Islamic Apologetics in the New Year

King Solomon

We’re almost at the end of 2016 and it certainly has been an interesting year.  Over the course of the year, several well known apologists have visited and even commented on my blog.  Off the top of my head, I can think of James White, Sam Shamoun, Ken Temple, Paul Williams, and Mike Licona.

I have something that I want to see in the new year in terms of a Christian vs Muslim debate.  About ten years ago, a debate took place between Dr. Michael Brown and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach as to whether Jesus Christ was prophesied in Isaiah 53.  It was quite a good debate.  It showed everyone that a debate can be done on a specific prophecy in the Bible.

Just as Christians claim that Jesus is prophesied in the Old Testament, Muslims claim that Muhammad is prophesied in the Old and New Testaments.

One of the favorite verses picked by Muslims to find Muhammad is Song of Solomon Chapter 5.  They claim that the “Beloved” is actually referring to Muhammad and that his name is actually found in the text. Quite a bold claim.

Having studied this book extensively, I firmly believe that Muhammad is not found anywhere in this book. However, some Muslims apologists disagree.  Apologists such as Shabir Ally and Zakir Hussain have both insisted that Song of Solomon 5 refers to Muhammad.  However, when they have discussed this, it has been in a debate whether Muhammad is prophesied in the Bible so the specific text didn’t get enough discussion.  I don’t blame the debaters, it’s just that in these debates, many texts were discussed.

This is a debate that I would like to see.  Obviously, in the apologetics community, I’m not a big name.  Several people have been known to organize debates.  Two organizations that organize many debates are MDI or ABN.  Other groups have organized them as well.

If anyone from the apologetics community wants to host this debate, I think that they should take it into consideration.  It’s certainly a debate that I would like to see.  The debate would focus on Chapter 5 of the Song of Solomon and the Song of Solomon in general.  This is very similar how the debate on Isaiah 53 was.  Just like Dr. Brown was defending Christ in Isaiah 53, the Muslim would defend Muhammad in Song of Solomon 5.

Zakir Hussain has challenged Dr. Michael Brown to a debate about Muhammad in the Bible should he come to England.  I’ve seen Zakir Hussain debate this twice.  Why not do a debate on Song of Solomon 5?  Zakir is probably the best apologist for this debate.  Dr. Brown is an Old Testament scholar who is fluent in Hebrew and an expert in Old Testament prophecy.

So what would I like to see?  I would like to see a debate on whether Song of Solomon is speaking about Muhammad, specifically in chapter 5.

My recommendation for the debaters are Dr. Michael Brown and Zakir Hussain.  Even though this would be a good matchup, other apologists could be selected for either side.  This is the debate that I want to see in 2017.

Is Muhammad in Song of Solomon 5?  Let’s hope that 2017 gives us a good debate on the subject.