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In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent
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Prophet Muhammed in the Bible |
Hazrat Muhammad
(SAW)
to come before the Second
Advent of Jesus (AS)
Peter
describing the time of "That Prophet" [that prophet is referring to
"that prophet"
mentioned
in Deuteronomy 18:18] says:
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"He shall
send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you; whom the
heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a Prophet
shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like
unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say
unto you."
(The Acts
3:20-22). |
These words of Peter
evidently imply that the advent of "that prophet" will take place
before the second advent of Jesus Christ. Jesus pointed out in the
parable of the vineyard that after him shall come the Lord of vineyard
and added:
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| "The
kingdom of God shall be taken form you and given to a nation
bringing forth fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:43). |
Thus Jesus has made it
clear that the Prophet who was to come after him was not to be of the
Israelites, but from another nation - their brethren, the Ishmaelites.
This
prophecy has been fulfilled in the person of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW),
the Holy Founder of Islam. For in the first place, he came from
among the descendents of Ishmael, the brethren of Israelites; so
that the promise of God concerning Ishmael be fulfilled: " I have
blessed him... and I will make him a great nation." (Genesis
17:20).
Secondly, he
was the prophet who came with a new law -- the law of the Quran.
None of Israelite prophets including Jesus of Nazareth (AS), with
the exception of Moses (AS), brought a new law or dispensation; not
did any of them claim to have been like unto Moses (AS). On the
other hand, it has been expressly written about Hazrat Muhammad SAW)
in the Holy Quran that he was the prophet like unto Moses (AS).
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| "We have
raised a prophet among you like unto the prophet hat We sent to
Pharoah" (73:16). |
Again, it invites the
attention of the Jews to the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:18 in these
words:
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| "A witness
from among the Israelites has borne witness of one like him."
(Al-Quran 46:11). |
The third proof is that
Muhammad spoke naught form himself as it was written in the prophecy
('whatsoever he shall hear that he shall speak in my name'). In the
Holy Quran, all the chapters begin with the words: "In the name of
God, the Gracious, the Merciful".
Lord Manifests On Mount
Paran:
There is an
important prophecy in the Bible:
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| "And he
said, the Lord came form Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he
shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousand saints;
from right hand went a fiery law for them." (Deuteronomy 33:2). |
Coming from Sinai refers
to the appearance of Moses (AS) and rising up from Seir alludes that
of Jesus (AS). The prophet who shone forth from Mount Paran could be
no other than the Holy Prophet (SAW) of Arabia, as Paran is the
ancient name of the part of Arabia where the children of Ishmael (AS),
the ancestors of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW), settled.
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The Arabic form of
the word Paran is Faran or Pharan. Jacut's Geographishes Worterbuch
(F. Westenfielt, Leipzig, 1862, Vol. III, P834) says that Faran is a
name of Mecca. The word Faran seems to be the Arabic Farran. It
means two refugees. It appears that the place took the name from
Hager and Ishmael, who came there as refugees. Dr. A. Benisch call
it in his translation of Pentateuch the desert of Paran. What
unmistakably points to the identity of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) is the
phrase: "he came with ten thousands of saints" and "from his right
hand went a fiery law for them." At the time of the conquest of
Mecca, ten thousand holy men followed at his heels and he was the
bearer of the law of the Quran. Hence, the prophecy has been
wonderfully fulfilled in the person of Holy Prophet Muhammad, (peace
and blessings of God be upon him).
Arabia is the land of the Promised One
A third
prophecy is:
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"The
burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye
travelling companions of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the Land of
Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with
their bread him they fled. For they fled form the swords, from the
drawn swords and from the bent bow, from the grievousness of war.
For thus
hath the Lord said unto me, within a year, according to the years of
a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; And the residue
of number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall
diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it." (Isaiah
21:13-17). |
The first point to bear
in mind in connection with this prophecy is that Arabia is the scene
of the Prophecy. This is most significant. Hazrat Muhammad (SAW)
appeared in Arabia. Secondly, the prophecy speaks of "Him that fled".
The flight of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) is momentous event in the history
of the world. It is upon the flight of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) from
Mecca that the Muslim calendar begins.
Thirdly,
"fled from drawn swords" conclusively proves the fulfillment of the
prophecy in Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) who fled from Mecca when his house
was surrounded by his deadly enemies who stood there, drawn swords
in had, thirsty for his blood.
