In The Name of God, The Most-Merciful The Most-Beneficent
(As-Saff 61:6)
This verse of the Qur’an is clear proof to the Islamic world that Prophet ‘Īsa (as) indeed did give the glad tidings of the coming of Muhammad (s) to his followers[1]. In the following pages we shall examine some of the prophecies in the Bible and attempt to discern as to whom these prophecies refer to. However, it must be kept in mind that due to various different factors we do not today retain a full account of the words and deeds of ‘Īsa[2], and thus the prophecies do not exist in their full form. We shall however take a look at the various different prophecies given in the Bible in their current, albeit incomplete, form and examine as to whom they can be attributed to.
The most prominently cited prophecy, by Muslim scholars especially, is the one repeated four times (see also John 14:15-17 & 25-26, 15:26-27) in the Gospel according to John, as following:
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment… I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
(John 16:7-8, 12-14)
There are several key points to be examined in this passage, and we shall take a look at the ones with the added emphasis.
In this verse ‘Īsa (as) tells his disciples of the coming of the ‘paraclete’ (Greek paraklťos) who will come after he himself is gone. This ‘comforter’, as the word is translated by Christian scholars in this context, will then teach mankind concerning sin and righteousness. Many Muslim scholars have of course taken this to mean Muhammad (s) and many have drawn the comparison of the Greek paraklťos to the word periclytos which carries the meaning ‘praised one’ as per the Qur’anic verse cited above, however the manuscript evidence does not support this comparison of the two words. Christian scholars have therefore commonly seen this verse to refer to the Holy Spirit, referring to the word spirit to support this claim.
However the word spirit is not used solely for immaterial ghosts, but rather in the Biblical tongue it often refers to prophets. For example:
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
(1 John. 4:1)
Thus the appearance of the word spirit alone does not justify the interpretation that the verse speaks of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore there are several objections to this. Firstly the pronoun used to refer to the ‘Spirit of truth’ is he, whereas if it were a spirit the pronoun it (which also exists in the Greek tongue) would be more suitable. Secondly the spirit is told to hear and speak (literally in Greek ‘to emit sounds’) rather than inspire, an action more befitting of a spirit.
Thirdly, ‘Īsa (as) says that he is going away so as to send the Spirit, but the Bible itself says that the Holy Spirit was already with ‘Īsa (as) (Luke 3:22) and John the Baptist from the very womb (Luke 1:15) and the disciples (John 20:21-22). Thus saying that the Holy Spirit cannot come until ‘Īsa (as) would go away is an invalid postulation. In addition in John 14:16 it speaks of another comforter and as far as Christian doctrine is concerned there is only on Holy Spirit. Furthermore ‘Īsa (as) himself is referred to as a paraclete (1. John 2:1-2), where it is often translated with a secondary meaning of ‘advocate’.
So rather the comforter spoken of is a future prophet being foretold by ‘Īsa (as) to his disciples and the fact that it is repeated four times gives it a degree of tawatur and thus an underlying significance. Indeed it was so well known that when John the Baptist emerged the following was asked of him:
“And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
(John 1:19-21)
Curiosity is aroused as to who is “that prophet” spoken of in the passage. Obviously ‘Iisa (as) is ruled out by the verse itself, however the passage does not indicate as to who that prophet could be, but it does demonstrate that there was a general expectation of a prophet to come.
In the first Biblical passage quoted there are several distinguishing features given to the prophet. Firstly it is said that he will not “speak of his own authority” but rather “whatever he hears he will speak”. Therefore this prophet will be receiving revelation from God and relating it to mankind verbatim. This bears a striking resemblance to the following verses:
“Your companion does not err, nor does he go astray; nor does he speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed”
(An-Najm 53:2-4)
The companion spoken of here is of course Muhammad (s), known from his youth as ‘Al-Ameen’ or the ‘truthful one’. This ‘spirit’ of truth came with revelation from God, declaring also the legitimacy of previous prophets including that of ‘Īsa (as); as he will “take what is mine and declare it unto you.” As per Islamic doctrine the sending of many prophets is parallel to the gradual development of mankind’s intellect, culture, and understanding and as each prophet comes he builds upon and complements upon the works of the others, with Prophet Muhammad (s) being the ‘Seal of the Prophets’ effectively completing the message of God to mankind.
“This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion”
(Al-Māida 5:3)
This is in accordance to the teachings of ‘Īsa (as) “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now”. The people at the time of ‘Īsa (as) were not yet ready for the full message of God and therefore mankind had to wait until it had reached that level of maturity to receive such a message; surely God knows best.
