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PROOFS OF
MUHAMMAD’S PROPHETHOOD IN THE NEW AND OLD TESTAMENT
Prophet
Muhammad in the Old Testament
Almost
all the previous Prophets predicted the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings. Despite the changes they
have undergone over time, we can still find indications to
his coming in the Torah, Psalms and the Gospels.
A
Prophet from among the brothers of the Israelites who
resembles Moses
For
example, the following verses of the Torah promise the
coming of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings:
The
Lord said to me [Moses]: ‘What they say is good. I
will raise up for them a Prophet like you among their
brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he
will tell them everything I command him. If anyone
does not listen to My words that the Prophet speaks in
My Name, I will Myself call him to account.’
(Deuteronomy, 18.17-9)
It
is clear from these verses that what is meant by ‘a
Prophet like you among their brothers’ is a Prophet who
will come from the line of Ishmael, since Ishmael is the
brother of Isaac, who is the forefather of Moses’
people, the Children of Israel. The only Prophet who came
from the line of Ishmael after Moses and resembled him in
many ways, for example, in the bringing of a new law and
waging of war on his enemies, is the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings. Also, the following verse
of the Bible in Deuteronomy, 34.12 (Istanbul 1885),
clearly states that no Prophet like Moses did ever appear
among the Israelites:
With
respect to his virtues and awesome deeds, no Prophet like
Moses, whom the Lord knows face to face, no longer
appeared among Israel.
The
Quran points to the same fact:
We
have sent to you a Messenger as a witness over you,
even as We sent to Pharaoh a Messenger. (al-Muzzammil,
73.15)
The
sentence, I will put My words in his mouth, and he will
tell them everything I command him, in the verse in
question, means that the promised Prophet will be
unlettered and speak whatever is revealed to him. God
reiterates the same fact in the Quran:
He
does not speak out of [his own] desire. It is but a
Revelation revealed. (al-Najm, 53.3-4)
The
Prophet who shone forth from Mount Paran
The
following verse,
The
Lord came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir;
He shone forth from Mount Paran. (Deuteromony, 33.2)
refers
to the Prophethood of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad
respectively, upon them be peace. Sinai is the place where
the Prophet Moses spoke to God and received the Torah.
Seir, a place in Palestine, is where the Prophet Jesus
received Divine Revelation. Paran is where God manifested
Himself to mankind for the last time through His
Revelation to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings.
Paran
is a mountain range in Makka. It is mentioned in the Torah
(Genesis, 21.19-21) as the area in the desert where Hagar
was left by her husband Abraham, upon him be peace, to
live with her son, Ishmael. The well of Zamzam appeared in
it. As is stated explicitly in the Qur’an (14.35-7),
Abraham left Hagar and Ishmael in the valley of Makka,
which was then an uninhabited place within the mountain
ranges of Paran.
The
verse in Deuteromony, according to the Arabic version
published in London in 1944 and the Ottoman Turkish
version published in Istanbul in 1885), continues:
He
came with myriads of holy ones; in his right hand
appeared to them the fire of the Shari‘a.
This
verse refers to the promised Prophet, Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, who would have numerous Companions
of the highest degree of sainthood. The fire of the
Shari‘a alludes to the fact that the promised Prophet
would be allowed, and even ordered, to fight against his
enemies.
Other
verses in the Old Testament:
In
the Psalms of David, there is the following verse:
O
God, send to us after the interregnum (after the
latest of the successive prophets) one who will
establish (Your) way.’1
Here,
‘one who will establish (Your) way’ refers to the
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
The
following verse is from the Gospels:
A
verse from the Torah says:
Surely
God said to Abraham: ‘Hagar will certainly bear
children. There will appear from her sons one whose
hand will be above all, and the hands of all others
will be opened to him in reverence.’2
Another
verse from the Torah:
And
He said, ‘O Moses, surely I will raise up for them a
Prophet like you, from among their brothers (that is,
from among the children of Ishmael); I will put my
Word in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I
command him. If anyone does not listen to my words
that the prophet speaks in my name, I Myself will call
him to account.’ (Deuteronomy, 18:18-19.)
A
third verse from the Torah:
Moses
said: ‘O my Lord, I have found in the Torah a
community, as the best of the communities, that will
be raised for (the benefit) of mankind; they enjoin
the good and forbid the evil, and they believe in God.
