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Prophet
Muhammad Is The "Shiloh"
Prophet Jacob, the grandson of Prophet
Abraham, is lying sick in bed; he is in his one hundred
and forty-seventh year, and the end is approaching
rapidly. He summons his twelve sons and their families to
his bedroom; and he blesses each son and foretells the
future of his tribe. It is generally known as the
"Testament of Jacob," and is written in an
elegant Hebrew style with a poetic touch. It contains a
few words which are unique and never occur again in the
Bible. The Testament recalls the varied events in the life
of a man who has had many ups and downs. He is reported to
have taken advantage of his brother's hunger and bought
his right of birth for a dish of pottage, and deceived his
blind old father and obtained the blessing which by
birthright belonged to Esau. He served seven years to
marry Rachel, but was deceived by her father, being
married to her elder sister Liah; so he had to serve
another term of seven years for the former. The massacre
of all the male population by his (Jacob's) two sons Simon
and Livi for the pollution of his (Jacob's) daughter Dina
by Schechim, the prince of that town, had greatly grieved
him. The shameful conduct of his first-born, Reubin, in
defiling his father's bed by lying with his concubine was
never forgotten nor forgiven by him. But the greatest
grief that befell him after the loss of his beloved wife
Rachel was the disappearance for many years of his
favorite son Joseph. His descent into Egypt and his
meeting with Joseph caused him great joy and the recovery
of his lost sight. Jacob was a Prophet, and surnamed by
God "Israel," the name which was adopted by the
twelve tribes that descended from him.
The policy of usurpation of the
birthright runs through the records of the Book of
Genesis, and Jacob is represented as a hero of this
violation of the rights of other persons. He is reported
to give the birthright of his grandson Manashi to his
younger brother Ephraim, in spite of the remonstrances of
their father Joseph (chap. xlviii.). He deprives his
firstborn son of his birthright and accords the blessing
to Judah, his fourth son, because the former had lain with
Bilha, Jacobs's "concubine," who is the mother
of his two sons Dan and Nephthali; and deprives the latter
because he was no better than the other, inasmuch as he
committed adultery with his own daughter-in-law Thamar,
who bore a son who became an ancestor of David and of
Jesus Christ (chap. xxv. 22, chap. xxxviii.)!
It is indeed incredible that the author,
or at least the final editor, of this book was
"inspired by the Holy Spirit," as the Jews and
Christians allege. Jacob is reported to have married two
sisters simultaneously, an action condemned by God's law
(Lev. xviii. 18). In fact, with the exception of Joseph
and Benjamin, his other sons are described as rough
shepherds, liars (to their father and to Joseph),
murderers, adulterers, which means it was a family not
becoming a Prophet at all. Of course, the Muslims cannot
accept any calumny against a Prophet or a righteous man
unless it be expressly recorded or mentioned in the
Qur'an. We do not believe the sin attributed to Judah to
be true (cf. chap. xxxviii), otherwise the blessing
accorded to him by Jacob would be a contradiction; and it
is this very blessing that we propose to study and discuss
in this article.
Jacob could not have blessed his son
Judah if the latter was really the father of his own
daughter-in-law's son, Peres, for both adulterers would be
condemned to death by the Law of God, Who had given him
the gift of prophecy (Lev. xx 12). However, the story of
Jacob and that of his not very exemplary family is to be
found in the Book of Genesis (chaps. xxv. - 1).
The famous prophecy, which may be
considered as the nucleus of this testament, is contained
in the tenth verse of the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis
as follows: -
"The Sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, And the Lawgiver from between his feet, Until the
coming of Shiloh, And to him belongeth the obedience of
peoples."
This is the literal translation of the
Hebrew text as much as I can understand it. There are two
words in the text which are unique and occur nowhere else
in the Old Testament. The first of these words is
"Shiloh," and the other "yiqha" or
"yiqhath (by construction or contraction).
