Prophecies in Isaiah connected to Muhammad ﷺ and Makkah
Isaiah 9:6
- Ibn Taymiyyah says this verse refers to Muhammad ﷺ as the Seal of Prophets.
- The sign of Prophethood on his shoulder matches Isaiah’s description.
- Neither Solomon nor the Messiah had this mark.
- Sitting on “The throne of David” means inheriting prophethood and leadership from Bani Isra’il.
Isaiah 42:11
- Describes the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.
- Mentions the people of Kedar (son of Isma’il), from whose descendants came Muhammad ﷺ through Mudar.
- Prophecy of glorification and raising voices fulfilled only after the sending of Muhammad ﷺ.
Isaiah 49:16–21
- Ibn Taymiyyah applies this to Makkah, not Bayt al-Maqdis.
- Its walls always guarded, pilgrims and residents are its “children.”
- Oppressors driven away, as in the case of the People of the Elephant.
- Unlike Bayt al-Maqdis, which was destroyed many times, Makkah has always remained inhabited and honoured.
- Allah promised to punish anyone who intends deviation in it (al-Hajj 25).
- The “great number of children” refers to the countless pilgrims who visit and those who face it in prayer, far more than Bayt al-Maqdis.
Isaiah 9:6
They said: The word Archon in the language of the Gospel means the great one, and the archons are the magnified ones. When the Messiah cured a man possessed by jinn, the Jews said: “This one does not expel the devils from men except by the Archon of devils,” meaning their chief.
And the Messiah said in the Gospel: “The Archon of the world will be judged,” meaning either Iblis or the great evil one among mankind. He called him a god in the way the Torah says: “Allah made Moses a god to Pharaoh” meaning a ruler over him and one with authority over him, and like the saying of David to the great men of his people: “You are gods.”
So Isaiah bore witness to the truth of the Prophethood of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and described him with his most special and clearest signs, which is the mark on his shoulder.
By my life, Solomon did not have this mark, nor did the Messiah. And he described him as sitting on the throne of David, meaning that he will inherit from the Children of Israel their Prophethood and their kingdom, and will seize their leadership.
Isaiah 42:11
And Kedar is the son of Ismail, upon agreement of the people, and Rabi’ah and Mudar are from his descendants, and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is from Mudar.
And this filling and glorification did not occur except after the sending of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.
Isaiah 49:16–21
They said: This is a clear statement from Isaiah about the Kaaba. It is the one which Allah clothed with garments of brocade, and entrusted its service to caliphs and kings.
Makkah is the one for which Allah raised children, meaning its pilgrims and residents. And it is Makkah that expelled from it everyone who sought to frighten it or destroy it.
It has always remained honoured, sacred, protected, never humiliated by any human. Even the People of the Elephant, when they aimed to attack it, Allah punished them with the well known punishment. It has always remained inhabited and visited since the time of Ibrahim al Khalil, peace be upon him.
Unlike Bayt al Maqdis, for it has been destroyed time after time, emptied of inhabitants, and the enemy seized it and its people.
The statement of humiliating all who oppose it applies to the Kaaba, not Bayt al Maqdis.
Allah the Exalted said: ﴾وَمَن يُرِدْ فِيهِ بِإِلْحَادٍ بِظُلْمٍ نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ﴿
“And whoever intends therein deviation by wrongdoing, We will make him taste of a painful punishment.” (al Hajj 25).
And al Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (d. 95 AH) held the Kaaba in reverence, and he did not aim his catapult at it, rather he intended Abdullah ibn al Zubayr (d. 73 AH) specifically.
As for the great number of its children, meaning those who make Hajj to it and face it in their prayers, they are many times more than the children of Bayt al Maqdis.
Jawab Al Sahih (5/260-265)