Let it be my community!’ (God) said: ‘That is the
community of Muhammad.’3
This
is a verse from the Psalms:
O
David, a Prophet will come after you, named Ahmad
(Muhammad), the Truthful and the Lord, and his
community will be forgiven.4
From
the Seven ‘Abdullahs, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-
‘As, who made extensive studies of earlier Divine books,
‘Abdullah ibn Salam, who was the first to embrace Islam
from amongst the famous Jewish scholars, and the renowned
scholar Ka‘b ibn al-Akhbar from amongst the foremost
scholars of the Israelites, all pointed out the following
verse in the Torah, which was not then corrupted to its
present extent. The verse, after addressing Moses,
addresses the Prophet to come in the following strain:
O
Prophet, verily We have sent you as a witness, a
bearer of good tidings, a warner and a protection for
the unlettered. You are My slave; I have named you
‘the Reliant on God’, who are not harsh and stern,
and not clamorous in the marketplaces; who do not
repel the evil with evil, but instead pardon and
forgive. God will certainly not take away his life
until He straightens a crooked nation by means of him
(by causing them) to proclaim ‘There is no deity but
God.’5
Another
verse from the Torah states:
Muhammad
is the Messenger of God; his birthplace is Makka, he
will emigrate to Tayba, the center of his rule is
Damascus, and his community are unceasingly occupied
with praise of God.6
In
this verse, for the word Muhammad, a Syriac word meaning
Muhammad is actually mentioned.
Another
verse from the Torah:
You
are My slave and Messenger; I have named you ‘the
Reliant on God.’7
This
verse is also addressed to a Prophet who will emerge after
Moses from the progeny of Ishmael, the cousins of the
children of Isaac.
Here
is another verse from the Torah:
My
slave is a ‘chosen one’, who is not harsh, nor he
is stern.8
The
meaning of ‘Mukhtar’, a chosen one, is the same as
‘Mustafa’, a name of Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings.
The
Prophet who will come after Jesus is referred to as ‘the
Master of the world’ in several places in the Gospels.
(John, 14:30)
This
verse of the Gospel, which has come to describe him,
With
him is an iron staff with which he will fight, as will
his community.9
indicates
that a Prophet will come with a sword to wage Jihad. In
agreement with this verse of the Gospel, the following
Qur’anic verse at the end of Sura al-Fath (Victory),
which refers to some other verses of the Gospel as well as
the one mentioned above, also states that his community,
like him, will be under the obligation of waging Jihad.
And
their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed that
sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then
becomes thick, and it stands in its own stem, filling
the sowers with wonder and delight, so that it fills
the unbelievers with rage at them. (48:29)
In
the Torah, there is the following verse:
The
flags of the holy ones are with him, on his right.
(Deuteronomy, 33:2) 10
In
this verse, the Companions of the Prophet are described as
‘the holy ones’, that is, his Companions are blessed,
righteous, saintly friends of God.
In
Chapter 42 of the Book of Isaiah, there are the following
verses:
Here
is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I
delight; I will put my spirit on him and he will bring
justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he
will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not
snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth
justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he
establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands
will put their hope. (Isaiah, 42:1-4)
These
verses are certain to describe the Prophet Muhammad, who
would come in the last phase of human history.
There
are the following verses in Chapter 4 of the Book of
Micah:
In
the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will
be established as chief among the mountains; it will
be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to
it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go
up the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God. He
will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His
paths.” (Micah, 4:1-2)
These
verses obviously describe the Mount Arafat, the most
blessed mountain of the world, and the nation of Muhammad,
upon him be peace, together with the prayers and praises
that would be offered by the pilgrims who would flock
there from all climes.
The
following verses are from Chapter 72 of Psalms:
He
will rule from sea to sea and
from the River to the ends of the earth.The desert
tribes will bow before him and
his enemies will lick the dust. The
kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will
bring tribute to him; the
kings of the Yemen and Seba will
present him gifts. All
kings will bow down to him and
all nations will serve him. For
he will deliver the needy who cry out, the
afflicted who have no-one to help. He
will take pity on the weak and the needy and
save the needy from death. He
will rescue them from oppression and violence for
precious is their blood in his sight. Long
may he live! May
people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.
...
May
his name endure for ever; may
it continue as long as the sun. All
nations will be blessed through him. and
they will call him blessed. (Psalms, 72:8-17)
These
verses describe the Prophet Muhammad, the Pride of the
World, in a very clear way. Since the Prophet David, has a
prophet come other than the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace, who has spread his religion from east to west, to
whose name many rulers pay tribute, and whose way so many
obey with deep adoration for him, and on whom one fifth of
mankind call, every day, God’s peace and blessings? Is
there anyone who fits this description other than the
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings?
Prophet
Muhammad in the New Testament
More
emphatically and more frequently than any other Prophet,
the Prophet Jesus, upon him be peace, gave the good
tidings of the Last Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings.
