Nate holds a Holy Bible while question marks float around him, illustrating the confusion over whether Abraham and Moses were Muslim.

Were Abraham & Moses Muslim? Also, Psalm 137:9 Explained (Spoiler: God’s Not Evil)

What happens when someone claims Abraham and Moses were actually Muslims, and the internet’s favorite “gotcha” verse—Psalm 137:9—gets pulled out as proof that God is a monster? Nate takes both questions head-on in this episode of Ask A Christian Podcast. The result is a masterclass in why context matters and why ill-intended surface-level readings of Scripture collapse under scrutiny. If you have ever been stumped by the “baby-smashing psalm” or wondered how to respond when someone insists the biblical patriarchs were proto-Muslims, this episode delivers the clarity you need. This is Psalm 137:9 explained like you have never heard it before, alongside a direct rebuttal to the Abraham-was-Muslim claim.

Psalm 137:9 Explained: The Lament Nobody Reads

The verse reads: “Blessed is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” Skeptics screenshot it, share it, and declare victory. But they never mention what comes before. Psalm 137 is a lament written by Israelites held captive in Babylon—people who had watched Babylonian soldiers do exactly this to their own children. The psalmist is not commanding evil; he is crying out for justice, for the same horror to fall on those who committed it. This is the lex talionis—eye for eye—expressed in raw, unfiltered grief. As one commentator notes, “the children represent the future generations, and so must be destroyed if the enemy is truly to be eradicated”. The psalm is a prayer for Babylon’s destruction, not a divine command for Israelites to commit infanticide. For a deeper look at how Scripture handles justice and mercy, explore our Theology Unpacked category. And for the broader biblical context of imprecatory psalms, read Psalm 137 in full.

The “Abraham Was Muslim” Claim Falls Apart

Islam teaches that Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian but a Muslim monotheist. The Quran even calls him Khalil Allah—Friend of God. But this is theological retrojection, not history. Abraham predated Muhammad by roughly two millennia. Calling him “Muslim” because he submitted to God is like calling every monotheist a Christian because they believe in one God. By that logic, all Muslims are actually Christians—which no Muslim would accept. Moses is mentioned more than any other prophet in the Quran, but that does not make him a follower of Islam. He was a Hebrew prophet who received the Torah. The categories of “Jew,” “Christian,” and “Muslim” as we understand them did not exist in Abraham’s day. For more on how Christians should engage with other faiths truthfully, see our article on graceful disagreement.

Wait, They Are Fine with WAP But Upset About a Lament?

Here is the moment that exposes the inconsistency. The same people who clutch pearls over an ancient Hebrew poem about war atrocities have no problem streaming songs celebrating infidelity, promiscuity, and degradation. When you explain that Psalm 137 is a lament—a grief-stricken cry from traumatized survivors—they do not want the answer. They wanted God to look bad. And when the explanation holds, they pivot. The verse was never the problem for them. The God of the Bible was. That is a spiritual issue, not an intellectual one.