Muhammad in Isaiah 29:12?

Since the Qur’an claims that the Bible contains clear prophecies about Muhammad (see 7:157 and 61:6), Muslims have been trying to locate these prophecies for nearly fourteen centuries. Some of Islam’s most popular apologists, such as Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik, have attempted to show that the Bible refers to Muhammad in Isaiah 29:12. Zakir Naik writes:

Muhammad (pbuh) is prophesised in the book of Isaiah:

It is mentioned in the book of Isaiah chapter 29 verse 12:

“And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.”

When Archangel Gabrail commanded Muhammad (pbuh) by saying Iqra – “Read”, he replied, “I am not learned”.

So Muhammad is supposedly the illiterate man who receives a book in Isaiah 29.

But Isaiah 29:12 isn’t about a prophet; it’s about people who rejects God’s prophets! At this point, we can only wonder why Muslims who respect Muhammad don’t accuse Zakir Naik and Ahmed Deedat of heresy or apostasy when they apply this verse to Muhammad.

In the first ten verses of Isaiah 29, God announces that he’s going to punish Israel and Israel’s enemies. He’s going to punish Israel for sinning against him, and he’s going to punish Israel’s enemies for attacking Israel. God sends the prophet Isaiah to announce these punishments, but God tells Isaiah that people won’t listen to the message. He says in verses 11 and 12:

The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

Notice what happens here. Isaiah has been given a revelation. But God tells him that people will reject the revelation. The message is like a sealed book. If it’s given to someone who can read, he will say, “I can’t read it, because it’s sealed.” If it’s given to someone who can’t read, he will say, “I don’t know how to read.” Either way, people refuse to heed God’s warning.

Interestingly, in the very next verse (Isaiah 29:13), God says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Jesus quotes this very passage in the Gospels to condemn people for their disobedience to God (see Matthew 15:7-9).

So when Muslims like Zakir Naik and Ahmed Deedat say that Isaiah 29:12 refers to Muhammad, they’re telling us that Muhammad was spiritually blind, that his heart was far from God, that he rejected God’s revelation, and that Jesus would have condemned him just as he condemned the Pharisees.

Of course, if our Muslim friends want to convince us that this verse about people rejecting God’s revelations is actually about Muhammad, we have no reason to object. We can only pray that they won’t follow Muhammad down the path of rebellion against God.