Posted on by wrote in General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible.

Question:

My Muslim friend criticized the Bible and referred to his scripture 19:58 [editor’s note: The questioner is referring to Sura 19:58, which does NOT mention these prophets, except Abraham. This quote appears to be a false one.  I am going to assume that he is listing other prophets mentioned somewhere in the Qur’an, or perhaps is reading into the passage things not found there–not mentioned in the referenced sura and ayat] that “Zechariah, John, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Ishmael, and Idris were prophets God had blessed, from the descendants of Adam, and from those God carried with Noah, and from the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and from those God guided and selected.” but the Bible does not call some of them prophets and even “Idris” is not known to the Jews and Christians. What should be the Christian response?

Answer:

Apparently, Muhammad claimed that John is a prophet.  Who is this John?  Is it the John who was an apostle of Jesus?  If Muhammad says John is a prophet, then where are these prophecies?  Did Muhammad give us the words of this “prophet?”  Then Muhammad tells us that Abraham was a prophet.  But Abraham is never called a prophet in the Old Testament.  Where are these prophecies of Abraham?  The same for Isaac and Jacob.  Then Muhammad claims that Ishmael was a prophet.  But he gives us none of these supposed prophecies.  Ishmael is no prophet as far as I know.  There is no evidence whatsoever that the Jews considered Ishmael to be a prophet.  Where are these prophecies?  And who is this person Idris?  When and where did he live?  What is the evidence that he is even a real person?  If he was in fact a prophet, then where are these prophecies?  Why does a Christian need to defend Idris?
It seems to me that the one who must answer questions about these “prophets” are Muslims.  Idris was no prophet, at least as far as I know.  If he was, then who did he prophesy to, when did he prophesy, and what were these prophecies?  It is Muslims, not Christians, who must answer these questions.  I have literally no reason to believe that this supposed person Idris was a prophet, and it is Muslims, not Christians, who must prove this claim.  This sort of criticism of Christianity only works in closed loops among Muslims, and there is absolutely no reason a Christian needs to respond to this.
John Oakes

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