Judah eventually returned to Israel. They later formed an independent state under the Hasmonean dynasty in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, before becoming a client kingdom of the Roman Empire, which also conquered the state and dispersed its inhabitants. From the 2nd to the 6th centuries, Rabbinical Jews (believed to be descended from the historical Pharisees) wrote the Talmud, a lengthy work of legal rulings and Biblical exegesis which, along with the Tanakh, is a key text of Rabbinical Judaism. Karaite Jews (believed to be descended from the Sadducees) and the Beta Israel reject the Talmud and the idea of an Oral Torah, following the Tanakh only.

Christianity

Christianity began in the 1st century as a sect within Judaism initially led by Jesus. His followers viewed him as the Messiah, as in the Confession of Peter; after his crucifixion and death they came to view him as God incarnate, who was resurrected and will return at the end of time to judge the living and the dead and create an eternal Kingdom of God. Within a few decades the new movement split from Judaism. Christian teaching is based on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

After several periods of alternating persecution and relative peace vis-à-vis the Roman authorities under different administrations, Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire in 380, but has been split into various churches from its beginning. An attempt was made by the Byzantine Empire to unify Christendom, but this formally failed with the East–West Schism of 1054. In the 16th century, the birth and growth of Protestantism during the Reformation further split Christianity into many denominations. The largest post-Reformation branching is the Latter Day Saint movement.

Islam

Islam is based on the teachings of the Quran. Although it considers Muhammad to be the Seal of the prophets, Islam teaches that every prophet preached Islam, as the word Islam literally means submission, the main concept preached by all Abrahamic prophets. Although the Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God, other Islamic books considered to be revealed by God before the Quran, mentioned by name in the Quran are the Tawrat (Torah) revealed to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel, the Zabur (Psalms) revealed to Dawud (David) and the Injil (the Gospel) revealed to Isa (Jesus). The Quran also mentions God having revealed the Scrolls of Abraham and the Scrolls of Moses.

The teachings of the Quran are believed by Muslims to be the direct and final revelation and words of God. Islam, like Christianity, is a universal religion (i.e. membership is open to anyone). Like Judaism, it has a strictly unitary conception of God, called tawhid, or "strict" monotheism.

Other Abrahamic religions
Historically, the Abrahamic religions have been considered to be Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Some of this is due to the age and larger size of these three. The other, similar religions were seen as either too new to judge as being truly in the same class, or too small to be of significance to the category.

However, some of the restrictions of Abrahamic to these three is due only to tradition in historical classification. Therefore, restricting the category to these three religions has come under criticism. The religions listed below here claim Abrahamic classification, either by the religions themselves, or by scholars who study them.

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith, which developed from Shi'a Islam during the late 19th century, is a world religion that has been listed as Abrahamic by scholarly sources in various fields. Monotheistic, it recognizes Abraham as one of a number of Manifestations of God including Adam, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna, Gautama Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and ultimately Bahá'u'lláh. God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through these intermediaries, in a process known as progressive revelation.

Druzism

The Druze faith or Druzism is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of high Islamic figures like Hamza ibn-'Ali ibn-Ahmad and Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, and Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.

The Epistles of Wisdom is the foundational text of the Druze faith. The Druze faith incorporates elements of Islam's Ismailism, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism, Christianity, Hinduism and other philosophies and beliefs, creating a distinct and secretive theology known to interpret esoterically religious scriptures, and to highlight the role of the mind and truthfulness. The Druze follow theophany, and believe in reincarnation or the transmigration of the soul. At the end of the cycle of rebirth, which is achieved through successive reincarnations, the soul is united with the Cosmic Mind (Al Aaqal Al Kulli). In the Druze faith, Jesus is considered one of God's important prophets.

Rastafari

The heterogeneous Rastafari movement, sometimes termed Rastafarianism, which originated in Jamaica is classified by some scholars as an international socio-religious movement, and by others as a separate Abrahamic religion. Classified as both a new religious movement and social movement, it developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It lacks any centralised authority and there is much heterogeneity among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.

Rastafari refer to their beliefs, which are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible, as "Rastalogy". Central is a monotheistic belief in a single God—referred to as Jah—who partially resides within each individual. The former Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, is given central importance; many Rastas regard him as the returned Messiah, the incarnation of Jah on Earth, and as the Second Coming of Christ. Others regard him as a human prophet who fully recognised the inner divinity within every individual. Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses its attention on the African diaspora, which it believes is oppressed within Western society, or "Babylon". Many Rastas call for the resettlement of the African diaspora
in either Ethiopia or Africa more widely, referring to this continent as the Promised Land of "Zion". Other interpretations shift focus on to the adoption of an Afrocentric attitude while living outside of Africa. Rastas refer to their practices as "livity". Communal meetings are known as "groundations", and are typified by music, chanting, discussions, and the smoking of cannabis, the latter being regarded as a sacrament with beneficial properties. Rastas place emphasis on what they regard as living 'naturally', adhering to ital dietary requirements, allowing their hair to form into dreadlocks, and following patriarchal gender roles.

Samaritanism

The Samaritans adhere to the Samaritan Torah, which they believe is the original, unchanged Torah, as opposed to the Torah used by Jews. In addition to the Samaritan Torah, Samaritans also revere their version of the Book of Joshua and recognize some later Biblical figures such as Eli.

Samaritanism is internally described as the religion that began with Moses, unchanged over the millennia that have since passed. Samaritans believe Judaism and the Jewish Torah have been corrupted by time and no longer serve the duties God mandated on Mount Sinai. While Jews view the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the most sacred location in their faith, Samaritans regard Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, as the holiest spot on Earth.

Other Samaritan religious works include the Memar Markah, the Samaritan liturgy, and Samaritan law codes and biblical commentaries; scholars have various theories concerning the actual relationships between these three texts. The Samaritan Pentateuch first became known to the Western world in 1631, proving the first example of the Samaritan alphabet and sparking an intense theological debate regarding its relative age versus the Masoretic Text.

Mandaeism

Mandaeism (Classical Mandaic:  ; Arabic: المندائيّة ), sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnostic, monotheistic and ethnic religion. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, and especially John the Baptist. Mandaeans consider Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem and John the Baptist prophets, with Adam being the founder of the religion and John being the greatest and final prophet.

The Mandaeans speak an Eastern Aramaic language known as Mandaic. The name 'Mandaean' comes from the Aramaic manda, meaning knowledge. Within the Middle East, but outside their community, the Mandaeans are more commonly known as the   (singular: ), or as Sabians (, ). The term  is derived from an Aramaic root related to baptism. The term Sabians derives from the mysterious religious group mentioned three times in the Quran. The name of this unidentified group, which is implied in the Quran to belong to the 'People of the Book' (), was historically claimed by the Mandaeans as well as by several other religious groups in order to gain legal protection () as offered by Islamic law. Occasionally, Mandaeans are also called "Christians of Saint John".

Origins and history

The civilizations that developed in Mesopotamia influenced some religious texts, particularly the Hebrew Bible and the Book of Genesis. Abraham is said to have originated in Mesopotamia.

Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob, a grandson of Abraham. It has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a small number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform.

Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs and practices. Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. (See God in Christianity.) The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the ultimate authority, alongside sacred tradition in some denominations (such as the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church). Over many centuries, Christianity divided into three main branches (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant), dozens of significant denominations, and hundreds of smaller ones.

Islam arose in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE with a strictly unitary view of God. Muslims hold the Quran to be the ultimate authority, as revealed and elucidated through the teachings and practices of a central, but not divine, prophet, Muhammad. The Islamic faith considers all prophets and messengers from Adam through the final messenger (Muhammad) to carry the same Islamic monotheistic principles. Soon after its founding, Islam split into two main branches (Sunni and Shia Islam), each of which now has a number of denominations.

The Bahá'í Faith began within the context of Shia Islam in 19th-century Persia, after a merchant named Siyyid 'Alí Muḥammad Shírází claimed divine revelation and took on the title of the Báb, or "the Gate". The Báb's ministry proclaimed the imminent advent of "He whom God shall make manifest", who Bahá'ís accept as Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'ís revere the Torah, Gospels and the Quran, and the writings of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and Abdu'l-Bahá are considered the central texts of the faith. A vast majority of adherents are unified under a single denomination.

Common aspects
All Abrahamic religions accept the tradition that God revealed himself to the patriarch Abraham. All of them are monotheistic, and all of them conceive God to be a transcendent creator and the source of moral law. Their religious texts feature many of the same figures, histories, and places, although they often present them with different roles, perspectives, and meanings. Believers who agree on these similarities and the common Abrahamic origin tend to also be more positive towards other Abrahamic groups.

In the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), the individual, God, and the universe are highly separate from each other. The Abrahamic religions believe in a judging, paternal, fully external god to which the individual and nature are both subordinate. One seeks salvation or transcendence not by contemplating the natural world or via philosophical speculation, but by seeking to please God (such as obedience with God's wishes or his law) and see divine revelation as outside of self, nature, and custom.

Monotheism

All Abrahamic religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, although one who is known by different names. Each of these religions preaches that God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, punishes, and forgives. However, although Christianity does not profess to believe in three gods—but rather in three persons, or hypostases, united in one essence—the Trinitarian doctrine, a fundamental of faith for the vast majority of Christian denominations, conflicts with Jewish and Muslim concepts of monotheism. Since the conception of a divine Trinity is not amenable to tawhid, the Islamic doctrine of monotheism, Islam regards Christianity as variously polytheistic.

Christianity and Islam both revere Jesus (Arabic: Isa or Yasu among Muslims and Arab Christians respectively) but with vastly differing conceptions:
 Christians view Jesus as the saviour and regard him as God incarnate.
 Muslims see Isa as a Prophet of Islam and Messiah.

However, the worship of Jesus, or the ascribing of partners to God (known as shirk in Islam and as shituf in Judaism), is typically viewed as the heresy of idolatry by Islam and Judaism.

Theological continuity

All the Abrahamic religions affirm one eternal God who created the universe, who rules history, who sends prophetic and angelic messengers and who reveals the divine will through inspired revelation. They also affirm that obedience to this creator deity is to be lived out historically and that one day God will unilaterally intervene in human history at the Last Judgment. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have a teleological view on history, unlike the static or cyclic view on it found in other cultures (the latter being common in Indian religions).

Scriptures

All Abrahamic religions believe that God guides humanity through revelation to prophets, and each religion believes that God revealed teachings to prophets, including those prophets whose lives are documented in its own scripture.

Ethical orientation

An ethical orientation: all these religions speak of a choice between good and evil, which is associated with obedience or disobedience to a single God and to Divine Law.

Eschatological world view
An eschatological world view of history and destiny, beginning with the creation of the world and the concept that God works through history, and ending with a resurrection of the dead and final judgment and world to come.

Importance of Jerusalem

Jerusalem is considered Judaism's holiest city. Its origins can be dated to 1004 BCE, when according to Biblical tradition David established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and his son Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah. Since the Hebrew Bible relates that Isaac's sacrifice took place there, Mount Moriah's importance for Jews predates even these prominent events. Jews thrice daily pray in its direction, including in their prayers pleas for the restoration and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple (the Third Temple) on mount Moriah, close the Passover service with the wistful statement "Next year in built Jerusalem," and recall the city in the blessing at the end of each meal. Jerusalem has served as the only capital for the five Jewish states that have existed in Israel since 1400 BCE (the United Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah, Yehud Medinata, the Hasmonean Kingdom, and modern Israel). It has been majority Jewish since about 1852 and continues through today.

Jerusalem was an early center of Christianity. There has been a continuous Christian presence there since. William R. Kenan, Jr., professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, writes that from the middle of the 4th century to the Islamic conquest in the middle of the 7th century, the Roman province of Palestine was a Christian nation with Jerusalem its principal city. According to the New Testament, Jerusalem was the city Jesus was brought to as a child to be presented at the temple and for the feast of the Passover. He preached and healed in Jerusalem, unceremoniously drove the money changers in disarray from the temple there, held the Last Supper in an "upper room" (traditionally the Cenacle) there the night before he was crucified on the cross and was arrested in Gethsemane. The six parts to Jesus' trial—three stages in a religious court and three stages before a Roman court—were all held in Jerusalem. His crucifixion at Golgotha, his burial nearby (traditionally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), and his resurrection and ascension and prophecy to return all are said to have occurred or will occur there.

Jerusalem became holy to Muslims, third after Mecca and Medina. The Al-Aqsa, which translates to "farthest mosque" in sura Al-Isra in the Quran and its surroundings are addressed in the Quran as "the holy land". Muslim tradition as recorded in the ahadith identifies al-Aqsa with a mosque in Jerusalem. The first Muslims did not pray toward Kaaba, but toward Jerusalem. The qibla was switched to Kaaba later on to fulfill the order of Allah of praying in the direction of Kaaba (Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:144–150). Another reason for its significance is its connection with the Miʿrāj, where, according to traditional Muslim, Muhammad ascended through the Seven heavens on a winged mule named Buraq, guided by the Archangel Gabriel, beginning from the Foundation Stone on the Temple Mount, in modern times under the Dome of the Rock.

Significance of Abraham

Even though members of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not all claim Abraham as an ancestor, some members of these religions have tried to claim him as exclusively theirs.

For Jews, Abraham is the founding patriarch of the children of Israel. God promised Abraham: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you." With Abraham, God entered into "an everlasting covenant throughout the ages to be God to you and to your offspring to come". It is this covenant that makes Abraham and his descendants children of the covenant. Similarly, converts, who join the covenant, are all identified as sons and daughters of Abraham.

Abraham is primarily a revered ancestor or patriarch (referred to as Avraham Avinu (אברהם אבינו in Hebrew) "Abraham our father") to whom God made several promises: chiefly, that he would have numberless descendants, who would receive the land of Canaan (the "Promised Land"). According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post-Flood prophet to reject idolatry through rational analysis, although Shem and Eber carried on the tradition from Noah.

