Abrahamic religions

The term Abrahamic religion is an irenic category to group the three major religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam together, due to their historical coexistence and competition, based around the figure of Abraham, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, and the Quran. It is used to show similarities between those religions and put them in contrast to Indian religions, Iranian religions, and the East Asian religions, although other religions and belief-systems may include a figure of Abraham as well.

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, being influenced by the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its monotheism, messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, among other concepts. 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 under the Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth;Christianity 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.

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. Judaism with much fewer adherents. Other religions, such as Baháʼí Faith, Druzism, Samaritanism, and Rastafari, are considered offshots of the Abrahamic religions.