The
Capstone in the Gospel of Matthew
Jesus
said:
Have
you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the
builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord
has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be
taken away from you and given to a people who will
produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be
broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be
crushed.’ (Matthew, 21.42-4)
The
‘capstone’ mentioned in the verses cannot be the
Prophet Jesus for the verses refer to the crushing
victories that the followers of the ‘capstone’ will
win against their enemies. No people were ever broken to
pieces or crushed because they resisted Christianity.
Christianity gained ground against the Roman Empire only
after it had lost its original identity and been
reconciled with Roman paganism. The Western dominion over
the world came after scientific thought’s triumph over
the medieval Christian view of nature and was realized in
the form of a ruthless colonialism. Whereas, Islam ruled
almost half of the ‘old’ world for many centuries as a
religion in its original purity and its enemies were many
times defeated before it. In its struggle with other
religions, Islam has always been successful. It is, again,
Islam which is on the rise as both a pure, authentic
religion and as a way of life, and which is the hope of
salvation for humanity more than that, the Prophet Jesus
himself alludes to this fact by stating explicitly that
the kingdom of God will be taken away from his followers
and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
Second,
in a telling detail recorded in a hadith in the Sahih of
al-Bukhari and that of Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings, describes himself as the
‘capstone’ completing the building of Prophethood.
Paraklit,
the Spirit of Truth
In
the Gospel of John, Jesus promises the arrival of the Last
Prophet using a variety of names:
But
I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am
going away. Unless I go away, the ‘Paraklit’ will
not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in
regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. (John,
16:7-8)
In
these verses, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, is referred to as the Paraklit. Paraklit11
is a Greek word meaning the Distinguisher between Truth
and Falsehood. Although Christian interpreters have given
this word different meanings such as Counselor (Gideons
International) or Helper (American Bible Society) or
Comforter (the Company of the Holy Bible), and claimed
that it refers to the Holy Spirit, it is impossible even
for Christians to establish whether the Holy Spirit has
come down after Jesus and done what Jesus foretold he
would do.
If,
according to Christians, the Holy Spirit is the Archangel
Gabriel, he came many times to the Prophet Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings, to bring Divine Revelations.
Further, Jesus mentioned and predicted the Paraklit with
other different names, but the same function, as is seen
in the following verses:
When
Paraklit comes - the Spirit of truth - who comes from
the Father, he will testify about me. (John, 15.26)
I
have much more to say to you, more than you can now
bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will
guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his
own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will
tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to
me by taking what is mine and making it known to you.
(John, 16.12-14)
I
will not speak with you much longer, for the Prince of
this world is coming. And I posses nothing of him.
(John, 14.30)
Who
has come after Jesus other than the Prophet Muhammad, as
the Comforter who has comforted human beings against fear
of death, against worries about the future, against
spiritual ailments of all kinds? As the Helper, who has
helped mankind to attain real peace and happiness in both
worlds? As the Prince of the world, who has ruled almost
half of the world for fourteen centuries, and who has
become the beloved of billions? And as the Spirit of truth
who testified to Jesus, brought glory to him by declaring
his Prophethood against the denial of the Jews and false
deification of him by Christians, and restoring his
religion to its pristine purity through the Book he
brought? What shortcomings do the Western Christians
attribute to the Prophet Muhammad, in contrast to Jesus
and other Prophets, that, while almost all of the
Christians of the ‘Middle East’ believed in him and
converted to Islam within a few decades of his death, they
persist in their denial of him and offer no justification?
Mawlana
Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, a great Sufi saint, expresses in the
following stanza the good tidings of the Prophet Muhammad
by the Gospel:
In
the Gospel Mustafa is mentioned with his attributes,
in him is the mystery of all the Prophets; he is the
bringer of happiness. The Gospel mentions him with his
external form and features, and also with his personal
virtues and Prophetic qualities.
In
spite of the changes they have been subjected to over
time, the Old and New Testaments still contain references
to the Prophet Muhammad, only some of which we have
quoted. The late Hussayn Jisri found one hundred and
fourteen such allusions and quoted them in his Risala
al-Hamidiya.
Note
In
the books of other Prophets, God’s Messenger, upon him
be peace and blessings, is mentioned with such Syriac and
Hebrew names as correspond to Ahmad, Muhammad and Mukhtar.