Christians view Abraham as an important exemplar of faith, and a spiritual, as well as physical, ancestor of Jesus. For Christians, Abraham is a spiritual forebear as well as/rather than a direct ancestor depending on the individual's interpretation of Paul the Apostle, with the Abrahamic covenant "reinterpreted so as to be defined by faith in Christ rather than biological descent" or both by faith as well as a direct ancestor; in any case, the emphasis is placed on faith being the only requirement for the Abrahamic Covenant to apply (see also New Covenant and supersessionism). In Christian belief, Abraham is a role model of faith, and his obedience to God by offering Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of God's offering of his son Jesus.

Christian commentators have a tendency to interpret God's promises to Abraham as applying to Christianity subsequent to, and sometimes rather than (as in supersessionism), being applied to Judaism, whose adherents rejected Jesus. They argue this on the basis that just as Abraham as a Gentile (before he was circumcised) "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness"  (cf. Rom. 4:3, James 2:23), "those who have faith are children of Abraham"  (see also John 8:39). This is most fully developed in Paul's theology where all who believe in God are spiritual descendants of Abraham. However, with regards to Rom. 4:20 and Gal. 4:9, in both cases he refers to these spiritual descendants as the "sons of God" rather than "children of Abraham".

For Muslims, Abraham is a prophet, the "messenger of God" who stands in the line from Adam to Muhammad, to whom God gave revelations,, who "raised the foundations of the House" (i.e., the Kaaba) with his first son, Isma'il, a symbol of which is every mosque. Ibrahim (Abraham) is the first in a genealogy for Muhammad. Islam considers Abraham to be "one of the first Muslims" (Surah 3)—the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost, and the community of those faithful to God, thus being referred to as ابونا ابراهيم or "Our Father Abraham", as well as Ibrahim al-Hanif or "Abraham the Monotheist". Also, the same as Judaism, Islam believes that Abraham rejected idolatry through logical reasoning. Abraham is also recalled in certain details of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Differences

God

The Abrahamic God is the conception of God that remains a common feature of all Abrahamic religions. The Abrahamic God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence, and omnipresence. Proponents of Abrahamic faiths believe that God is also transcendent, but at the same time personal and involved, listening to prayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures. God in Abrahamic religions is always referred to as masculine only.

Jewish theology is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable and that it is only God's revealed aspect that brought the universe into existence, and interacts with mankind and the world. In Judaism, the one God of Israel is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is the guide of the world, delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the 613 Mitzvot at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah.

The national god of the Israelites has a proper name, written Y-H-W-H () in the Hebrew Bible. The etymology of the name is unknown. An explanation of the name is given to Moses when YHWH calls himself "I Am that I Am", ( 'ehye 'ăšer 'ehye), seemingly connecting it to the verb hayah (הָיָה), meaning 'to be', but this is likely not a genuine etymology. Jewish tradition accords many names to God, including Elohim, Shaddai, and Sabaoth.

In Christian theology, God is the eternal being who created and preserves the world. Christians believe God to be both transcendent and immanent (involved in the world). Early Christian views of God were expressed in the Pauline Epistles and the early creeds, which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus.

Around the year 200, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus and came close to the later definitive form produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381. Trinitarians, who form the large majority of Christians, hold it as a core tenet of their faith. Nontrinitarian denominations define the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways.

The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things." In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted. As time passed, theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer, stating that the Father is in Heaven), others based on theological reasoning.

In Islamic theology, God ( ) is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence. Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular () unique () and inherently One (), all-merciful and omnipotent. According to Islamic teachings, God exists without place and according to the Quran, "No vision can grasp him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things." God, as referenced in the Quran, is the only God. Islamic tradition also describes the 99 names of God. These 99 names describe attributes of God, including Most Merciful, The Just, The Peace and Blessing, and the Guardian.

Islamic belief in God is distinct from Christianity in that God has no progeny. This belief is summed up in chapter 112 of the Quran titled Al-Ikhlas, which states "Say, he is Allah (who is) one, Allah is the Eternal, the Absolute. He does not beget nor was he begotten. Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

Scriptures

All these religions rely on a body of scriptures, some of which are considered to be the word of God—hence sacred and unquestionable—and some the work of religious men, revered mainly by tradition and to the extent that they are considered to have been divinely inspired, if not dictated, by the divine being.

The sacred scriptures of Judaism are the Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym standing for Torah (Law or Teachings), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). These are complemented by and supplemented with various (originally oral) traditions: Midrash, the Mishnah, the Talmud and collected rabbinical writings. The Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible) was composed between 1,400 BCE, and 400 BCE by Jewish prophets, kings, and priests.

The Hebrew text of the Tanakh, and the Torah in particular is considered holy, down to the last letter: transcribing is done with painstaking care. An error in a single letter, ornamentation or symbol of the 300,000+ stylized letters that make up the Hebrew Torah text renders a Torah scroll unfit for use; hence the skills of a Torah scribe are specialist skills, and a scroll takes considerable time to write and check.

The sacred scriptures of most Christian groups are the Old Testament and the New Testament. Latin Bibles originally contained 73 books; however, 7 books, collectively called the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon depending on one's opinion of them, were removed by Martin Luther due to a lack of original Hebrew sources, and now vary on their inclusion between denominations. Greek Bibles contain additional materials.

The New Testament comprises four accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus (the Four Gospels), as well as several other writings (the epistles) and the Book of Revelation. They are usually considered to be divinely inspired, and together comprise the Christian Bible.

The vast majority of Christian faiths (including Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and most forms of Protestantism) recognize that the Gospels were passed on by oral tradition, and were not set to paper until decades after the resurrection of Jesus and that the extant versions are copies of those originals. The version of the Bible considered to be most valid (in the sense of best conveying the true meaning of the word of God) has varied considerably: the Greek Septuagint, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, the English King James Version and the Russian Synodal Bible have been authoritative to different communities at different times.

The sacred scriptures of the Christian Bible are complemented by a large body of writings by individual Christians and councils of Christian leaders (see canon law). Some Christian churches and denominations consider certain additional writings to be binding; other Christian groups consider only the Bible to be binding (sola scriptura).

Islam's holiest book is the Quran, comprising 114 Suras ("chapters of the Qur'an"). However, Muslims also believe in the religious texts of Judaism and Christianity in their original forms, albeit not the current versions. According to the Quran (and mainstream Muslim belief), the verses of the Quran were revealed by God through the Archangel Jibrail to Muhammad on separate occasions. These revelations were written down and also memorized by hundreds of companions of Muhammad. These multiple sources were collected into one official copy. After the death of Muhammad, Quran was copied on several copies and Caliph Uthman provided these copies to different cities of Islamic Empire.

The Quran mentions and reveres several of the Israelite prophets, including Moses and Jesus, among others (see also: Prophets of Islam). The stories of these prophets are very similar to those in the Bible. However, the detailed precepts of the Tanakh and the New Testament are not adopted outright; they are replaced by the new commandments accepted as revealed directly by God (through Gabriel) to Muhammad and codified in the Quran.

