Some refer chapter 5:16, of the Song of Songs, to Muhammad, simply because in the Hebrew the word mahamaddim, "delights," "delightfulnesses," occurs there, and is derived from the same root ([1], [2])

But we find that the word in Hebrew is a common, and not a proper noun (i.e. not a name), as the use of the plural here shows.

The same word occurs again as a common noun in Hosea 9:6,16; 1 Kings 20:6; Lamentations 1:10,11; 2:4; Isaiah 64:10; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Ezekiel 24:16,21,25. In the last passage (Ezekiel 24:16, "the desire of thine eyes") it is applied to a woman, Ezekiel's wife (compare verse 18), and to the sons and daughters of the idolatrous Jews (verse 25). It would be just as wise to apply the word to Muhammad HERE as in the Song of Songs.

In Arabic many words are formed from the same root , but they do not on that account denote Muhammad. An ignorant Muslim might just as well assert that Muhammad's name occurred in Surah 1, Al Fatihah, verse 1: Al hamdo lillahi Rabbi 'lalamin ("Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds"). In the same way a Hindu might assert that the name of Ram or some other of his deities was mentioned in the Qur'an, because in Sura 30, Ar-Rum, verse 1, we read " the Romans have been overcome," where Arabic dictionaries give "Rum" as if derived from the root "ram". This kind of argument is unworthy of men of learning and judgement.

A newsgroup article in regard to that:

      Song of Songs 5:16                       shyr hshyrym 5,16

      his mouth is sweets                      Hkw mmtqym
      and all of him is delights               wklw mHmdym
      this is my love                          zh dwdy
      and this is my darling                   wzh r`y
      daughters of Jerusalem                   bnwt yrwshlm

      Song of Songs 5:16 is no more a reference to Muhammad than it is to
      Mumattaq or to David.  Finding the name of Muhammad is child's play.

      Because Arabic and Hebrew share a cognate word [Hmd], there are of
      course several other similar occurrences in the Hebrew scriptures.

      The New Bantam-Megiddo Hebrew & English Dictionary lists...

              Hmd (yHmwd) p           covet, lust after
              Hmd z                   delight, loviness
              Hmdh n                  desire, object of desire
              Hmdnwt                  covetousness, lustfulness

It is also interesting to note: Many Muslims are "outraged" that something like the Song of Songs by Solomon which is a love song and sometimes very open in its erotic language could be part of the Word of God, the Bible. But then, they completely "forget" this argument and try to find in the middle of this very same love poem expressing this woman's desire for her lover the name of Muhammad and are not the least embarrassed by this. Have a look at the whole context of Song of Songs 5-6. The argument goes: This should not be in the Bible, such erotic language is unworthy of the Word of God, but it is a prophecy of Muhammad nevertheless.

A further problem is that even though Muslims need to find Muhammad mentioned because the Qur'an claims so, the Song of Songs is neither part of the Torah nor the Gospel, so that this verse wouldn't help at all to satisfy this demand of the Qur'an even if it were to speak about Muhammad.

Bible Commentary Index
Answering Islam Home Page