In the shadow of Iran’s recent regional aggression – from its missile barrages against Israel and Gulf countries to its continued support to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis – the Middle East once again confronts a stark choice between perpetual conflict and durable coexistence. Amid this volatility, a quiet but powerful counter-model is emerging – a proactive, trust-based form of engagement rooted in the shared Abrahamic heritage of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
“Abraham’s tent, it should be noted at this early stage, is not nostalgia or just some rosy story that gives us inspiration. This biblical and Quranic account is a proven strategic asset for the 21st century. Abraham’s proactive hospitality offers a practical blueprint for cultivating trust amid difference, a model we in fact see revived in the Abraham Accords – a modern “big tent.”
A Strategic Counter-Model in a Volatile Region
Jews, Christians, and Muslims are familiar with the biblical story of Abraham welcoming the “three strangers,” the basis of the narrative known as “Abraham’s Tent.” The Bible states that in the heat of the day Abraham spots three strangers. He does not wait for them to approach him. Instead, he runs to greet them, bows low, and throws open his home with the quintessential provisions – water, shade, fresh bread, a tender calf, curds, and milk.
This story from ancient history serves as perhaps the first documented model of how human beings can engage proactively in relationship-building. It is shared across the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Genesis 18 (in which the Lord appears to Abraham in the form of three visitors near the oaks of Mamre, near modern day Hebron) and Qur’an 51:24-30 (which recounts the same episode of Abraham hastening to serve unknown guests) both describe a very similar scene. The fact that this episode occurs across the Abrahamic tradition is not coincidental. The important issue here is that it reflects a shared moral architecture of hospitality. It is a shared foundation, not a disputed one.
Abraham’s tent, it should be noted at this early stage, is not nostalgia or just some rosy story that gives us inspiration. This biblical and Quranic account is a proven strategic asset for the 21st century. Abraham’s proactive hospitality offers a practical blueprint for cultivating trust amid difference, a model we in fact see revived in the Abraham Accords – a modern “big tent.” Signed in September 2020 at the White House between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Sudan and brokered by the United States, the agreements explicitly invoked “their common ancestor, Abraham.” Abraham’s tent, in essence, had been re-pitched, not near Hebron, but on the world stage.
There are three primary principles that arise out of Abraham’s tent that are useful as we deal with modern challenges: hospitality (as noted already), covenant building, and stewardship. Hospitality is about welcoming strangers and opening ourselves up to new possibilities. Covenant building is about strategic trust rather and justice. Stewardship is about ethical leadership and knowledge-seeking. These three principles are necessary tools that Jews, Christians, and Muslims can use to seek practical cooperation across nations, narrative changes in a region like the Middle East or across the West at large, and long-term relationships that outlast a single kind gesture.
“He mentioned that he is an Israeli citizen and that his experience in the UAE had been exceptional. Most interestingly, he noted that his presence there was like a dream come true and he said it was unthinkable for him prior to the signing of the Abraham Accords. It is interesting to bring that story up here given that he and I were strangers but nevertheless found a way of embodying Abraham’s tent, even in a brief and relatively insignificant moment.”
Hospitality as Energetic and Deliberate Leadership
Let us first deal with the theme of hospitality. As the Bible and Qur’an note, Abraham runs, hastens, and fetches for the three strangers. This is hospitality as energetic and deliberate leadership – a strategic choice rather than simply a sign of politeness. Like another biblical and Quranic story – Abraham leaving Ur (Genesis 12) – Abraham Accords leaders chose normalization amid deep skepticism among the populations of the nations that signed them.
True leadership opens the tent widest when it feels the least convenient.
Outside of the trade surge – with over 400% growth in key trade sectors since the accords were signed – and the 2025 Pax Silica Summit on responsible AI supply chains, perhaps the most important opening of the Abraham Accords came with the people-to-people interactions enabled by a culture of hospitality. For example, over one million Israeli visitors have recently visited the UAE. I remember visiting Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi and seeing a couple in need of a photographer to take their picture. The young man gave me his phone and I noticed Hebrew on his screen. He mentioned that he is an Israeli citizen and that his experience in the UAE had been exceptional. Most interestingly, he noted that his presence there was like a dream come true and he said it was unthinkable for him prior to the signing of the Abraham Accords. It is interesting to bring that story up here given that he and I were strangers but nevertheless found a way of embodying Abraham’s tent, even in a brief and relatively insignificant moment.
This modern embodiment of Abraham’s tent is not without precedent. Historical records reveal several striking parallels in which leaders extended hospitality at moments of risk. We now turn to the king who opened his tent to the early Muslim community of Mecca. In 615, early Muslims, fleeing persecution by the Quraysh in Mecca, sought refuge across the Red Sea in Abyssinia (the ancient Christian kingdom that is today’s Ethiopia). King Ashama ibn Abjar (the Najashi), known for his justice, welcomed them. When the Quraysh sent a delegation with lavish gifts to pressure him for extradition, King ibn Abjar defied his own court. A famous quote from the sirah of Muhammad records that the Christian Abyssinian leader told the Quraysh, “Not even for a mountain of gold would I hand [the Muslims] over.” Not only did the king offer them initial hospitality, but he also granted them full sanctuary and protection at a very delicate time for the burgeoning Islamic movement.
