Answering Objections to Islam · Predictions in the Bible
A new law for the islands, and a light for the Gentiles
Handle with care. Do not claim the word torah can only mean a new sharia. Say it means law or instruction and ask what new law the nations were to hope in.
In short
- 1.'In his teaching the islands will put their hope' — the Hebrew is torah, law or instruction
- 2.Commentators note the word here carries almost the sense of revelation
- 3.The Mosaic Law already existed, so a law the nations newly hope in implies something further
- 4.'A light for the Gentiles' — a mission to non-Jews
- 5.Isaiah 42:8: God will not yield His glory to another or His praise to idols — spoken to a peninsula of 360 idols
The claim being examined
Isaiah says the servant will not falter until he establishes justice, that the islands will put their hope in his torah, and that he will be a light for the Gentiles.
The Islamic position
The Hebrew word is torah — law or instruction. A new law implies something beyond the Law of Moses (PBUH), which already existed when Isaiah wrote.
Analysis
Notice how the pieces interlock: a servant from the land of Kedar, bringing a new revealed law, sent to non-Jews, in a context that condemns idolatry and refuses to share God's glory with another. The last point is worth pressing gently, because a passage insisting that God shares His glory with no one is an awkward foundation for a servant who is himself divine. The Prophet arrived among a people who had received no prior messenger, which matches Isaiah's "unfamiliar paths" and the Qur'an's own description.
From the Qur'an
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا كَآفَّةًۭ لِّلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًۭا وَنَذِيرًۭا
wamā arsalnāka illā kāffatan lilnnāsi bashīran wanadhīran
We have sent you only as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner to the whole of mankind, but most people do not know.
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ ٱفْتَرَىٰهُ ۚ بَلْ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًۭا مَّآ أَتَىٰهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍۢ مِّن قَبْلِكَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ
am yaqūlūna if'tarāhu bal huwa l-ḥaqu min rabbika litundhira qawman mā atāhum min nadhīrin min qablika laʿallahum yahtadūna
That you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you.
From the Bible
Hebrew
He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching (torah) the islands will put their hope.
Read it in their BibleHebrew
I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.
Read it in their BibleHebrew
I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.
Read it in their BibleSources
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