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The Coming of the Prophet and according to the Bible
By: Adil Nizamuddin Imran
Source: IslamiCity
According to the Quran, Prophet
Muhammad’s coming was
foreshadowed by earlier prophets
and their scriptures. Surah
7:157 states, “Those
who follow the messenger, the
unlettered prophet of whom they
find written in their sources,
in the Torah and the Gospel. He
directs them to what is just and
forbids them from evil. And he
permits them wholesome things
and forbids them filthy things.
He removes their burden for
them, and the yokes that were on
them.” This
verse is explicitly clear that
the earlier divine scriptures
foretold the coming of the
Prophet Muhammad. Let us
highlight those passages in the
Bible that refer to the coming
of the prophet, Prophet
Muhammad.
First, we read in John 1:19-21:
This is the testimony of John,
when the Jews sent to him
priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are
you?” And he confessed and did
not deny, but confessed, “I’m
not the Christ.” They asked him,
“What then? Are you Elijah?” And
he said “I am not.” “Are you the
Prophet?” And he answered, “No”.
From this conversation between
John the Baptist and Jewish
priests, we learn that the Jews
are awaiting the coming of three
distinct people: the Christ,
Elijah, and the Prophet. We now
know that Jesus was the Christ
and Messiah whom the Jews denied
but the Muslims later affirmed.
This leaves Elijah and the
Prophet. With respect to Elijah,
it is believed by Jews and some
Christians that he has not yet
returned but will do so to
announce the Second Coming of
Jesus Christ.
Thus, we need to account for The
Prophet. Even today the Jews are
still awaiting his arrival and
the Christians believe Jesus
Christ was the Prophet. This
latter assertion of Christians
is impossible because it is
clear from John 1:21 as well as
John 1:25 that “The Prophet” is
a separate and distinct person
from Elijah and the Christ. John
1:25 states “Why
than are you, John the Baptist,
baptizing, if you are not the
Christ, nor Elijah, nor the
Prophet?” The
questioning priests were trying
to identify whether John the
Baptist was one of these three
individuals. The knowledge of
the coming of these three was
known not only by Jewish priests
but also ordinary Jews. This is
supported by John 7:40-41 which
clearly identifies the
distinction that Jewish people
are making with regard to Jesus
of Nazareth. John 7:40-41
states, “Some
of the people, therefore, when
they heard these words were
saying this certainly is the
Prophet. Others were saying,
‘This is the Christ.'” Hence,
we can reasonably assert that
the Prophet and the Christ are
two separate and distinct men of
God.
We know that Jesus Christ was a
prophet, just as John the
Baptist was. On the other hand,
Muslims claim that Prophet
Muhammad was the Prophet that
Jews were asking about in the
above passage. In fact, in the
entire Quran, which is longer
than both the Torah and the New
Testament, the name “Muhammad”
appears only four times. God
addresses Prophet Muhammad as
“the Prophet” or “the
Messenger”. However, the Jews
came to deny his Prophet Hood
when they learned that he was
the descendant of Ishmael and a
non-Jew. Obviously, this is not
a valid reason to reject any
prophet of God, let alone the
Prophet. The fact is that the
Jews believed then and even
today that they alone are God’s
chosen people. If such a claim
were true, what would have
happened to all the Gentiles who
had not received divine
guidance, especially the
descendants of Ishmael as they
had a covenant with God? We as
Muslims believe that it would be
an act of injustice if God had
exclusively sent guidance to
Jews while neglecting other
communities.
Moreover, it was prophesied that
there would come a time when the
prophet would be passed from
Judah and the Children of Israel
to another community.
In Isaiah 3:1-2, it states:
“For behold, the Lord God of
hosts is going to remove from
Jerusalem and Judah both supply
and support, the whole supply of
bread and the whole supply of
water; the mighty man and the
warrior, the judge and the
prophet…”
This passage clearly asserts
that God will take away from
Judah and Jerusalem the Judge
and the Prophet. Hence, if he
(the Prophet) is to come, he
must be from outside Jerusalem
and not from the tribe of Judah.
