http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOXTS9lahKsMOHAMMED'S GENEALOGY
In order to make the claim that Mohammed was descended from Ishmael, 8th century Muslim "historian" Ibn Ishak invented a genealogy for him. This was, of course, done without a single historical reference that preceded Mohammed. Sadly, for Muslims - even today - Ishak's genealogy trumps the one we received through Moses and the record of the Old Testament. Not only did Ishaq assign what were, from his tribe the Quraysh, modern Arabic language names, to the characters he created in Mohammed's lineage that were supposed to have lived thousands of years before, but he included only 40 generations between the two.
There are 2,670 years between Ishmael and Mohammed. Suggesting only 40 generations, would require over 66 years per generation. Yet we know from actual Arabian historical record that the average Arabian generation was about 17-20 years.
For example, the series of rulers in Saba and Himyar of Yemen begin with Karibil A. in the 9th century B.C., and run through Maadikarib III, King of Himyar, who was number 102 - the last one in the series. He reigned between 575-577 A.D. These 102 kings span a period of about 1,400 years. A few of those rulers were brothers of the same generation so there are actually around 75 to 80 generations in that line, thus we can conclude that the average Arabian generation was about 17-20 years
Mohammed himself had a 6 year old "wife", that he consummated his marriage with when she was 9 years old, so a generation of 17-20 years would not be a surprise.* Indeed Muslims try to legitimize that marriage by declaring that desert dwelling girls reached sexual maturity earlier than girls in other parts of the world, and that is what they suggest determines whether a girl is of child bearing age, though I don't believe the medical community would agree.
So then the 2,670 years between Ishmael and Mohammed, divided by 20 year generations, would have required over 133 Arabic generations between Ishmael and Mohammed. So Ishak not only invented characters of a couple thousand years before, and ascribed 8th century styled Arabic names to them, but also spanned 2,670 years with only 40 generations.
However, according to many hadith writers, Mohammed himself prohibited any tracing of his genealogy past the 17th generation. This is one reason that Ibn-Ishak was considered by the Muslim scholars of his time as being guilty of forgery and fabricating false genealogies. From "Islam: In Light of History".
"Long before Ibn Ishak, Muslims who lived in Mohammed's own time also fabricated genealogies in an attempt to connect Mohammed to the descendants of Ishmael. Mohammed, himself rejected all of those false genealogies, and he put limits regarding the genealogy of his ancestors. Amru bin al-As wrote:
'Mohammed genealogized himself regarding his ancestors until he reached al-Nather bin Kinaneh, then he said 'anyone who claimed otherwise or added further ancestors, has lied.'"
A couple thousand years of history isn't something that is recalled and recorded by a single man, 2,000 years later, but rather is the result of a record that has been noted by the people that lived in or near the times that were written about. Whether in cave paintings, on stone monuments, bowls, pottery, or a written record of the times. Yet Islamic "tradition" was recorded without a single reference to historical record that predated Mohammed.
Muslims even today hold that Mohammed was a descendant of Ishmael, not only in spite of Mohammed's own prohibition against it, but even in light the fact that the name Ishmael does not occur in a single instance within the archaeological or historical record of Arabia, prior to the pens of the 7th and 8th century Islamic "tradition" creators. Compare that with the use of the name Isaac, throughout the history of Israel, for example.
To our Muslim friends, will you continue to reject the 1600 year record of God to mankind, through all of the prophets and witnesses of God's Word, to follow the rehashed fables and fictional history of 7th and 8th century writers, that did little more than expand on Ibn Ishak's fictional history?
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.Please join us in the Islam-Christian Forum at the first link to the right, or below this video, for discussion on this subject and much more.