Fourthly,
another clear testimony in favor of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) is found
in: "within a year... all the glory of Kedar will fail... the mighty
men of Kedar shall diminish." This was fulfilled in the battle of
Badr which occurred within a year from the flight of Muhammad, and
in which battle, the Quraish of Mecca (Kedar) sustained a crushing
defeat; most of their mighty men fell. Rev. C. Forster locates the
Kedar in Hedjaz and identifies them with Koraish. See: The
Historical Geography of Arabia by Rev. C. Forster, pp. 244-265.
The Name Muhammad Mentioned in the
Bible
There is an
important prophecy in the Song of Solomon (5:9-16). In this
prophecy, the one who is spoken of here is the beloved of God. One
of the titles of Muhammad is Habibullah -- the beloved one of God.
Secondly: "My beloved is white and ruddy". This was the color of
Muhammad, Thirdly, "Chiefest among then thousands". We have already
shown that Muhammad was at the head of ten thousand followers at the
time of the conquest of Mecca. The fourth and most striking point in
this prophecy is the name of Muhammad in verse 16. It reads: "Yea,
he is altogether lovely" in English Bible. In the Hebrew Bible, the
word is "Muhammad-im". See Hebrew Bible printed for the British and
Foreign Bible Society by Trowitzsch & Sons, Berlin, P. 1159.
The Promised Comforter of the Gospel
The
prophecy runs as follows:
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| "If ye
love me, keep my commands. And I will pray to the Father and He
shall give you another Comforter. That he may abide with you
forever; even the Spirit of truth." (John 14:15-17). |
Jesus was the first
comforter, and another comforter would be one like him, as a man not a
ghost!
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| "But the
Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things.." (John 14:26). |
Again:
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"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I
go away, for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you." (John 16:7).
"I have yet
many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come. He
shall glorify me." (John 16:12-14). |
John 14:26 says that the
Holy Ghost is the Comforter. This claim is contrary to the plain and
unambiguous words of John 16:7, wherein Jesus (AS) says that his going
away, i.e., the death of Jesus is inevitably necessary of the coming
of the Comforter. The New Testament says that John was filled with the
Holy Ghost even before he was born (Luke 1:14), and speaks of Jesus
(AS) himself as receiving the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove
(Matthew 3:16).
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Thus, the Holy
Ghost was wont to visit men before Jesus as well as in his own time.
To what, then is the reference in the words, "If I go not away the
Comforter will not come unto you." Surely not to the Holy Ghost; for
it is a matter of common knowledge that the Holy Ghost was
co-existing with Jesus, and it would be sacrilegious to think for a
moment that Jesus was without the Holy Ghost. So, the Comforter was
someone other than the Holy Ghost.
This also
supports our assertion that there have been many interpolations in
the existing Christine Bible. It is quite obvious that the Comforter
cannot be the Holy Ghost, as Jesus use the pronoun "he" instead of
"it" in connection with the Comforter.
Comforter Was To Bring Complete
Teachings
According
to the prophecy: The Comforter, the Spirit of truth, "will guide you
into all truth". The Holy Prophet Muhammad was (SAW) the only
prophet who claimed to have brought the complete teachings through
the Holy Quran about which Devenport Says:
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| " The
Quran is the general code of the Muslim world; a social, civil,
commercial, military, judicial, criminal, penal and yet religious
code; by it everything is regulated; from the ceremonies of religion
to those of daily life; from salvation of the soul to the health of
the body; from the rights of general community to those of society,
from morality to crime, from punishment here to that of the life to
come." |
According to the
prophecy: the Comforter would not speak of himself but "whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak". The spirit descended upon the
Apostles at Pentecost was not the Comforter who should not speak of
himself, for this spirit broke even the body in which it dwelt. "Me,
I, my, we, ourselves" were words uttered by Peter, John, Phillip,
James, and by twelve when they assembled together. Hence, the words of
prophecy cannot be twisted to the Holy Ghost, which was given to them
already as is clear from John 20:22 -- "And when he (Jesus) had said
this, he breathed on then, and saith unto them. Receive ye the Holy
Ghost."
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Moreover, the Holy
Ghost, being the third person of the Trinity, is a co-partner in the
God-head and has a fair claim to at least one third of it. Why, then
should it be reduced to the status of a recipient, hearing anything
from any other person. It is, on the hand, the active agent
imparting words to others who should communicate them to mankind.