“O followers of the Book [Christian and Jews]! Indeed Our Messenger has come to you explaining to you after a cessation of the (mission of the) messengers”
(Al-Māida 5:19)
Thus the messenger, the ‘spirit of truth’, foretold by ‘Īsa (as) would be a prophet completing the religion of ‘Īsa (as) and dictating to mankind the revelation of God, or God’s words (“what he shall hear”), to mankind and will glorify ‘Īsa (as) and relate his teaching to mankind as well. There is currently only one religion in the world that can claim to follow such a prophet.
Nevertheless, it must be kept in mind that the Gospel of John was written almost a century[3] after this prophecy had been spoken and as such would only be a shadow of the original words; for as we shown in the original ‘Īsa (as) spoke of Muhammad (s) by his very name: Ahmad.
In the Sirāt Rasūl Allāh of Ibn Ishāq, he quotes the following from John 15:23[4] from the Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic spoken by ‘Iisa (as), the oldest dated Bible manuscript language[5]:
“ ‘But when the Comforter has come whom God will send to you from the Lord’s presence, and the spirit of truth which will have gone forth from the Lord’s presence he (shall bear) witness of me and ye also, because ye have been with me from the beginning. I have spoken unto you about this that ye should not be in doubt.’ The Munahhemana (God bless and preserve him!) in Syriac is Muhammad; in Greek he is the paraclete.”[6]
So in the original language of ‘Iisa (as), which was not Greek, he referred to the comforter with a word very much similar to the name of Muhammad (s), known as Ahmad in the heavens.[7]
Not only was Muhammad (s) predicted by name but the place of his coming was also revealed to Jews and Christians:
“And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from
(Deuteronomy 33:2)
This verse speaks of all three prophets, ‘Iisa, Musa and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them all), with Sinai being where God revealed the Torah unto Musa (as) and Seir a location of where ‘Iisa (as) received revelation, and finally Paran: a mountain range in
Mūsā (as) also received the glad tidings of the coming of a prophet. God is said to have revealed unto him in the Old Testament:
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”
(Deuteronomy 18:18)
Christian scholars have taken this to mean ‘Iisa (as) as he was a Jew and a prophet like Musa (as). However if critically examination will reveal a different outcome.
The prophecy speaks of a prophet rising from amongst the brethren of Musa (as) and, identical to the prophecy given by ‘Iisa (as), he shall speak the word of God. It is good to keep in mind that the Qur’an unlike the New Testament (claims that it) is the word of God, whereas due to the many contradictions within it[10] Christians will have to admit that the Bible is not the word of God spoken to man. This criteria by itself would rule out ‘Iisa (as) as being that prophet.
“Do they not then meditate on the Quran? And if it were from any other than Allah, they would have found in it many a discrepancy.”
(An-Nisā 4:82)
The prophecy also says that the prophet shall rise from among the brethren of the Jews. One can trace the lineage of the Jews back to Ibrahim’s (as) son Ishaq (as), whose brother was Ismail (as). From the lineage of Ismail (as) came the Arab people (Genesis 25:13) also known as the Kedar,[11] thus rendering the two nations of Jews and Arabs as brethren tracing their lineage to a shared ancestor. However, ‘Iisa (as) as a Jew has a claim to the prophecy as well, as he too is from the brethren of Musa (as). Therefore the criteria to judge as to whether Muhammad (s) or ‘Iisa (as) has a better claim to the prophecy is to see as to which one of the two is more “like unto” Musa (as).
Starting from the birth of the prophets it is at once clear that in birth Muhammad (s) was more like unto Musa (as) than ‘Iisa (as), as the latter underwent a miraculous birth[12], with no man as his father. As to marriage and children ‘Iisa (as) never had either, whilst Muhammad (s) and Musa (as) had both. In death alike Muhammad (s) and Musa (as) both experienced natural deaths (pbut) whilst ‘Iisa (as) ascended[13], experiencing no natural human end.
As concerning their lives both Muhammad (s) and Musa (as)[14] both were shepherds before the initiation of their prophetic mission, whilst ‘Iisa (as) was a carpenter. As well both Muhammad (s) and Musa (as) both began their prophetic mission at the age of 40, whilst ‘Iisa (as) was a prophet from the very cradle.[15] During their prophetic missions Muhammad (s) and Musa (as) were both prophets and statesmen (i.e. the right to exercise capital punishment), leaders of their people, whilst ‘Iisa (as) never gained any such worldly power. As well the revelations and speech of ‘Iisa (as) was written down only after his death, whilst both the Torah and the Qur’an were written during the lifetimes of their respective prophets.[16] There are other further comparisons to be made, but due to brevity it is sufficient to conclude that Muhammad (s) in life, death and prophethood was more “like unto” Musa (as) than ‘Iisa (as), granting him a greater claim to the prophecy than ‘Iisa (as).
