Abraham is widely regarded as the
Patriarch of monotheism and the common
father of the Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Through His second son, Isaac, came all
Israelite prophets including such towering
figures as Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David,
Solomon and Jesus. May peace and
blessings be upon them all. The advent of
these great prophets was in partial
fulfillment of God's promises to bless the
nations of earth through the descendents of
Abraham (Genesis 1 2:2-3). Such
fulfillment is wholeheartedly accepted by
Muslims whose faith considers the belief in
and respect of all prophets an article of
faith.
Was the first born son of Abraham
(Ishmael) and his descendants included in
God's covenant and promise? A few verses
from the Bible may help shed some light on
this question;
1) Genesis 12:2-3 speaks of God's promise to Abraham and his descendants
before any child was born to him.
2) Genesis 17:4 reiterates God's promise
after the birth of Ishmael and before
the birth of Isaac.
3) In Genesis, ch. 21. Isaac is specifically
blessed but Ishmael was also specifically blessed and promised by God to
become "a great nation" especially in
Genesis 21-13, 18.
4) According to Deuteronomy 21:15-17
the traditional rights and privileges of
the first born son are not to be affected
by the social status of his mother
(being a "free" woman such as Sarah,
lsaac's mother, or a "Bondwoman"
such as Hagar, Ishmael's mother). This
is only consistent with the moral and
humanitarian principles of all revealed
faiths.
5) The full legitimacy of Ishmael as
Abraham's son and "seed" and the full
legitimacy of his mother, Hagar, as
Abraham's wife are clearly stated in
Genesis 21:13 and 16:3.
After Jesus, the last Israelite
messenger and prophet, it was time that
God's promise to bless Ishmael and his
descendants be fulfilled. Less than 600
years after Jesus, came the last messenger
of God, Muhammad, from the progeny of
Abraham through Ishmael. God's blessing
of both of the main branches of Abraham's
family tree was now fulfilled. But are there
additional corroborating evidence that the
Bible did in fact foretell the advent of
prophet Muhammad?
Long time after Abraham, God's
promise to send the long-awaited
Messenger was repeated this time in Moses'
words.
In Deuteronomy 18:18, Moses spoke
of the prophet to be sent by God who is:
1) From among the Israelite's "brethren",
a reference to their Ishmaelite cousins
as Ishmael was the other son of
Abraham who was explicitly promised
to become a "great nation".
2) A prophet like unto Moses. There were
hardly any two prophets who were so
much alike as Moses and Muhammad.
Both were given comprehensive law
code of life, both encountered their
enemies and were victors in miraculous ways, both were accepted as
prophets/statesmen and both migrated
following conspiracies to assassinate
them. Analogies between Moses and
Jesus overlooks not only the above
similarities but other crucial ones as
well (e.g. the natural birth, family life
and death of Moses and Muhammad
but not of Jesus, who was regarded
by His followers as the Son of God and
not exclusively a messenger of God,
as Moses and Muhammad were and
as Muslim belief Jesus was).
For twenty-three years, God's words
(the Qur'an) were truly put into
Muhammad's mouth. He was not the
"author" of the Qur'an. The Qur'an was
dictated to him by Angel Gabriel who asked
Muhammad to simply repeat the words of
the Qur'an as he heard them. These words
were then committed to memory and to
writing by those who hear them during
Muhammad's life time and under his
supervision.
Was it a coincidence that the prophet
"like unto Moses" from the "brethren" of
the Israelites (i.e. from the lshmaelites) was
also described as one in whose mouth God
will put his words and that he will speak in
the name of God., (Deuteronomy 18:18-
20). Was it also a coincidence the
"Paraclete" that Jesus foretold to come
after Him was described as one who "shall
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak . (John
16:13).
Was it another coincidence that Isaiah
ties between the messenger connected with
Ke'dar and a new song (a scripture in a new
language) to be sang unto the Lord (Isaiah
42:10-11). More explicitly, prophesies
Isaiah "For with stammering lips, and
another tongue, will he speak to this
people" (Isaiah 28:11). This latter verse
correctly describes the "stammering lips"
of Prophet Muhammad reflecting the state
of tension and concentration he went
through at the time of revelation. Another
related point is that the Qur'an was
revealed in piece-meals over a span of
twenty-three years. It is interesting to
compare this with Isaiah 28:10 which
speaks of the same thing.
Up to the time of Jesus (peace be upon
him), the Israelites were still awaiting for
that prophet like unto Moses prophecied in
Deuteronomy 18:18. When John the
Baptist came. they asked him if he was
Christ and he said "no". They asked him if
he was Elias and he said "no". Then, in
apparent reference to Deuteronomy 18:18,
they asked him "Art thou that Prophet" and
he answered, "no". (John 1: 19-2 1).
In the Gospel according to John
(Chapters 14, 15, 16) Jesus spoke of the
"Paraclete" or comforter who will come
after him. who will be sent by Father as
another Paraclete. who will teach new
things which the contemporaries of Jesus
(:could not bear. While the Paraciete is
described as the spirit of truth, (whose
meaning resemble Muhammad's famous
title Al-Amin, the trustworthy), he is
identified in one verse as the Holy Ghost
(John 14:26). Such a designation is
however inconsistent with the profile of
that Paraclete. In the words of the Dictionary of the Bible, (Ed. J. Mackenzie)
"These items, it must be admitted do not
give an entirely coherent picture."
Indeed history tells us that many early
Christians understood the Paraclete to be a
man and not a spirit. This might explain the
followings who responded to some who
claimed, without meeting the criteria
stipulated by Jesus, to be the awaited
"Paraclete".
It was Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) who was the Paraciete, Comforter, helper, admonisher sent by God
after Jesus. He testified of Jesus, taught
new things which could not be borne at
Jesus' time. he spoke what he heard
(revelation), he dwells with the believers
(through his well-preserved teachings).
Such teachings will remain forever because
he was the last messenger of God, the only
Universal Messenger to unite the whole of
humanity under God and on the path of
PRESERVED truth. He told of many things
to come which "came to pass" in the
minutest detail meeting, the criterion given
by Moses to distinguish between the true
prophet and the false prophets
(Deuteronomy 18:22). He did reprove the
world of sin, of righteousness and of
judgement (John 16:8-11).
Is it possible that the numerous
prophecies cited here are all individually
and combined out of context misinterpretations? Is the opposite true, that
such infrequently studied verses fit together
consistently and clearly point to the advent
of the man who changed the course of
human history, Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him). Is it reasonable to conclude
that all these prophecies, appearing in
different books of the Bible and spoken by
various prophets at different times were all
coincidence? If this is so here is another
strange "coincidence"!
One of the signs of the prophet to
come from Paran (Mecca) is that he will
come with "ten thousands of saints"
(Deuteronomy 33:2 KJV). That was the
number of faithful who accompanied
Prophet Muhammad to Paran (Mecca) in
his victorious, bloodless return to his
birthplace to destroy the remaining
symbols of idolatry in the Ka'bah.
Says God as quoted by Moses:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words
which he shall speak in my name, I
will require it of him. (Deuteronomy
18:19)
Dear Readers:
May the light of truth shine in your
heart and mind. May it lead you to
peace and certitude in this life and
eternal bliss in hereafter.
AMEEN
For further information and/or additional
copies please contact:
Islamic Information Foundation
Attn: Dr. Jamal Badawi
8 Laurel Lane
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3M 2P6
Tel.: 902 / 445-2494
OR
The Islamic Teaching Center
P.O.BOX 38.
Plainfield, IN 46168
(317)839-8157
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