prophecy isaiah (pbuh) lived during the seventh century before the

advent of prophet jesus (pbuh). he, as one of the prophets of god prophesied about the coming of prophet muhammad (pbuh) in the bible. of the many prophecies one was the "oracle concerning arabia" in isaiah (21: 13-17) which is self-explanatory:

"the oracle concerning arabia. in the thickets in arabia you will lodge o caravans of de'danites. to the thirsty bring water, meet the fugitive with bread, o inhabitants of the land of tema, for they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle. for thus the lord said to me, 'within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of kedar will come to an end; and the remainder of the archers of the mighty min of the sons of kedar will be few; for the lord, the god of israel, has spoken."

the oracle means a discourse or statement as an answer or a decision given, though ambiguous, usually accepted as an authoritative opinion by wise men whom people of earlier times considered them as prophets of god. for the record, kedar found in genesis (25:13) was the second son of prophet ismael (pbuh) who lived in the wilderness of paran (early name of the whole of makkah) in genesis (21:21).

the first part of the prophecy was about the inhabitants of tema (old name for madinah) who met the fleeing people fresh from battle (e.g., muslim fighters and non-combatants during the early periods of islam), coming from the parts of makkah, they were persecuted by the same people (non –muslims) of the kedar tribe later known as the powerful quraish tribe. however, the people of tema not only received the fleeing people heartily but also gave them all-out support and wholeheartedly embraced islam.

the second part was about the glory of kedar coming to an end. this part coincides with the victorious conquest of maddah by the muslim army from madinah (tema) after they became strong and established. the makkkans never resisted the powerful army of muslims, instead most of the sons of kedar (non-muslims) laid their arms and embraced islam.

the above prophecy remarkably coincide with the earlier prophecy in deuteronomy (33:2) he said, "the lord came from sinai, and downed from se'ir upon us, he shone forth from mount paran, he came from the ton thousands of holy ones, with a fiery law (flaming fire) at his right hand." what referred to as mount paran is similar to the mountain of makkah as is indicated in the geography of the arabian peninsula.

the expression "he shone forth from mount paran," implies the qur'an and the law given to prophet muhammad (pbuh). and the expression "he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with a fiery law (flaming fire) at his right hand" was the exact number of min who accompanied prophet muhammad (pbuh) when he triumphantly returned to makkah from his exile in madinah.