Adnan Rashid and Sela

I recently watched a debate with Samuel Green and Adnan Rashid on whether or not Muhammad was foretold in the Bible.  Adnan Rashid annoyed me because he kept throwing out red herrings.  I don’t think either side came out clearly victorious.  Rashid made some horrible statements but I don’t think Green hammered on them as well has he could have.  Anyway, I’m not here to review the debate.  I’m here to point out something else.

It really bothers Islamic apologists that Mecca and Medina(formerly known as Yathrib) are not in the Bible.  It bothers them to no end.  They need to make room for the prophet from Arabia.  I recommend that everyone check out Google maps.  The Arabian peninsula is a huge place.  The Mecca-Medina corridor is only a tiny part of the region.

This verse came up:

Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
    let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
    let them shout from the mountaintops.

– Isaiah 42:11

Adnan Rashid talks about Sela in Isaiah 42 being a mountain in Medina.  I’ve actually been studying the OT a lot in the last two years, including geography.  Sela isn’t some mountain deep in Arabia.  Sela is an Edomite city.  Edom is located just south of the Dead Sea.

And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.  He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

– 2 Samuel 8: 13-14

We see in the above passages that the Edomites were defeated in the Valley of Salt.  If we look at a passage in Kings we see something else.

He was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt and captured Sela in battle, calling it Joktheel, the name it has to this day.

2 Kings 14:7

We know that the Valley of Salt is in Edom, but if Sela is Medina then we have a problem.  The King of Judah defeats the Edomites in the Valley of Salt then goes a thousand kilometers south to capture Medina(or Yathrib)?  I’m not buying it.  The most obvious explanation is that Sela is an Edomite city and has nothing to do with Muhammad.

Now, the other big argument he gave is about Paran being Mecca.  I’m going to save that for next time around as that topic deserves its own post.

Despite my frustration at Rashid throwing out red herrings galore, I must thank him for something.  Thank you Adnan Rashid for not bringing up the extremely ridiculous argument that Muhammad is in the Song of Solomon.  I don’t know if Rashid believes it or not but at least he knew that it wasn’t worth bringing up in this debate.  That argument(if you even want to call it that) deserves an honorable burial.  I don’t want to see any Muslim apologist using it anymore.  Thank you Adnan Rashid for abstaining from this.