Messianic Prophecies in Isaiah and the Hadith

The eleventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah, attributed to an ancient Israelite prophet named Isaiah, speaks of the promised Davidic Messiah:

Isaiah 11:1 – the promised Messiah is from the progeny of Jesse (King David’s father)

Isaiah 11:2 – the promised Messiah has on him the Spirit of God. Likewise, the Holy Quran describes the Messiah as a Spirit from God رُوحٌ مِّنْهُ (Sura 4:171), and in several other places as being strengthened and aided by the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 11:3 – the promised Messiah will not judge by what his eyes behold or his ears perceive. An example of this is given in the Hadith:

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ "‏ رَأَى عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَجُلاً يَسْرِقُ، فَقَالَ لَهُ أَسَرَقْتَ قَالَ كَلاَّ وَاللَّهِ الَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ‏.‏ فَقَالَ عِيسَى آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ وَكَذَّبْتُ عَيْنِي

The Prophet ﷺ said: Jesus son of Mary saw a man stealing and said: “You stole”. He said: “No, by Allah besides Whom there is no other god!” So Jesus said: “I believe in Allah and disbelieve my eyes.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

Isaiah 11:4 – the promised Messiah will slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. This is affirmed in the Hadith:

فَلاَ يَحِلُّ لِكَافِرٍ يَجِدُ رِيحَ نَفَسِهِ إِلاَّ مَاتَ

“Every disbeliever whom his breath reaches will die.” (Sahih Muslim)

Isaiah 11:5 – the promised Messiah is described as being just “Justice shall be the girdle of his loins”. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ likewise described Jesus son of Mary as being a Hakaman Adlan and Hakaman Muqsitan a ‘Just Ruler’.

Isaiah 11:6-8 – “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid; the calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together, with a little boy to herd them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw. A babe shall play over a viper’s hole, and an infant pass his hand over an adder’s den.”

A Hadith states: “Grudges and mutual hatred will disappear and the venom of every venomous creature will be removed, so that a baby boy will put his hand in the mouth of a snake and it will not harm him, and a baby girl will make a lion run away, and it will not harm her; and the wolf will be among the sheep like their sheepdog. The earth will be filled with peace just as a vessel is filled with water.” (Sunan Ibn Majah: #4077)

Isaiah 11:9 – “For the land shall be filled with devotion to the LORD as water covers the sea.”

The previously cited and other Ahadith also clearly state that in the time of the promised Messiah all other religions shall be ended and only Allah will be worshipped.

 

The rest of the chapter from verse 11 onwards makes mention of various nations such as Assyria. However, Bible scholars doubt the Isaianic authorship of this section of the chapter: “This is one of the only verses in First Isaiah that anticipates the Israelites and Judeans taking vengeance on their enemies. It contradicts not only the prediction of a nonviolent messianic age earlier in this ch but the consistent rejection of national revenge in Isaiah’s prophecies. It may shed additional doubt on Isaianic authorship of vv. 11-16” (Jewish Study Bible: p.808) Nevertheless, verse 15 is a prophecy of the drying up of the Euphrates River: “He will raise His hand over the Euphrates with the might of His wind and break it into seven wadis, so that it can be trodden dry-shod. Thus there shall be a highway for the other part of His people out of Assyria, such as there was for Israel when it left the land of Egypt.” The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ likewise prophesied that the Euphrates River would dry up in the latter-day such that it would disclose a mountain of gold.