Like the Jews with the Torah, Muslims consider the original Arabic text of the Quran as uncorrupted and holy to the last letter, and any translations are considered to be interpretations of the meaning of the Quran, as only the original Arabic text is considered to be the divine scripture.

Like the Rabbinic Oral Law to the Hebrew Bible, the Quran is complemented by the Hadith, a set of books by later authors recording the sayings of the prophet Muhammad. The Hadith interpret and elaborate Qur'anic precepts. Islamic scholars have categorized each Hadith at one of the following levels of authenticity or isnad: genuine (sahih), fair (hasan) or weak (da'if).

Circumcision

Judaism and Samaritanism commands that males be circumcised when they are eight days old, as does the Sunnah in Islam. Despite its common practice in Muslim-majority nations, circumcision is considered to be sunnah (tradition) and not required for a life directed by Allah. Although there is some debate within Islam over whether it is a religious requirement or mere recommendation, circumcision (called khitan) is practiced nearly universally by Muslim males.

Today, many Christian denominations are neutral about ritual male circumcision, not requiring it for religious observance, but neither forbidding it for cultural or other reasons. Western Christianity replaced the custom of male circumcision with the ritual of baptism, a ceremony which varies according to the doctrine of the denomination, but it generally includes immersion, aspersion, or anointment with water. The Early Church (Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem) decided that Gentile Christians are not required to undergo circumcision. The Council of Florence in the 15th century prohibited it. Paragraph #2297 of the Catholic Catechism calls non-medical amputation or mutilation immoral. By the 21st century, the Catholic Church had adopted a neutral position on the practice, as long as it is not practised as an initiation ritual. Catholic scholars make various arguments in support of the idea that this policy is not in contradiction with the previous edicts. The New Testament chapter Acts 15 records that Christianity did not require circumcision. The Catholic Church currently maintains a neutral position on the practice of non-religious circumcision, and in 1442 it banned the practice of religious circumcision in the 11th Council of Florence. Coptic Christians practice circumcision as a rite of passage. The Eritrean Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church calls for circumcision, with near-universal prevalence among Orthodox men in Ethiopia.

Many countries with majorities of Christian adherents in Europe and Latin America have low circumcision rates, while both religious and non-religious circumcision is widely practiced in many predominantly Christian countries and among Christian communities in the Anglosphere countries, Oceania, South Korea, the Philippines, the Middle East and Africa. Countries such as the United States, the Philippines, Australia (albeit primarily in the older generations), Canada, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and many other African Christian countries have high circumcision rates. Circumcision is near universal in the Christian countries of Oceania. In some African and Eastern Christian denominations male circumcision is an integral or established practice, and require that their male members undergo circumcision. Coptic Christianity and Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Eritrean Orthodoxy still observe male circumcision and practice circumcision as a rite of passage. Male circumcision is also widely practiced among Christians from South Korea, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa. (See also aposthia.)

Male circumcision is among the rites of Islam and is part of the fitrah, or the innate disposition and natural character and instinct of the human creation.

Circumcision is widely practiced by the Druze, the procedure is practiced as a cultural tradition, and has no religious significance in the Druze faith. Some Druses do not circumcise their male children, and refuse to observe this "common Muslim practice".

Circumcision is not a religious practice of the Bahá'í Faith, and leaves that decision up to the parents.

Dietary restrictions

Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with permitted food known as kosher in Judaism, and halal in Islam. These two religions prohibit the consumption of pork; Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages of any kind. Halal restrictions can be seen as a modification of the kashrut dietary laws, so many kosher foods are considered halal; especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God. Hence, in many places, Muslims used to consume kosher food. However, some foods not considered kosher are considered halal in Islam.

With rare exceptions, Christians do not consider the Old Testament's strict food laws as relevant for today's church; see also Biblical law in Christianity. Most Protestants have no set food laws, but there are minority exceptions.

The Catholic Church believes in observing abstinence and penance. For example, all Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days. The law of abstinence requires a Catholic from 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the U.S. to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing. Eastern Catholic Churches have their own penitential practices as specified by the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) embraces numerous Old Testament rules and regulations such as tithing, Sabbath observance, and Jewish food laws. Therefore, they do not eat pork, shellfish, or other foods considered unclean under the Old Covenant. The "Fundamental Beliefs" of the SDA state that their members "are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures". among others

In the Christian Bible, the consumption of strangled animals and of blood was forbidden by Apostolic Decree and are still forbidden in the Greek Orthodox Church, according to German theologian Karl Josef von Hefele, who, in his Commentary on Canon II of the Second Ecumenical Council held in the 4th century at Gangra, notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod [the Council of Jerusalem of Acts 15] with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show." He also writes that "as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third, in 731, forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days."

Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from eating blood and from blood transfusions based on .

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prohibits the consumption of alcohol, coffee, and non-herbal tea. While there is not a set of prohibited food, the church encourages members to refrain from eating excessive amounts of red meat.

Sabbath observance

Sabbath in the Bible is a weekly day of rest and time of worship. It is observed differently in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and informs a similar occasion in several other Abrahamic faiths. Though many viewpoints and definitions have arisen over the millennia, most originate in the same textual tradition.

Proselytism
Judaism accepts converts, but has had no explicit missionaries since the end of the Second Temple era. Judaism states that non-Jews can achieve righteousness by following Noahide Laws, a set of moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. It is believed that as much as ten percent of the Roman Empire followed Judaism either as fully ritually obligated Jews or the simpler rituals required of non-Jewish members of that faith.

Moses Maimonides, one of the major Jewish teachers, commented: "Quoting from our sages, the righteous people from other nations have a place in the world to come if they have acquired what they should learn about the Creator." Because the commandments applicable to the Jews are much more detailed and onerous than Noahide laws, Jewish scholars have traditionally maintained that it is better to be a good non-Jew than a bad Jew, thus discouraging conversion. In the U.S., as of 2003 28% of married Jews were married to non-Jews. See also Conversion to Judaism.

Christianity encourages evangelism. Many Christian organizations, especially Protestant churches, send missionaries to non-Christian communities throughout the world. See also Great Commission. Forced conversions to Catholicism have been alleged at various points throughout history. The most prominently cited allegations are the conversions of the pagans after Constantine; of Muslims, Jews and Eastern Orthodox during the Crusades; of Jews and Muslims during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, where they were offered the choice of exile, conversion or death; and of the Aztecs by Hernán Cortés. Forced conversions to Protestantism may have occurred as well, notably during the Reformation, especially in England and Ireland (see recusancy and Popish plot).

Forced conversions are now condemned as sinful by major denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, which officially states that forced conversions pollute the Christian religion and offend human dignity, so that past or present offences are regarded as a scandal (a cause of unbelief). According to Pope Paul VI, "It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that man's response to God in faith must be free: no one, therefore, is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will." The Roman Catholic Church has declared that Catholics should fight anti-Semitism.