Shiloh is formed of four letters, shin,
yod, lamed and hi. There is a "Shiloh," the
proper name of a town in Ephraim, (1 Sam. i. etc.), but
there is no yod in it. This name cannot be identical with,
or refer to, the town where the Ark of the Covenant or the
Tabernacle was; for until then no sceptre or lawgiver had
appeared in the tribe of Judah. The word certainly refers
to a person, and not to a place.
As far as I can remember, all the
versions of the Old Testament have preserved this original
Shiloh without giving it a rendering. It is only the
Syriac Pshitta (in Arabic called al-Bessita) that has
translated it into "He to whom it belongs." It
is easy to see how the translator has understood the word
as composed of "sh" abridged form of asher=
"he, that," and loh (the Arabic lehu) = "is
his. ' Consequently, according to the Pshitta, the clause
will be read in the following manner: "Until he to
whom it belongeth come, And," etc. The personal
pronoun "it" may refer to the sceptre and the
lawgiver separately or collectively, or perhaps to the
"obedience" in the fourth clause of the verse,
the language being poetic. According to this important
version the sense of the prediction would appear to be
plainly this:-
"The royal and prophetic character
shall not pass away from Judah until he to whom it belongs
come, for his is the homage of people."
But apparently this word is derived from
the verb shalah and therefore meaning "peaceful,
tranquil, quiet and trust-worthy."
It is most likely that some old
transcriber or copyist currente calamo and with a slip of
pen has detached the left side of the final letter het,
and then it has been transformed into hi, for the two
letters are exceedingly alike being onlvery slightly
different on the left side. If such an error has been
transmitted in the Hebrew manuscript - either
intentionally or not - then the word is derived from
shalah, ' to send, delegate," the past participle of
which would be shaluh - that is, "one who is sent,
messenger."
But there appears no reasonable cause
for a deliberate change of het for hi, since the yod is
preserved in the present shape of Shiloh, which has no vaw
that would be necessary for the past participle Shaluh.
Besides, I think the Septuagint has retained the Shiloh as
it is. The only possible change, therefore, would be of
the final letter het into hi. If such be the case, then
the word would take the form of Shiluah and correspond
exactly to the "Messenger of Yah," the very
title given to Muhammad alone "Rasul Allah,"
i.e. "the Messenger of God." I know that the
term "shiluah" is also the technical word for
the "letter of divorce," and this because the
divorced wife is "sent" away.
I can guess of no other interpretation
of this singular name besides the three versions I have
mentioned.
Of course, it goes without saying that
both the Jews and Christians believe this blessing to be
one of the foremost Messianic prophecies. That Jesus, the
Prophet of Nazareth, is the Christ or Messiah no Muslim
can deny, for the Qur'an does acknowledge that title. That
every Israelite King and High Priest was anointed with the
holy oil composed of olive oil and various spices we know
from the Hebrew Scriptures (Lev. xxx. 23-33 ) . Even the
Zardushti Koresh King of Persia is called God's Christ:
"Thus says the Lord to His Christ Cyrus," etc.
(Isa. xlv. 1-7).
It would be superfluous here to mention
that although neither Cyrus nor Jesus were anointed by the
sacred anointment, yet they are called Messiahs.
As to Jesus, even if his prophetic
mission were recognized by the Jews, his Messianic office
could never be accepted by them. For none of the marks or
characteristics of the Messiah they expect are to be found
in the man whom they attempted to crucify. The Jews expect
a Messiah with the sword and temporal power, a conqueror
who would restore and extend the kingdom of David, and a
Messiah who would gather together the dispersed Israel
unto the land of Canaan, and subdue many nations under his
yoke; but they could never acclaim as such a preacher upon
the Mount of Olives, or one born in a manger.
To show that this very ancient prophecy
has been practically and literally fulfilled in Prophet
Muhammad the following arguments can be advanced. By the
allegorical expressions "the Sceptre" and
"Law-giver" it is unanimously admitted by the
commentators to mean the royal authority and the prophecy
respectively. Without stopping long to examine the root
and derivation of the second singular word
"yiqha," we may adopt either of its two
significations, "obedience" or
"expectation."
