In the name of our most Precious Heavenly Father, I bring this topic to you in the spirit of love. May the eyes of your understanding be enlightened. Amen
Muslims say, the very name of their prophet, Muhammad, is in the Bible, specifically in Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 16. Let’s have a look.
The Song of Solomon is a love story between King Solomon and a young country girl. Solomon is the son of David, the third king of Israel, and the author of the book, Song of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:29-34 speaks of the wisdom and understanding that God gave to Solomon, including his “largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.” These verses state that Solomon “spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.”
The young country girl, who is not named, but only referred to in Song of Solomon as the Shulamite, finds herself now a queen, married to her king, Solomon, and she has been dreaming off and on through this story.
I will digress to the part where you as a Muslim claim Muhammad to be in this particular book of the Bible.
Chapter 5:16 – “His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is altogether lovely.” The original language for this book is Hebrew. Hence, we shall look up the words in Hebrew that promise Muslims Muhammad’s name. The word “altogether lovely,” in Hebrew, is the word machmaddim. We could agree that this word is very similar in sound to the Arabic name, Muhammad. The root of the Hebrew word machmad is chamad, pronounced with the guttural sound (khaw-mad), also very similar to the Arabic name Muhammad. Its Hebrew meaning is delight, beloved, or desire. Hence, if we read it the way Muslims believe it to be read, it would say, “His mouth is most sweet, yes, he is Muhammad. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” Have you heard a story of Muhammad having a wife that was a Shulamite girl in Jerusalem? Read the rest of the book to see what else you can refer to regarding Muhammad.
In Islam, Muslims refer to Muhammad at times as Ahmad, which, in Arabic, means “the most praised.” This is one of 99 names Muslims have for their prophet of Islam.
However, this is a story about King Solomon and the Shulamite girl who was his wife, and not about Muhammad. To make my point, read the entire chapter. If this is talking about Muhammad, then the Shulamite is describing him in great detail. She states, “My beloved is white and ruddy, chief among ten thousand. His head is like the finest gold; his locks are wavy, and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set”… and so on. Muhammad was not even born yet, so how can this apply to him. Even if it were a prophecy, it simply doesn’t fit.
You may be surprised to find that the same Hebrew word machmad is in other places in the Bible as well. Let’s take a look.
In 2 Chronicles 36, Zedekiah, at twenty-one years old, became king over Judah and Jerusalem. He and his people were rebellious and did not listen to God. Zedekiah also did not heed the words of the prophet Jeremiah “who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.” His heart was hardened against God, and the abominations of the people were against the house of the Lord. Because God is a compassionate God, he sent warnings to the people by way of messengers, but they did not listen, and only mocked His prophets.
Because of their disobedience, God brought the king of the Chaldeans against them. Verse 19 states, “then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions.” In this verse, the Hebrew word machmad is the English word “precious.” Thus, you could reasonably understand that verse, according to Islamic interpretation of the word machmad as being, that all Muhammad’s possessions were destroyed. That doesn’t make sense, seeing that Muhammad was not born for over 2,000 years.
Another instance of machmad in the Bible is in Isaiah 64:10-11. “Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation, our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant things are laid waste.” The Hebrew word machmad is the English word “pleasant”; therefore, this would be read by a Muslim as “Muhammad is laid waste.”
Lamentations 1:10 states “The adversary has spread his hand over all her pleasant things,” with the words “pleasant things” being translated from the Hebrew word machmad.
In Lamentations 1:11, it appears that if this Hebrew word machmad is indeed referring to Muhammad, then he was traded for food. “All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their valuables for food to restore life.” The form of machmad, chamad, is used, which means desire, valuable, pleasant thing, according to Strong’s Hebrew Concordance #4262.
The prophet Ezekiel writes in Ezekiel 24:15-16, “Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.’” Ezekiel’s wife died. The word “desire” is translated from the Hebrew word, machmad, which means delight or desire.
If you still believe that Muhammad is in the Bible, then do you believe Hosea 9:6 applies as well? “Egypt shall gather them up; Memphis shall bury them. Nettles shall possess their valuables (machmad) of silver; thorns shall be in their tents.”
And finally, Joel 3:5 would state to a Muslim believing that Muhammad is in the Bible, that he was carried away into pagan temples, as it states, “Because you have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My goodly pleasant things,” with the word pleasant being the Hebrew word yet again, machmad.
At this point, you can see that it does not make any sense whatsoever to claim that Muhammad is in the Bible, as he clearly is not.
But there is hope. Muslims believe in Jesus as being one of the “mightiest messengers of God.” Have you read His words?
Jesus said, “The thief does not come, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 10:10, John 3:16, John 10:11, John 14:6, John 4:24, John 3:3
The Bridge to Grace 