Dawah is an important Islamic concept which denotes the preaching of Islam. Da'wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". A Muslim who practices da'wah, either as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is called a dā'ī, plural du'āt. A dā'ī is thus a person who invites people to understand Islam through a dialogical process and may be categorized in some cases as the Islamic equivalent of a missionary, as one who invites people to the faith, to the prayer, or to Islamic life.

Da'wah activities can take many forms. Some pursue Islamic studies specifically to perform Da'wah. Mosques and other Islamic centers sometimes spread Da'wah actively, similar to evangelical churches. Others consider being open to the public and answering questions to be Da'wah. Recalling Muslims to the faith and expanding their knowledge can also be considered Da'wah.

In Islamic theology, the purpose of Da'wah is to invite people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, to understand the commandments of God as expressed in the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, as well as to inform them about Muhammad. Da'wah produces converts to Islam, which in turn grows the size of the Muslim Ummah, or community of Muslims.

Demographics
Christianity is the largest Abrahamic religion with about 2.3 billion adherents, constituting about 31.1% of the world's population. Islam is the second largest Abrahamic religion, as well as the fastest-growing Abrahamic religion in recent decades. It has about 1.9 billion adherents, called Muslims, which constitute about 24.1% of the world's population. The third largest Abrahamic religion is Judaism with about 14.1 million adherents, called Jews. The Bahá'í Faith has over 8 million adherents, making it the fourth largest Abrahamic religion, and the fastest growing religion across the 20th century usually at least twice the rate of population growth. The Druze Faith has between one million and nearly two millions adherents.

See also

 Abraham's family tree
 Abrahamic Family House, a complex in Abu Dhabi built in the spirit of Abrahamic unity
 Abrahamites
 Yahwism
 Ancient Semitic religion
 Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement
 Christianity and Islam
 Christianity and Judaism
 Christianity and other religions
 Gnosticism
 Interfaith dialogue
 Islamic–Jewish relations
 Islam and other religions
 Jewish views on religious pluralism
 Judeo-Christian ethics
 List of burial places of Abrahamic figures
 Mandaeism
 Messianism
 Manichaeism
 Yazidism
 Milah Abraham
 Nigerian Chrislam
 People of the Book
 Sabians
 Table of prophets of Abrahamic religions
 Zoroastrianism

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

 Freedman H. (trans.), and Simon, Maurice (ed.), Genesis Rabbah, Land of Israel, 5th century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis, Volume II, London: The Soncino Press, 1983. .
 Guggenheimer, Heinrich W., Seder Olam: The rabbinic view of Biblical chronology, (trans., & ed.), Jason Aronson, Northvale NJ, 1998

External links

Comparative religion
Monotheistic religions

Abrahamic religions


The 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak was the third notable US tornado outbreak to occur on Palm Sunday and the second to take place in the Southeastern United States. The outbreak produced 29 tornadoes from Texas to North Carolina, killing 40 people and injuring 491, and causing $140 million in damage. The deadliest storm of the outbreak, as well as in the US in 1994, was an F4 tornado that devastated Piedmont, Alabama. It struck the Goshen United Methodist Church right in the middle of the Palm Sunday service, collapsing the roof on the congregation and killing 20 people inside, including the Rev. Kelly Clem's 4-year-old daughter Hannah. Two other houses of worship were also destroyed mid-service. The supercell that formed this tornado tracked for  to South Carolina.

Meteorological synopsis

The SPC started forecasting the outbreak on March 26, highlighting the risk of severe thunderstorms over the area that would eventually be impacted. They issued a "severe" forecast for most of the Southern, and some of the Mid-Atlantic states, forecasting "the potential for supercell storms, along with the possibility of tornadoes."

By the morning of March 27, it was apparent that a very strong and potent airmass had set up over the Gulf states, with the SPC issuing a moderate risk for most of Alabama, the southern half of Mississippi, and most of Louisiana in their morning outlook. The 6 AM CST (1200 UTC) 500 MB analysis showed a strong southwest flow of near 80 knots over the Southern U.S., while at the 850 MB level, there existed winds of near 50 knots coming out of the state of Louisiana. At the surface, temperatures in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia were in the low 70's Fahrenheit, with dewpoints were in the upper 60's to low 70's. CAPE values at Centreville, Alabama were nearing 1,200 j/kg with no cap to speak of. A surface front left by rain during the previous evening was situated over northern parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.

By 9 AM CST (1500 UTC), thunderstorms and severe weather were not only occurring along the boundary setup by the rain from the previous evening in the northern portions of Alabama and Mississippi, but further to the south as well. At 9:18 AM CST (1518 UTC), the SPC issued a tornado watch for Eastern Mississippi and Northern Alabama. The storms then rapidly intensified, with tornado warnings being issued by the Birmingham and Huntsville NWS offices before 11 AM local time. Both the deadly F4 tornado that struck the Goshen United Methodist Church in Cherokee County and the Marshall County F2 twister formed at about this time. The SPC also issued a PDS Tornado Watch for all of Northern Georgia by 12 PM EST (1700 UTC), with the wording stating, "This is a particularly dangerous situation with the possibility of very damaging tornadoes. Also, large hail, dangerous lightning and damaging thunderstorm winds can be expected." Severe storms and tornadoes tracked into the northern Georgia region by 12:42 EST, and tornadoes continued to track across northern Georgia during the afternoon.

During the early-mid afternoon, analysis showed a very unstable airmass over the southern U.S., with CAPE values near 2,500 j/kg and SRH values of near 250 m2/s2 at Jackson, Mississippi. The 1800 UTC Centreville, Alabama sounding showed similar conditions, with CAPE over 2,500 j/kg and SRH values of over 500 m2/s2. This resulted in an EHI value of 8.49, which is strongly supportive of tornadic thunderstorms. Based on these soundings, the SPC issued a High Risk for their 1930 UTC outlook, noting a rapidly destabilized atmosphere and winds being much stronger than what was originally forecasted. Noting the presence of a shortwave trough that was tracking into Mississippi and Louisiana as well as rapidly falling pressures in advance of a frontal boundary, the SPC issued a tornado watch for eastern Louisiana and central Mississippi, however, there were no reported tornadoes in this region on March 27. The SPC, seeing that storms were tracking into the Carolinas, issued a tornado watch for portions of the western and central Carolinas, as well as the portion of northeast Georgia not already included in the prior tornado watch. Tornadoes continued to track along this area from the mid-late afternoon, with an F3 tornado striking parts of northeast Georgia and the upstate of South Carolina, injuring 12, and another tornado along the border region of North Carolina and South Carolina injuring 13.

In Alabama, tornadoes continued in the central part of the state during the mid-late afternoon. An F1 tornado struck parts of Tuscaloosa County just after 4 PM. Funnel clouds were seen in Hueytown as a storm went over Jefferson County at around 4:30 PM local time. An F2 tornado was produced in Shelby County at 5:30 CST, damaging a high school and a residential neighborhood before destroying two mobile home parks.