In the Pages of the Prophet Shu‘ayb, upon him be peace,
his name is Mushaffah, meaning Muhammad. In the Torah, he
is mentioned as Munhamanna, which means Muhammad, and as
Himyata, meaning ‘the Prophet of al-Haram’. In the
Psalms, he is named al-Mukhtar, and again in the Torah,
al-Hatam al-Khatam. Both in the Torah and the Psalms, he
is referred to as Muqim al-Sunna, which means the one who
establishes and enforces the Divine way for mankind. In
the Pages of Abraham, upon him be peace, and in the Torah,
he is mentioned as Mazmaz, and again in the Torah, as
Ahyad.
God’s
Messenger himself said, My name in the Qur’an is
Muhammad, in the Bible Ahmad, and in the Torah Ahyad. In
the Bible, he is also referred to as ‘the Possessor of
the Sword and the Staff’. In-deed, among the Prophets
who carried the sword, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, is the greatest one, who was also
commanded to perform Jihad together with his community.
The Gospel refers to him also as the one who wears a
crown. What is meant here by crown is turban, and it is
the Arabs who have worn headcovers with a wrapper around
them since ancient times. Hence, the reference is
undoubtedly to the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings.
In
the tomb of Shamun al-Safa, the famous traveler Awliya’
Calabi saw the following verses in the Gospel, written on
a gazelle hide: ‘I’tun (A youth) Azribun (from the
progeny of Abraham) peruftun (is to be a Prophet.) Law ghıslin
(He will not be a liar.) Bent afzulat (His birthplace is
Makka;) ki kalushir (he will come with righteousness;)
tunuminin (his blessed name) mavamid (is Ahmad Muhammad.)
Isfedus (His followers) takardis (will prosper in this
world,) bist bith (and also in the next.)
Certainly,
Jesus frequently gave in the Gospels the glad tidings that
the most significant leader of mankind would come, and
mentioned him with some names in Syriac and Hebrew, which
mean, as observed by meticulous experts, Ahmad, Muhammad,
and Faruq (who distinguishes the truth from falsehood).
1.Although
it does not exist word for word in the present
editions of the Bible, it is recorded in Hujjat Allah
‘ala al-‘Alamin fi Mu’jizat al-Sayyid
al-Mursalin by Yusuf Nahbani, p. 104.
2.
Although it does not exist word for word in the
present versions of the Bible, it is recorded by
‘Ali al-Qari in his Sharh al-Shifa’, 1:743.
However, we read in the Torah, the following verses:
I
will make the son of the maidservant (Hagar) into a
nation.(Genesis, 21:13). Hagar, lift the boy up and
take him by the hand, for I will make him into a
great nation (21:18).
3. ‘Ali
al-Qari, al-Shifa’ al-Sharif, 1:746.
4. Ali al-Qari, al-Shifa’ al-Sharif, 1:746.
5. Bukhari, Buyu’, 50; I. Hanbal, Musnad, 2:174;
Darimi, 1:14-15.
6. Darimi, 1:14-15; Abu Na‘im, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa,
1:72.
7. Kastalani, al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya, 6:192.
8. ‘Ali al-Qari, ibid., 1:739.
9. Yusuf Nahbani, Hujjat Allah ‘ala al-‘Alamin fi
Mu’jizat al-Sayyid al-Mursalin, 105.
10.This is almost the same in many versions of the
Bible, i.e., in the one published by The Bible Company
established in Istanbul, but we come across a
different translation, if not an alteration, in the
version published by Gideon International, which
reads: ‘He came with myriads of holy ones from the
south, from his mountain slopes’ (Deuteronomy,
33:2).
11. Paraclete is originally a Greek word. According to
Webster’s New World Dictionary, it derives from the
Greek word parakletos meaning intercessor, advocate,
pleader. However, Abidin Pasha, a nineteenth-century
scholar from Yanya, Greece, who knew Greek very well
and whose works on Greek literature were highly
praised by Greek authorities, writes that the origin
of Paraclete is piriklitos, meaning Ahmad, the one who
is much praised. (Hussain Jisri, Risala al-Hamidiya,
59). We also read in the Qur’an that Jesus predicted
the Prophet Muhammad with the name, Ahmad, a synonym
of Muhammad (61:6). Christians assert that by
Paraclete Jesus means the Holy Spirit, but it is
questionable what connection the Holy Spirit has with
interceding, pleading or advocating, which, in fact,
refer to the main attributes of the Prophet Mu-hammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, even though we accept
that the word drives from paracletos. Besides, it
should also be noted that translators of the Gospels
intentionally refrain from writing Paraclete and,
instead, they prefer to translate it, but all
differently. Also, Jesus gives good tidings of the
being to come not only with the name of Paraclete but
also with such names as ‘the Prince of this world’
and the ‘Spirit of truth’, and with many other
functions, which must, of course, belong to a Prophet,
not to a ‘spirit’ or angel.
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