Kedar
4 items across 2 content types
Debates (1)
1:22:1020 Christians vs 1 Muslim — Uthman ibn Farooq at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
A structured debate between Shaykh Uthman ibn Farooq and twenty students and professors from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary — the largest Baptist Bible university in America — held in Louisville, Kentucky. The debate rotates through four prompts via a flag-vote elimination mechanism: (1) The Prophet Muhammad is clearly mentioned in the Bible; (2) Jesus is not God according to the Bible; (3) Jesus is a prophet and servant of God; and (4) the Bible is not 100% preserved. Participants include a Conservative Presbyterian, a Biblical Unitarian pastor, Catholic and non-denominational students, an Episcopalian, and others. Key arguments cover Song of Solomon 5:16 (Muhammadim), Isaiah 42 (Kedar, Sal'a, Mushallam), ego imai in Luke and John, divine omniscience and hypostatic union, Acts 3:13, Hebrews 2:7-9, the Johannine Comma, Mark 16:9-20, Matthew-Luke genealogy contradictions, and the manuscript and chain-of-transmission preservation of the Quran.
Debate Excerpts (3)
Individual points from debates discussing this topic
“Where are Kedar and Sala and what do they reveal about the identity of the coming prophet?”
According to Smith's Bible Dictionary — a Christian source — Kedar is the name given to the second son of Ishmael, from whom the Arab tribes descended. These Arab tribes gathered collectively in Mecca and were called Kedar. Sal'a (Sela) is a mountain in Medina. Uthman states he has physically visited Sal'a and confirmed that the Jewish community that once lived in Medina had a graveyard and a place of worship at this location because they understood it to be a biblical site. Sal'a is verifiable on Google Maps today. When Isaiah says the villages of Kedar will sing and the people of Sela will shout from mountaintops, this points to Arabia — specifically Mecca and Medina.
“What do the Jewish Encyclopedia and Bible Gateway say about Kedar and the lineage of Muhammad?”
The Jewish Encyclopedia identifies Kedar as the ancestor of the Arab tribes from whose lineage Muhammad came. Bible Gateway — a Christian resource — states that the northern Arabian tribes of Kedar are what we now call the Arabs, and that the genealogy of Muhammad in the Islamic tradition traces back through the descent of Abraham through Ishmael through Kedar. Both of these sources are non-Muslim. They independently confirm that Kedar in Isaiah 42 points to the Arabian origin of the Prophet Muhammad — making the Isaiah passage a clear geographic pointer to the Arab prophet.
“How does the complete Isaiah 42 passage fit Muhammad but not Jesus when read in full?”
Uthman argues that Isaiah 42 taken as a whole describes a prophet who: (1) will be a light to the Gentiles, sent primarily to them rather than to the lost sheep of Israel; (2) the villages of Kedar (Mecca) and the people of Sal'a (Medina) will celebrate his coming; (3) he will prevail against his enemies as a man of war; and (4) he is called Mushallam (Muslim). Uthman explicitly states he believes in the second coming of Jesus — so he is not arguing against it. But even granting the second-coming interpretation for the military element, the geographic references (Kedar = Arabia/Mecca, Sal'a = Medina) and the title Mushallam (Muslim) cannot be applied to Jesus under any reading — first or second coming. Jesus did not primarily target the Gentiles and stated he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Even MacArthur's Study Bible concedes the man-of-war elements refer to a second coming because Jesus did not defeat his enemies militarily in the first. But all these elements — Arab geography, military victory, and the title Muslim — fit the Prophet Muhammad in one unified, historical event.