During the cleanup from the F4 tornado that struck Cherokee County, emergency responders had to take cover as another funnel cloud was spotted just before 6 PM CST. The storms also produced hail up to  in diameter and winds around . The storm system also left behind extensive flooding in Winston and Walker Counties, with $150,000 worth of damage done to roads and bridges in Walker County. The final tornado of the outbreak was reported just before midnight in Greenville County in South Carolina. The National Weather Service offices in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Athens did not stop issuing warnings until late at night on the 27th or early in the morning on the 28th, issuing 75 tornado warnings and 182 severe weather products overall.

Overall, the outbreak of March 27, 1994 was not as synoptically evident as some of the past outbreaks that have occurred, as there was no deep surface low or trough present for forcing in the area where the storms occurred, and many of the ingredients necessary that were the cause of this outbreak were not able to be forecasted until the morning of the event.

Confirmed tornadoes

March 27 event

Ragland - Piedmont - Rock Run, Alabama

The first violent and the deadliest tornado of the outbreak developed  south-southwest of Ragland in St. Clair County, Alabama, at 10:55 a.m. CST. With a  forward speed, the tornado first destroyed buildings east of Ragland before killing a woman on a campground west of Neely Henry Lake. Just prior to entering Calhoun County, the tornado destroyed 18 homes and 20 mobile homes. Upon crossing the north side of Ohatchee the tornado threw a van into a ditch, killing a man inside and injuring three other occupants. After causing the death on U.S. Route 431, it passed through sparsely-populated, wooded land about  west-northwest of Piedmont. As it passed north of Piedmont, the tornado struck the Goshen United Methodist Church in the former community of Goshen, killing 20 people in the church and injuring 92; some sources say 90 were injured. The tornado also destroyed two nearby churches, but killed no one in their congregations. Parishioners in the Goshen United Methodist Church apparently received no warning while attending services and some were crushed to death as the walls and roof collapsed upon them. An inflow jet caused the south wall—which, being  tall and  wide, was built solely of masonry block—to collapse inward, so the timber-and-steel gable roof and other walls followed suit, crushing parishioners inside the sanctuary. After striking the church, the tornado continued on and later dissipated  northeast of Rock Run, near the Alabama–Georgia state line. Overall, the tornado killed 22 people.

Rome–Canton–Jasper, Georgia

The second violent tornado of the outbreak developed in a rural area of Floyd County, Georgia, about  southeast of Rome, at 1:14 p.m. EST. Upon touching down, the  wide tornado uprooted large pines and oaks while causing F0 damage to five or six homes of "mixed brick and wood construction." The tornado then moved northeast as it snapped trees before intensifying to F1 strength about  west of Cartersville. During this, the tornado initially shrunk to  wide, but then widened again to  as it passed through Cassville, with F1 damage primarily to the roofs of 10–15 homes. The tornado blew down 20 large trees and damaged power lines in Cassville.

Thereafter, the tornado increased greatly in size and intensity as it passed between White and Rydal, with the first and only F4 damage occurring in a rural area  northwest of Canton. There, the  wide tornado leveled "five two-story brick and wood homes" to the ground in the Indian Springs subdivision. The tornado also severely damaged eight to 10 other homes and slightly damaged 12–15. Overall, the tornado was most destructive at Indian Springs and soon weakened as it continued northeast through wooded lands; however, its path briefly widened. It killed two people in a trailer along Georgia State Route 140 in Bartow County and snapped  tall pine trees nearby. Though the  wide tornado impacted forested areas, it still caused major damage to 10 mobile homes and six permanent homes, as well as damage to four unspecified vehicles.

Henceforth, the tornado continued to weaken to F2 intensity and contracted to  wide as it passed into Pickens County, severely damaging 10–15 chicken coops along with 20–25 homes of brick and wood construction. It killed one more person in a trailer before lifting from the ground about  east-southeast of Jasper. Ultimately, it caused almost $7 million (1994 USD) in losses to properties and businesses in Bartow County alone, with another $1.5 million in losses in adjourning Pickens County. The tornado killed three people and over 500,000 chickens along its track and leveled "thousands" of trees, with over $10 million in losses to agricultural interests.

Cave Spring/Lindale, Georgia

The sixth and final F3+ tornado to hit Georgia on March 27 touched down  northwest of Cedartown at about 7:00 p.m. EST. Though mainly impacting rural areas at first, it badly damaged four wood homes and blew down many trees with resultant F1 damage. The tornado appeared reddish to eyewitnesses as it passed through rugged terrain. As it crossed near SR 100, the tornado produced major roof damage to a few homes and destroyed a pair of chicken coops. Widening to  wide, the tornado acquired a multiple vortex structure as residents observed two or three funnels rotating around the main vortex. In southern Floyd County, about  east of Cave Spring, the multiple-vortex tornado snapped trees in half and badly damaged five double-wide mobile homes along with three or four frail wood homes.

Afterward, the tornado strengthened to F2 intensity, causing more severe damage to wood homes, but soon contracted in size to  wide and weakened into an F1 tornado. However, as it neared to within  southwest of Lindale, it widened yet again and rapidly strengthened into an F3 tornado as it passed through Leawood Estates. There, it reportedly leveled "fifteen mixed single and two story mixed brick and wood homes of poor construction," along with some homes that were being built. The tornado caused 30 injuries, including one of a man who was thrown  into the street across from his home. Residents reported continuous lightning preceding and during the passage of the tornado and were alerted by their dogs barking. Some residents also reported a smaller tornado south of the primary one.

After hitting Leawood Estates at maximum intensity, the tornado weakened back into an F2 tornado and shrunk to  wide as it passed  south of Rome. There, it badly damaged three poorly built wood homes, destroyed four mobile homes, and uprooted large trees. Farther along, it decreased in size to just  wide but caused significant damage to 15–20 homes of brick and wood construction. As it passed  southeast of Rome, the tornado degenerated into an F0 tornado over wooded farmland while causing major roof damage to a few homes before dissipating. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado destroyed 55–60 homes and did at least some damage to 140–150 others, with total losses reaching $6,750,000.

Effects on National Safety

The deaths at Goshen United Methodist Church brought to light the deficiencies in the NOAA Weather Radio network across the United States and the lack of NOAA Weather Radio use in many public spaces. Budget cuts in the 1970s had forced the National Weather Service to cut back on the expansion of new broadcast stations. Most urban and suburban areas in the country had sufficient coverage, but many rural areas had no coverage at all. After a visit to the Goshen site, then Vice President Al Gore pushed for further funding and expansion of the NOAA Weather Radio system, especially in rural areas. This was accomplished through an expansion of private-public partnerships, primarily by the National Weather Service leasing or using donated tower space from entities such as TV stations, public utilities, and state government agencies. Gore, also, pushed for facilities such as schools, hospitals, churches, and nursing homes to have weather radios on hand.

