Re: Ishmaelites Or Midianites you wrote; “The Ishmaelites were descendants of Ishmael, a son of Abraham and Hagar (Genesis 16:1-16). The Midianites were descendants of Midian, a son of Abraham and Keturah, the wife he took after Sarah died (Genesis 25:1-2). Therefore the two groups were related and both being nomadic probably traveled together.”
I just finished reading this and was wondering if these two groups split at some point? If they did can you please point out where it is in the Bible? The reason I ask is because I was of the opinion that Islam came from the descendants of Ishmael the son of Hagar. Who would the descendants of the Midianities be or did the two groups become one?
I read somewhere that Mohammed was a descendant of Kedar, the second son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13). The land of the Midianites was east of the Red Sea, immediately south of the land settled by the descendants of Kedar. Moses spent 40 years in Midian after killing an Egyptian soldier and married a daughter of Jethro, a Midianite priest (Exodus 2:11-22).
The Midianites were conquered by Gideon in Judges 7-8. Judges 7:12 says the camp of Midian included all the eastern peoples which would have included the descendants of Ishmael. In Judges 8:22-24 the terms Midianite and Ishmaelite were again used in reference to the same people. The descendants of these desert tribes are called the Bedouin today.