Question 1:
Ma’am, Just a quick question from one the books….
Apparently, Islam and Christianity share some similar doctrines and beliefs but Islam trace their root from “Abraham and Ishmael” while Christianity trace theirs from “Abraham and Isaac”. What’s the reason behind this?
Answer 1:
Actually the topic of roots is a way of dividing God's religion. It is just something that people started talking about. It is not a relevant issue when one talks about the religion of God.
There is only one religion of God. In English language it is the "Surrender" or the "Peace" in Arabic it means "Islam" I don't know what it is in Hebrew language (the language of the Jews) or in Greek or Aramaic (the language of the Gospel).
Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac followed this religion, the Surrender.
The real difference between Judaism, Christianity and Islam is that Jews and Christians do not believe in ALL the messengers of God.
1- Jews are biological descendants of Jacob/Israel, that is Abraham's grandson. They believe that Abraham was a prophet and so also was Isaac and Jacob and Moses and many others but they do not believe that Jesus was a prophet. They also do not believe that Mohammed was a messenger of God. The Jews read the Tanakh (This is what Christians know as the old testament).
2- Christianity was initially formed from the people who believed that Jesus was a prophet of God. (By the way, the mother of Jesus was a descendant of Israel, Abraham's grandson. Jesus had no father; God created him like he created Adam). Over the years, Christianity evolved until the Christians started saying that Jesus is the begotten son of God and that God is three in one. The Christians evolved from being followers of the Gospel that Jesus preached to being worshippers of Jesus. Christians do not believe that Mohammed was a prophet or that the Quran is a book from God.
3- The Believers (The people who are called Muslims) believe in ALL of God's prophets including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed,...They are required to believe in the books of God including the Gospel, the Psalms, the Quran, the Torah,...(The Torah and the Psalms are among the books in the Tanakh).
So you see that it is irrelevant which son of Abraham the followers follow. What is important is that we emulate Abraham. Abraham is called a friend of God, the upright. He was not a Jew or a Christian but he followed the religion of truth.