See also
 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak
 1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak
 2020 Easter tornado outbreak
 Tornado outbreak sequence of March 24–28, 2021

References

Bibliography

 Hamilton, David W., Yuh-Lang Lin, Ronald P. Weglarz, Michael L. Kaplan (1998). "Jetlet Formation from Diabatic Forcing with Applications to the 1994 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak". Monthly Weather Review, 126 (8).
 Kaplan, Michael L., Yuh-Lang Lin, David W. Hamilton, Robert A. Rozumalski (1998). "The Numerical Simulation of an Unbalanced Jetlet and Its Role in the Palm Sunday 1994 Tornado Outbreak in Alabama and Georgia". Monthly Weather Review, 126 (8).
 Koch, Steven E., David Hamilton, Devin Kramer, Adam Langmaid (1998). "Mesoscale Dynamics in the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak". Monthly Weather Review, 126 (8).
 Langmaid, Adam H., Allen J. Riordan (1998). "Surface Mesoscale Processes during the 1994 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak". Monthly Weather Review, 126 (8).

Further information

External links
 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak March 27, 1994 (NWS Birmingham, Alabama)
 NWS Service Assessment
 Map of the 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak The Tornado History Project
 Palm Sunday Killer Tornadoes

F4 tornadoes by date
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Tornadoes in Alabama
Tornadoes in Georgia (U.S. state)
Tornadoes in North Carolina
Tornadoes in South Carolina
Tornado, 03-27
Tornado outbreaks
Tornado, 27
Tornado, 03-27
Tornado, 03-27
Tornado, 03-27
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1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak


Yacarerani (meaning "first Yacare" in Guaraní) is an extinct genus of Late Cretaceous notosuchian crocodylomorph. Fossils have been found in 2002 in the Cajones Formation in Amboró National Park of central Bolivia and are Turonian-Santonian in age. The genus was described in 2009 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The material represents two individuals and was found in association with eggs that are thought to have been part of a nest. Yacarerani was a small crocodylomorph at around  in length. It may have lived in small groups, creating burrows to lay eggs in.

Description and taxonomy
The dentition of Yacarerani, like many other notosuchians, is heterodont, with different tooth morphologies in different parts of the jaws. Two teeth in the lower jaw project forward from the tip, resembling the incisors of a rabbit. Other teeth, situated posteriorly, are cusped and adapted for grinding or chopping food such as tubers or small arthropods. In the lower jaw, the dentary tooth rows merge posterior to the anterior dentary teeth. The same is true for the upper tooth rows, which merge on the palate.

Yacarerani presents similar teeth morphology  to Adamantinasuchus navae, a crocodylomorph from Adamantina Formation, Bauru Group, Brazil.

Below is a cladogram from Novas et al. (2009) showing the phylogenetic position of Yacarerani:

References

Sphagesaurids
Terrestrial crocodylomorphs
Turonian life
Santonian life
Late Cretaceous crocodylomorphs of South America
Cretaceous Bolivia
Fossils of Bolivia
Fossil taxa described in 2009
Prehistoric pseudosuchian genera

Yacarerani


Adolfo Laurenti (1856–1944) was an Italian sculptor.

He was born in Monte Porzio Catone. He studied at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He sculpted a number of monuments around his home province and in the Lazio.

Laurenti was prolific in the production of portraits and monuments. At Turin, in 1880, he displayed busts of an Arab, and of a prophet (Augur) and a Roman senator (awarded a prize). In 1888 in Rome, he displayed Nero; Le smorfie dei satiri, e Una partita a palline sulle rive del Tevere. He sculpted a bust of Domenico Fernelli (1905) in bronze, located in the Giardini Nuvolari of Mantua.

In 1911 he completed the frieze il Corteo della Vita e del Lavoro on the right side of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome for architect Cesare Bazzani.

Among his public works, are a fountain and Monument to Fallen (Caduti) (1926) in the Piazza Borghese; a Garibaldini (1883) in Piazza Porzio Catone; a monument to Silvio Spaventa (1899) located in Bomba, in province of Chieti; and finally a monument to the fallen in Piazzale Belvedre of Rocca Priora.

References

1856 births
1944 deaths
Artists from Lazio
20th-century Italian sculptors
20th-century Italian male artists
19th-century Italian sculptors
Italian male sculptors
19th-century Italian male artists

Adolfo Laurenti


Environmental compliance means conforming to environmental laws, regulations, standards and other requirements such as site permits to operate. In recent years, environmental concerns have led to a significant increase in the number and scope of compliance imperatives across all global regulatory environments.  Being closely related, environmental concerns and compliance activities are increasingly being aligned with corporate performance goals and being integrated to some extent to avoid conflicts, wasteful overlaps, and gaps.

Compliance with the above requirements and obligations, requires meeting certain conditions.  Typically, these include:
 Managing monitoring programmes or schedules, ensuring that the monitoring required in the permit has been done, at the correct locations, for the correct parameters, and at the correct frequency
 Pre-processing, performing calculations and validating the data for compliance with any alert or reporting levels
 Generating routine compliance reports for authorities.

The management of the above can be complex and time-consuming, leading to an increasing uptake of software systems designed to manage environmental compliance. These are often referred to as 'Environmental Data Management Systems' (EDMS). Criteria must be considered when selecting environmental compliance software: proven capability, high performance, transparent, traceable data handling, a robust calculation engine, advanced factor handling, simple integration, automated workflows and QA, and flexible reporting and data extraction.

Regulations concerning toxic substances
 POP Environmental Compliance: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are halogenated organic substances that are regulated due to the Stockholm Convention.

 REACH Environmental Compliance: Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) applies to most products within the EU market. A declaration to the European Chemicals Agency is required if a product contains more than 0.1% of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).

 California Proposition 65 Environmental Compliance: Managed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the California Proposition 65 regulation applies to all consumer goods sold in California and businesses with 10 or more employees.

 TSCA Environmental Compliance : Managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) applies to all substances and products manufactured in and imported to the United States.

 RoHS Environmental compliance : Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) is another regulation applicable to Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE).

See also
 MCERTS
 Environmental accounting
 Environment, health and safety
 Emission standard
 Environmental certification
 Environmental data
 Environmental monitoring

References

Regulatory compliance
Environmental policy

Environmental compliance


Herbert Christopher Robinson (4 November 1874 – 20 May 1929) was a British zoologist and ornithologist.  He is principally known for conceiving and initiating the major ornithological reference The Birds of the Malay Peninsula.

Robinson was born in Liverpool in a large family that included several brokers, barristers and academics. He was educated at Marlborough College, and received a scholarship for the Royal School of Mines though he was unable to complete his studies there due to a lung infection. He lived in Davos briefly for health. He joined New College, Oxford where an uncle was bursar, but gave up in 1896. An attempted collecting expedition to New Guinea was again abortive because of illness.  He worked at the Liverpool Museum with Henry Ogg Forbes before visiting the Federated Malay States where he later accepted the Directorship of Museums. In 1901–1902 he, with Nelson Annandale, led an expedition to Perak and the Siamese Malay States; Robinson wrote a report on tiger beetles.  He was curator of the Selangor Museum in Kuala Lumpur from 1903 to 1926, becoming director of fisheries in 1906. In 1905 he led an expedition to Gunung Tahan, becoming the first European to reach the summit. He made a return visit to England in 1920.  He retired from the civil service in 1926 and began preparing a comprehensive illustrated account of the birds of the Malay Peninsula. Of this work he produced the first two volumes and much of the manuscript of a third before he died in a nursing home in Oxford after a long illness.  His work was eventually completed in five volumes by others including F. N. Chasen who died in 1941. The fifth and last volume was published in 1975, written by  Lord Medway and David Wells.