There are many prophecies in the old testament speaking of the glory of a religion to come, and many of these are found in Isaiah. The author describes the following:
“And they give the book to him that cannot read, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot read.”
(Isaiah 29:12)
Compare to the following concerning Muhammad’s (s) first revelation:
“… An angel placed a tablet by his side and said: ‘Recite’. And the Prophet, on account of the fact that he was unlettered and had not learnt to read and write, replied that he was unable to read.”[17]
As well the Qur’an states concerning the Prophet:
“And you did not recite before it any book, nor did you transcribe one with your right hand, for then could those who say untrue things have doubted.”
(Al-Ankabūt 29:48)
Not only does Isaiah give a good description of the first revelation the second revelation is also described.
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”
(Isaiah 60:1)
Contrasted to the second revelation:[18]
“O you who are clothed! Arise and warn, And your Lord do magnify.”
(Al-Muddathir 74:1-3)
The similarity is astounding indeed the call of Islam came centuries before it was declared by Prophet Muhammad (s) and there are many more predictions that could be discussed including detailed description of the hajj, a ritual unique to Islam, however we must stop here and wish to end with Allah’s (swt) reminder:
“Is it then that they do not ponder over what is said, or is it that there has come to them that which did not come to their fathers of old?”
(Al-Mu’minuun 23:68)
[1] See as well Q. 7:157
[2] By admittance of Christian scholars of the original manuscripts of the Bible no two are exactly the same, and most date to around the 2nd century. [Crook, Jay R., New Testament, 2005, p. 88 & 118]. The earliest manuscripts of the Bible date back to the second century A.D. Also all the manuscripts in existence are in the Greek tongue and not the original Aramaic spoken by ‘Īsa (as), thus errors and contradictions are nigh inevitable. See for example II Samuel 8:4-10 in comparison to I Chronicles 18:4-10, for one of them.
[3] Wigoder, Geoffrey (ed.), The Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible, 2005, p. 513
[4] See footnote by translator A. Guillame, p.104
[5] http://www.nestorian.org/the_syriac_aramaic_assyrian_la.html : the
[6] Ibn Ishāq, (trans. A. Guillame), The Life of Muhammad, 1982, p.104
[7] Interestingly the reader may wish to note that in the movie “Passion of the Christ” which is spoken in Aramaic, the word for comforter used is Munahma.
[8] Gülen, M. Fethullah, Prophet Muhammad: Aspects of his Life, 2000, p. 10
[9] Ayatullah Subhani, Jafar, The Message, 2004, p.643
[10] Ibn Abdullah, Misha’al, What Did Jesus Really Say?, 2001, Chapter 2
and also http://www.answering-christianity.com/101_bible_contradictions.htm
[11] Baagil, H. M., Christian – Muslim Dialogue, 1984, p.2
and Ibn Abdullah, Misha’al, What Did Jesus Really Say?, 2001, p. 416
[12] Q. 3:47
[13] Q. 3:55, B. Mark 16:19
[14] Q. 28:23-25
[15] Q. 3:46
[16] For more similarities see: Baagil, H. M., Christian – Muslim Dialogue, 1984, p.40
[17] Ayatullah Subhani, Jafar, The Message, 2004, p.171
[18] Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3
Bibliography
· Crook, Jay R., The Bible: An Islamic Perspective: Jesus, ABC International Group, 2005
· Crook, Jay R., The Bible: An Islamic Perspective: Introduction to the New Testament, ABC International Group, 2005
· Wigoder, Geoffrey (ed.), The Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2005
· Baagil, H. M., Christian – Muslim Dialogue, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, 1984
· Ibn Ishāq, (trans. A. Guillame), The Life of Muhammad,
· Gülen, M. Fethullah, Prophet Muhammad: Aspects of his Life, The Fountain, 2000
· Ayatullah Subhani, Jafar, The Message, Ansariyan Publications 2004
· Ibn Abdullah, Misha’al, What Did Jesus Really Say?, Islamic Assembly of
· http://www.answering-christianity.com/101_bible_contradictions.htm
· http://www.nestorian.org/the_syriac_aramaic_assyrian_la.html
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