Let us follow the first interpretation
of Shiloh as given in the Pshitta version: "he to
whom it belongs." This practically means "the
owner of the sceptre and the law," or "he who
possesses the sovereign and legislative authority, and his
is the obedience of nations." Who, then, can this
mighty Prince and great Legislator be? Certainly not
Moses, for he was the first organizer of the Twelve Tribes
of Israel, and before him there never appeared a king or
prophet in the tribe of Judah. Decidedly not David,
because he was the first king and prophet descended from
Judah. And evidently not Jesus Christ, because he himself
repudiated the idea that the Messiah whom Israel was
expecting was a son of David (Matt. xxii. 44, 45; Mark
xii. 35-37; Luke xx. 41-44). He has left no written law,
and never dreamt of assuming the royal sceptre; in fact,
he advised the Jews to be loyal to Caesar and pay him
tribute, and on one occasion the crowds attempted to make
him a king, but he escaped and hid himself. His Gospel was
written on the tablet of his heart, and he delivered his
message of "good news," not in scripto, but
orally. In this prophecy there is no question of the
salvation from original sin by the blood of a crucified
person, nor of a reign of a god-man over human hearts.
Besides, Jesus did not abrogate the Law of Moses, but he
distinctly declared that he had come to fulfill it; nor
was he the last Prophet; for after him St. Paul speaks of
many "prophets" in the Church.
Prophet Muhammad came with military
power and the Qur'an to replace the old Jewish worn-out
sceptre and the impracticable and old-fashioned law of
sacrifices and of a corrupt priesthood. He proclaimed the
purest religion of the one true God, and laid down the
best practical precepts and rules for morals and conduct
of men. He established the religion of Islam which has
united into one real brotherhood many nations and peoples
who associate no being with the Almighty. All Muslim
peoples obey the Prophet of Allah, love and reverence him
as the establisher of their religion, but never worship
him or give him divine honor and attributes. He crushed
and put an end to the last vestiges of the Jewish
principality of Qureihda and Khaibar, having destroyed all
their castles and fortifications.
The second interpretation of the
tetragram "Shilh," pronounced Shiloh, is equally
important and in favor of Prophet Muhammad. As it was
shown above, the word signifies "tranquil, peaceful,
trustworthy, quiet" and so forth. The Aramaic form of
the word is Shilya, from the same root Shala or shla. This
verb is not used in Arabic.
It is a well-known fact in the history
of the Prophet of Arabia that, previous to his call to the
Messengership, he was extremely quiet, peaceful,
trustworthy, and of a contemplative and attractive
character; that he was surnamed by the people of Mecca
"Muhammad al-Emm." When the Meccans gave this
title "Emm" or "Amm" to Muhammad they
had not the remotest idea of "Shiloh," yet the
ignorance of the idolatrous Arabs was made use of by God
to confound the unbelieving Jews, who had scriptures and
knew their contents. The Arabic verb amana, like the
Hebrew aman, to be "firm, constant, secure," and
therefore "to be tranquil, faithful and
trustworthy," shows that "amin" is
precisely the equivalent of Shiloh, and conveys all the
significations contained in it.
Prophet Muhammad, before he was called
by God to preach the religion of Islam and to abolish the
idolatry which he successfully accomplished, was the most
quiet and truthful man in Mecca; he was neither a warrior
nor a legislator; but it was after he assumed the
prophetical mission that he became the most eloquent
speaker and the best valiant Arab. He fought with the
infidels sword in hand, not for his own personal interest,
but for the glory of Allah and for the cause of His
religion - Al-Islam. He was shown by God the keys of the
treasures of the earth, but he did not accept them, and
when he died he was practically a poor man. No other
worshiper of God, whether a king or a prophet, has
rendered such an admirably great and precious service to
God and to man as Prophet Muhammad has done: to God in
eradicating the idolatry from a large part of the globe,
and to man by having given the most perfect religion and
the best laws for his guidance and security. He seized the
sceptre and the law from the Jews; fortified the former
and perfected the latter. If Prophet Muhammad were
permitted to reappear to-day in Mecca or Medina, he would
be met by the Muslims with the same affection and
"obedience" as he saw there during his earthly
life. And he would see with a deep sense of pleasure that
the Holy Book he had delivered is the same without the
least alteration in it, and that it is chanted and recited
exactly as he and his companions did. He would be glad to
congratulate them on their fidelity to the religion and to
the Oneness of Allah; and to the fact that they have not
made of him a god or son of a god.