Acknowledgement of his contributions to zoology include a species of bat, Nyctimene robinsoni, named by Oldfield Thomas when describing the specimens Robinson had obtained at Cooktown in eastern Australia. Robinson is commemorated in the scientific names of two species of lizards: Malayodracon robinsonii and Tropidophorus robinsoni.

References

External links
 Birds of the Malay Peninsula

1874 births
1929 deaths
British zoologists
British ornithologists
British curators
Museum directors
British science writers
Scientists from Liverpool
People educated at Marlborough College

Herbert C. Robinson


Duncan Archibald Graham,  (January 8, 1882 – February 18, 1974) was a Canadian physician and academic who held the first position in the British Empire of chair of clinical medicine, established by John Craig Eaton at the University of Toronto in 1919. He held this position and was chair of the department of medicine and physician-in-chief at the Toronto General Hospital, until 1947.

Born on a farm near Ivan, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Toronto in 1905. He was an assistant bacteriologist with the Ontario Board of Health before starting his residency in pathology at the Toronto General Hospital. He was also a pathologist with the Tuberculosis League of Pittsburg. From 1909 to 1911, he did post-graduate studies in Europe. He was appointed a lecturer in bacteriology at the University of Toronto before serving in World War I with the No. 4 Canadian General Hospital.

In 1919, he was appointed to the Sir John and Lady Eaton chair in medicine at the University of Toronto on the recommendation of William Goldie. He was also the physician-in-chief of the Toronto General Hospital. From 1933 to 1935, he was the president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. From 1940 to 1941, he was the president of the Canadian Medical Association. From 1942 to 1946, he was a member of the National Research Council.

In 1968, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. He was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He received honorary degrees from the University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto, and Queen's University.

He died in Toronto in 1974.

References

External links
 University of Toronto biography

1882 births
1974 deaths
Canadian medical researchers
Canadian pathologists
Canadian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Companions of the Order of Canada
People from Middlesex County, Ontario
University of Toronto alumni
Academic staff of the University of Toronto

Duncan Archibald Graham


Sir Emile Littler (9 September 1903 – 23 January 1985), born Emile Richeux, was an English theatrical impresario, producer and author.

Life and career
Littler was born in Ramsgate, Kent, in the south east of England, the younger son in the family of five children of Jules Richeux (1863–1911), a cigar importer, and his wife, Agnes May, née Paisey (b. 1874). Richeux became a theatrical proprietor, leasing the Ramsgate Victoria Pavilion from 1906, while Agnes Richeux leased the Royal Artillery Theatre, Woolwich, from 1909. In 1914, three years after Richeux's death, his widow married the theatre manager Frank Rolison Littler (1879–1940), who adopted the five children, all of whom took his surname.
The elder son Prince, and one of the daughters, Blanche, also went into theatrical management. After private education at Stratford-upon-Avon and a brief start as an actor, Littler turned to backstage work, serving as assistant manager of a theatre in Southend-on-Sea in  1922, and then as assistant stage manager of Sir Barry Jackson's Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He worked in the US for four years between 1927 and 1931, for managements including the Shuberts, and after returning to Britain he became manager and licensee of the Birmingham Rep in September 1931.

In 1933 Littler married the actress Cora Goffin; there were two daughters of the marriage. The following year he set up in management on his own account. His theatrical productions included: Victoria Regina, 1066 and All That, Once in a Lifetime, Song of Norway, Annie Get Your Gun and Zip Goes a Million, and revivals of The Maid of the Mountains, The Quaker Girl, Lilac Time, The Student Prince and The Desert Song. Littler presented more than two hundred Christmas pantomimes in London and the larger cities of the British Isles; he was author or co-author of many of them. He controlled the Palace Theatre, London from 1946 to 1983 and had two stints as President of the Society of West End Theatre Managers: 1964–67 and 1969–70. He also served on the board of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. He was a racehorse owner, owning the horses Jack & Jill, Astafa, and Irish Ball.

Littler retired from producing in 1973 and was knighted the following year. He died at his home in Sussex at the age of 81.

Notes

References

1903 births
1985 deaths
British theatre managers and producers
English racehorse owners and breeders
Impresarios
Knights Bachelor

Emile Littler


Ulrich von Türheim (c. 1195 – c. 1250) was a German writer from the Augsburg area writing during the first half of the 13th century. Three of his works have survived: a conclusion to the version of the Tristan legend left unfinished by Gottfried von Strassburg; Rennewart, a continuation of Willehalm, left unfinished by Wolfram von Eschenbach; and fragments of a version of Cligès based on that of Chrétien de Troyes. It is not known whether this last work was a separate work or also a continuation, in this case of a now lost Cligès by Konrad Fleck. The relative chronology of these works is disputed, though Rennewart is generally regarded as the last.

Conrad of Winterstetten was his patron.

Editions
Ulrich von Türheim, Tristan, edited by Thomas Kerth (Altdeutsche Textbibliothek 89), Tübingen 1979.
Ulrich von Türheim, Rennewart, edited by Alfred Hübner (Deutsche Texte des Mittelalters 3), Berlin 1938, ²1964.
A. Bachmann, "Bruchstücke eines mittelhochdeutschen Cligès", Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum 32 (1888) 123ff.
A. Vizkelety, "Neue Fragmente des mittelhochdeutschen Cligès", Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 88 (1969) 409ff.

Further reading
Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters : Verfasserlexikon, Second Edition edited by Kurt Ruh, Berlin 1977-, volume 10.

External links

13th-century German poets
13th-century deaths
Writers of Arthurian literature
Middle High German literature
Writers from Augsburg
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain
German male poets

Ulrich von Türheim


Battledore and shuttlecock, or  jeu de volant, is an early sport related to modern badminton. The game is played by two or more people using small rackets (battledores), made of parchment or rows of gut stretched across wooden frames, and shuttlecocks, made of a base of some light material, such as cork, with trimmed feathers fixed around the top. The object is for players to bat the shuttlecock from one to the other as many times as possible without allowing it to fall to the ground.

History

Games with a shuttlecock are attested to as early as 2,000 years ago, and have been popular in India, China, Japan, and Siam. Various traditional shuttlecock games have been played by North American indigenous peoples, including the Kwakiutl, Pima, Salish, and Zuni; they are often played with a feathered shuttle made of corn husk or twigs and sometimes a wooden battledore. In Europe, battledore and shuttlecock was played by children for centuries, and ancient drawings appearing to depict the game have been found in Greece. Its most popular modern development is the game of badminton.

See also
Hanetsuki, a Japanese variant

References

Racket sports

Battledore and shuttlecock