Question for the Dean
I have been reading posts written by a pastor who was Muslim.
He said there is no evidence whatsoever that Ishmael fathered the modern Arab nations. He said that only the Quran says that. And he used the passage in Genesis that says Ishmael married an Egyptian and settled in Egypt. The Quran apparently has him move onward to Saudi Arabia.
Is there actual evidence for this belief anywhere? I know our salvation does not rest upon it but most Christians believe it.
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Hello, Mrs. Martin. Excellent question. Because of the amount of mixing of people groups that has happened in history, especially in the Near East, and the amount of time that has passed, identifying the ancestor of modern people groups becomes a complex matter rather quickly. That being said, there does seem to be evidence for the descent of at least some of the Northern Arabian tribes from Ishmael. Two ancient Northern Arabian tribes, the Qedarites and Nabataeans, share names with two of Ishmael's sons (1 Chronicles 1:28-31), and the tradition of these two tribes claiming descent from Ishmael appears to be very old. Also, Nathaniel T. Jeanson in his book Traced sets forth genetic evidence of a close and deep familial relationship between the Israelites and certain of the Arab groups. Based on this evidence, I would say that, yes, certain of the Arab peoples, though not all, are descended from Ishmael.