“…It is important to distinguish between a covenant and a transaction. A covenant, in business terms, is linked to words like long-term, relational, resilient, and mutual promise. A transaction, on the other hand, is linked to words like short-term, transactional, easily broken, and no trust.
So, while the latter deals might close, the former (covenants) compound and grow. Without hospitality, there is no covenant building, as it sets the stage for long-term trust that no contract clause can manufacture.”
Covenant Building – From Transactions to Long-Term Trust
The second theme coming out of Abraham’s tent is covenant building.
Here, it is important to distinguish between a covenant and a transaction.
A covenant, in business terms, is linked to words like long-term, relational, resilient, and mutual promise. A transaction, on the other hand, is linked to words like short-term, transactional, easily broken, and no trust.
So, while the latter deals might close, the former (covenants) compound and grow. Without hospitality, there is no covenant building, as it sets the stage for long-term trust that no contract clause can manufacture.
Returning to history, allow me to fast forward seventeen or so years, when Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, extended a welcome to a delegation of sixty Christians from Najran, located in today’s southwestern Saudi Arabia. The prophet of Islam not only received them in his Medina mosque (following the Hijra, the migration of the Muslim community from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE that established the first Islamic polity), but he allowed them to conduct their own prayers within its walls. Over three days, they engaged in respectful theological dialogue despite differences. The experience culminated in the Pact of Najran, a foundational covenant in which Muhammad and the Muslims guaranteed the Christians full religious autonomy, protection of their churches and property, and security for their community.
The spirit of covenant-building evident in the Pact of Najran continued to shape ethical leadership across the centuries. In modern times, King Mohammed V of Morocco also “covenanted” when he protected Moroccan Jews during the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust. Under Nazi pressure, the Moroccan king refused to abandon Morocco’s 250,000 Jews – the largest Jewish community in the Arab world at the time. He met publicly with Jewish leaders, invited them to Throne Day celebrations alongside Muslims, and declared, “The Jews [are] under my protection. I refuse any distinction made between my subjects.”
King Mohammed’s leadership is particularly poignant for me given that I recently spent two weeks in Morocco, where I gave lectures on the history of Moroccan Jews, the U.S.’s historical relationship with Moroccans, and Morocco’s integration into the Abraham Accords. More recently, in Germany, the birthplace of the Holocaust, I gave another talk at Berlin’s Neue Synagogue, a building that itself survived Kristallnacht through a single officer’s refusal. I spoke there about the importance of Morocco’s example in executing Abraham’s vision in the 20th century.
“…After hospitality and covenant building – is stewardship, which asks: once the tent is open and the covenant is forged, how do you keep it? … Leaders associated with the Abraham Accords have exemplified this stewardship by making coexistence among the Abrahamic faiths a key pillar of their government’s policies.”
Stewardship – Treating Power as a Trust
The third principle of Abraham’s tent – after hospitality and covenant building – is stewardship, which asks: once the tent is open and the covenant is forged, how do you keep it? The previous three examples – the Najashi protecting Muslims, Muhammad hosting Christians and writing their rights into law, and the Moroccan king protecting Jews during the Holocaust – all share a common thread – exceptional leaders treat their power as a trust, not a selfish possession.
Leaders associated with the Abraham Accords have exemplified this stewardship by making coexistence among the Abrahamic faiths a key pillar of their government’s policies. The UAE, for instance, incorporated Holocaust education into its national curriculum. In nearby Bahrain, the King Hamad Centre for Peaceful Coexistence was created. These are not symbolic gestures – they are tent-flap-like actions that reshape interfaith relations for future generations.
Perhaps the quintessential example of Abraham’s tent in the current context is the Abrahamic Family House (AFH) in Abu Dhabi. This encompasses a synagogue, church, and mosque in one interfaith campus, connected by a shared forum and an adjacent educational center. I had the honor and privilege of attending its opening ceremony in 2023. The hospitality surrounding the event was second to none, as it typically is in Abu Dhabi. In short, the AFH is covenant-making in 21st-century form, where all three Abrahamic communities have agreed to operate on the complex under the guidance of the Emirate’s ethical leadership.
Becoming the New Keepers of Abraham’s Tent
With all that said, so what? Perhaps we can see ourselves as the new keepers of Abraham’s tent. We can use hospitality to turn strangers into partners that we can enter into covenants with, and these can lead to stable relationships, if the leadership is ethical. In conclusion, let me remind readers of the importance of being proactive and energetic when it comes to bridge-building, and may we seek out long-term trust over short-term gains.