We know that Prophet Muhammad is
from descendants of Ishmael and
he was born in Mecca.
Another explicit validation that
foreshadows the coming of
Prophet Muhammad is found in
Genesis 49:10. It states, “The
scepter shall not depart from
Judah, nor the rulers staff from
between his feet, until Shiloh
comes, and to him shall be the
obedience of the peoples.” Although
the verse is very clear, let us
provide some perspective. Before
his death, Jacob gathered his
twelve sons and told them what
each one would face in the
coming days. In this verse,
Jacob addresses Judah who is the
lawgiver which is confirmed in
the statement “and
Judah is my scepter or lawgiver” (Psalms
60:7). As such, in Genesis
49:10, Jacob informs Judah that
in the future the scepter will
pass from him to Shiloh. The
question is: who is Shiloh?
Christians believe that Shiloh
refers to Jesus Christ. However,
this verse cannot be in
reference to Christ because the
scepter was to depart from Judah
and go to Shiloh. Jesus is a
direct descendant of Judah
(Matthew 1), and therefore he
cannot be Shiloh. In other
words, Shiloh will possess the
scepter and will be the
lawgiver, and he will not be
from Judah. Additionally, the
notion that Jesus Christ was
Shiloh and the lawgiver can be
refuted when we consider that
according to Christian doctrine
Jesus did not produce any new
law and nor did he claim to be
the lawgiver. If we believe the
testimony of both Apostles Peter
and Paul, they were inspired to
revoke the erstwhile Jewish law
and taught that Christians no
longer needed to abide by such
doctrines. However, 49:10 makes
complete sense when we consider
Prophet Muhammad as Shiloh since
he brought forth a new law in
the Quran. This is consistent
with Isaiah 3:1-2, whereby God
will remove from Judah the judge
and the prophet. Here, the judge
and the prophet refer to the
scepter or lawgiver.
These three passages – John
1:21, Genesis 49:10, and Isaiah
3:1 – validate the truthfulness
of Prophet Muhammad as a prophet
and messenger of God.
There is another passage that is
quite comprehensive and it is
found in Isaiah 46:10-11:
“Declaring the end from the
beginning, from ancient times
things which have not been done,
Saying ‘My purpose will be
established and I will
accomplish all My good
pleasure’; Calling a bird of
prey from the east, the man of
My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken; truly I
will bring it to pass. I have
planned it, surely I will do
it.” (Isaiah
46:10-11).
Some Old Testament commentaries,
such as Wesley’s Notes and
Geneva Study Bible, refer to
“the man of my purpose” as being
Cyrus the Great. But this is
erroneous because Cyrus is
nowhere identified as a prophet
or a man of God. Instead, it is
believed he was an idol
worshipper and an unbeliever. If
God since the beginning had
chosen him for a purpose, he
would have needed to demonstrate
that he was a faithful and
obedient servant. Yet his
primary contribution was to give
the Jews permission to rebuild
the Temple. King Solomon built
the Temple in 957 BC and King
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it in
587 BC. Again, it was rebuilt by
revered prophets such as
Zachariah and Ezra in 515 BC
with Cyrus’ permission and,
later in 40 BC; Herod the Great
expanded the Temple.
Excerpted from the book “Christ
Jesus, The Son Of Mary: A Muslim
Perspective” by Adil Nizamuddin
Imran.
Throughout the ages, the
personality of Christ (Peace Be
Upon Him) has been the center of
much controversy. Some have
called him a false prophet while
some others worship him as God
or son of God who came to earth
in human form. Similar
controversies linger around his
mother, the Virgin Mary. Islam
considers Christ as a mighty
prophet of God, from among His
near ones and his mother as an
embodiment of piety, chastity
and righteousness.
Unfortunately, this high
reverence of Islam to Christ and
the Virgin Mary is often ignored
by the mainstream western
intelligentsia and largely
unknown to the common western
populace. This well researched
book describes the status of
Jesus in divine Islamic texts
and will enrich the knowledge of
its readers and enlighten them
about the Islamic position on
Christ Jesus – The Son of Mary. |
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