As to the third interpretation of the
name "Shiloh" I remarked that it might possibly
be a corruption of "Shaluah," and in that case
it would indisputably correspond to the Arabic title of
the Prophet so often repeated in the Qur'an, namely,
"Rasul" which means exactly the same as Shaluah
does, i.e. "a Messenger." "Shaluah
Elohim" of the Hebrews is precisely the "Rasul
Allah" which phrase is chanted five times a day by
the Crier to the Prayers from the minaret of all mosques
in the world.
In the Qur'an several prophets,
particularly those to whom a sacred scripture has been
delivered, are mentioned as Rasul; but nowhere in the Old
Testament do we come across Shiloh or Shaluah except in
the Testament of Jacob.
Now from whatever point of view we try
to study and examine this prophecy of Jacob, we are
forced, by the reason of its actual fulfillment in Prophet
Muhammad, to admit that the Jews are vainly expecting the
coming of another Shiloh, and that the Christians are
obstinately persisting in their error in believing that it
was Jesus who was intended by Shiloh.
Then there are other observations which
deserve our serious consideration. In the first place it
is very plain that the sceptre and the legislator would
remain in the tribe of Judah so long as the Shiloh does
not appear on the scene. According to the Jewish claim,
Shiloh has not come yet. It would follow, therefore, that
both the Royal Sceptre and the Prophetical Succession were
still in existence and belonged to that tribe. But both
these institutions have been extinct for over thirteen
centuries.
In the second place it is to be observed
that the tribe of Judah also has disappeared together with
its royal authority and its sister - the prophetical
succession. It is an indispensable condition for the
maintenance of a tribal existence and identity to show
that the tribe as a whole lives either in its own
fatherland or elsewhere collectively and speaks its own
language. But with the Jews the case is just the reverse.
To prove yourself to be an Israelite, you need hardly
trouble yourself about it; for anybody will recognize you,
but you can never prove yourself to belong to one of the
twelve tribes. You are dispersed and have lost your very
language.
The Jews are forced to accept one or the
other of the two alternatives, namely, either to admit
that Shiloh has come already, but that their forefathers
did not recognize him, or to accept the fact that there
exists no longer a tribe of Judah from which Shiloh will
have to descend.
As a third observation it is to be
remarked that the text clearly implies, and much against
the Judeo-Christian belief, that Shiloh is to be a total
stranger to the tribe of Judah, and even to all the other
tribes. This is so evident that a few minutes of
reflection are sufficient to convince one. The prediction
clearly indicates that when Shiloh comes the sceptre and
the lawgiver will pass away from Judah; this can only be
realized if Shiloh be a stranger to Judah. If Shiloh is a
descendant of Judah, how could those two elements cease to
exist in that tribe? It could not be a descendant of any
of the other tribes either, for the sceptre and the
lawgiver were for all Israel, and not for one tribe only.
This observation explodes the Christian claim as well. For
Jesus is a descendant of Judah through Mary.
I very often wonder at these itinerant
and erring Jews. For over twenty-five centuries they have
been learning a hundred languages of the peoples whom they
have been serving. Since both the Ishmaelites and the
Israelites are the offspring of Abraham, what does it
matter to them whether Shiloh comes from Judah or Zebulun,
from Esau or Isachar, from Ishmael or Isaac, as long as he
is a descendant of their father Abraham? Obey the Law of
Prophet Muhammad, becomes Muslims, and then it will be
that you can go and live in your old fatherland in peace
and security.
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