IslamDraft · awaiting advisor review
Does the Old Testament name or foretell Muhammad?
In short
The passages usually offered, Song of Songs 5:16, the “Paran” verses, Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 29:12, don’t point to Muhammad when they are read in their context and in Hebrew. God did promise to bless Ishmael and make him a great nation, and the Bible keeps that promise in view, but the covenant line runs through Isaac.
The Objection
The Qur’an says Muhammad is written of in the Torah and the Gospel (Qur’an 7:157). Song of Songs 5:16 contains the Hebrew word mahamaddim, which sounds like Muhammad. Deuteronomy 33:2 says God came from Sinai, rose from Seir and shone from Mount Paran: Sinai for Moses, Seir for Jesus, Paran (where Ishmael lived) for Muhammad and Mecca. Isaiah 42 speaks of God’s servant and of Kedar, an Arab tribe, rejoicing. Isaiah 29:12 describes a book given to one who cannot read, as Muhammad was told “Read!” at his first revelation.
Put as its strongest advocates would put it.
The Christian Case
- Scripture
Song of Songs 5:16: mahamaddim is an ordinary Hebrew word meaning “desirable things” or “altogether lovely”. The same root gives “the desire of your eyes” in Ezekiel and “you shall not covet” in the Ten Commandments. In the poem a bride is describing her beloved.
- Scripture
Paran: in the Bible it is the wilderness between Sinai and Kadesh, where Israel camped after leaving Sinai, more than 1,000 km from Mecca. Deuteronomy 33:2 and Habakkuk 3:3 are poetry recalling one event, God coming to Israel at Sinai, described with neighbouring places in parallel lines, in the past tense.
- Scripture
Isaiah 42: Matthew quotes the opening of this Servant passage about Jesus. The Servant is “a covenant for the people and a light for the nations”, so it fits that distant peoples, Kedar among them, are called to praise. Arabs heard the gospel at Pentecost.
- Scripture
Isaiah 29:11–12 is about Jerusalem’s spiritual blindness: God’s vision is like a sealed book that neither the literate nor the illiterate can read. It is a judgement on people who honour God with their lips while their hearts are far from him, not a prophecy of a future prophet.
- Scripture
God heard Ishmael, blessed him and promised to make him a great nation, and Christians should honour that. In the same breath God says his covenant will be established with Isaac.
Where the Evidence Is Weaker
Arguments about word meanings and places can feel technical; most people will weigh the overall picture rather than each detail. Christians also read some Old Testament passages as pointing to Jesus in ways Jewish readers dispute, so it is fair to admit that reading prophecy involves interpretation on every side.
Arguments to Avoid
- Mocking these readings: they are offered sincerely, often because Qur’an 7:157 says Muhammad is foretold.
- Overstating Hebrew points you can’t check; use a good lexicon or ask someone who reads Hebrew.
- Speaking about Ishmael or Arabs with contempt: God blessed Ishmael.
Read for Yourself
Song of Songs 5:16
His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Deuteronomy 33:2
And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
Isaiah 42:1–12
1Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 5Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
Isaiah 29:11–13
11And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: 12And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 13Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Genesis 17:18–21
18And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Further Reading
- The Qur’an and the Bible: Text and Commentary · Gabriel Said Reynolds (2018)
- Answering Islam (2nd edition) · Norman L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb (2002)
Drafted with Opened AI and awaiting review by Opened’s apologetics advisors. Labels show the kind of support each point has: Scripture is what the Bible says; historical evidence and philosophical arguments can be checked by anyone; “Christians differ” marks questions on which faithful Christians disagree.
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