Steed of Truth

Updated At: Mar 11, 2024

Genesis 17:20 - Is Ishmael blessed?

Genesis 17:20 -- And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

Claim: This verse is used by Muslims to prove that Ishmael is blessed and therefore the chosen descendant. So, Muslims argue that Ishmael became a “great nation” through the prophet Muhammad’s teachings and therefore that is the fulfilment of the prophecy in Genesis 17:20.

Refutation: However, in Genesis 17:19 -  Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And the Muslim conveniently left out Genesis 17:21 - But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” So basically, God says I am going to bless Ishmael, but my covenant is with Isaac. The prophecy regarding Ishmael has already been fulfilled in Genesis 25:12-16. As you can see these are the 12 princes. However, Muslims say this cannot be the great nation as these 12 princes became pagans and scripture would never refer to pagans as great nations. However, the scripture does refer to some pagan cities as “great” such as Jonah 4:11 but then let’s say they repented so it does not count. So then let’s go to

No one would say Babylon was great in terms of spirituality when Babylon was eventually destroyed by God’s wrath because of its rebellion, idolatry, and immorality and yet God calls them a “great nation.” So “great” does not mean that they are great spiritually but great in terms of number.

Ishmael is recognized for the vast number of his descendants, rather than for his spirituality or covenant relationship with God. To be spiritually aligned, one must adhere to the covenant established through Isaac's lineage, culminating in the final covenant brought forth by Jesus Christ, the blood of the new covenant.

Well this argumentation that the Muslims proposed assumes that Muhammad is an Ishmaelite. Note: The Quran cannot show one passage to show that Muhammad has any ties with Ishmael through any of these 12 princes or even with Abraham.  According to the bible, in Genesis 21:21, Ishmael settled in the wilderness of Paran, which is not Mecca, it is 100s of miles away from Mecca, and Ishmael married an Egyptian woman. However, according to Islamic sources written about 200 years after Muhammad's death, Ishmael supposedly settled in Mecca with his mother Hagar and married 2 women from the tribe of Jurhim and the 2nd wife, which he kept became the mother of his children and became ancestors of Muhammad. According to biblical history, this version of Ishmael cannot be true. Additionally, some Muslims even say that Ishmael did not initially settle in Mecca but later some of his descendants settled there but now they have tossed out the hadiths because the hadiths do not make that assertion, the hadiths say Ishmael settled in Mecca and built the Kaaba with Abraham. There is no historical, archaeological, textual, and pre-Islamic proof that Ishmael settled in Mecca and was the progenitor that sired Muhammad. This was concocted to give Muhammad some prophetic legitimacy. 

John 14:6 -- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."