Obviously, the passage refers to a man inspired by God, who will
transmit to others nothing beyond what is revealed to him. "He doth
not speak of himself, but it is the word of God that is revealed to
him" says the Holy Quran (53:4-5). The Comforter is repeatedly
spoken of in the Bible as the "Spirit of Truth" and it may be
observed here in passing that the word Comforter cannot, by stretch
of fancy, be twisted to fit in with the Holy Ghost, for nowhere in
the Bible is the latter called the Spirit of Truth. Furthermore,
Jesus (AS) speaks of Him as another Comforter. Jesus (AS) himself,
of course, was one Comforter. The other Comforter foretold,
therefore, must also be mortal like himself. The Quranic picture is
the same in this respect when it proclaims the advent of the Holy
Prophet thus: "Qul Jaa'al Haqqo Wa Zahaqal Baatilo, Innal Baatila
Kaana Zahooqa" -- Say, the Spirit of Truth iscome and falsehood is
vanished. (Al-Quran 17:82).
It is futile to
object that the Holy Prophet was a man and not a "Spirit". The Bible
itself has used the word "Spirit" in a large variety of senses, as
for example: "The Spirit is willing but flesh is weak" where it
signifies the spiritual part of man. Again, it is also used to stand
for God, both in the Holy Quran and the Bible, as descending upon
the righteous, and yet again it signifies a holy person: That which
is born of the spirit is spirit". The Christian contention that the
word "spirit" cannot apply to corporal being is therefore without
basis.
Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) Cleared Jesus of
All False Charges
Another
function of the Comforter is: "He shall glorify me," which implies
the presence of a human being to bear evidence. What the Holy Ghost
can, at best, do is no more than to install into human minds. This,
however, is anything but glorifying. Even granting, for the sake of
argument, that the Holy Ghost did actually bear witness through
human beings, the question arises whether he did purify Jesus of the
false charges laid at his door. The Jews heaped curses upon him and
alleged that he had died on the cross, which they regarded according
to the Scriptures as an accursed death. Did the Christians, inspired
by the Holy Ghost, clear him of this? No! On the contrary, they
assisted the Jews in their blasphemous propaganda, by admitting his
death on the cross. Furthermore, they imputed to him the most
abominable offense, namely, that he called himself the son of God in
the literal sense. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of
God be upon him) alone fulfilled these prophetic words of the
Gospel. He it was who emphatically pronounced the divine word: "I
shall purify thee (O Jesus) of all the false charges imputed to thee
by the disbelievers." (Al-Quran 3:56).
How far the
Holy Prophet (SAW) succeeded in achieving this can be judged from
the fact that every Muslim looks upon Jesus (peace be upon him) as
the righteous servant of God, as His Prophet. Belief in Jesus (AS)
forms a part of Muslim's faith.
Another
characteristic of the Promised Comforter, as set forth in the
Gospel, has proved another stumbling block to the Christians. "That
he (the Comforter) may abide with you for ever" gives them the
erroneous impression that the Comforter, in order to be immortal,
must need be a "spirit" and not a human being, which betrays their
ignorance of the Bible itself. The very words of Jesus (AS) in this
connection will suffice to remove this erroneous idea: "He shall
give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever",
clearly indicate that the Comforter will abide for ever in a certain
sense in which Jesus himself shall not. As a matter of fact, when
Jesus (AS) spoke of the cessation of his own life and the
continuation of that of Comforter, he implicitly referred to the
duration of their existence through their teachings and their
spiritual influence on mankind.
When a Prophet
is raised up for the reformation of a people, he is equipped with a
two-fold weapon - a code of laws wherewith to regulate the life of
man, and a personal magnetism exercising an ennobling influence upon
whomsoever he may come in contact with. In both these respects,
Jesus has ceased to exist long since, while the Holy Prophet of
Islam lives on to this day and shall live on for ever.
Jesus came
with a set of laws and spiritual force, whereby he effected a
considerable reformation among his own people for a time. But, by
and by the laws that were suited to the stage of society ceased to
be of practical utility when found with the subsequent growth and
development of that society, and the spiritual force that had
wrought miracles of old, lost its efficacy and vanished. Thus arose
the need for another Comforter who should bring with him a perfect
law, not for a particular clan or clime but for the whole of the
human race. Civilization was, by this time, sufficiently grown up,
to receive teachings which went far beyond the mental capacity of
the Jews of his time. A perfect law to regulate the whole human
society was thus required to replace the inadequate code of Jesus.
Muhammad was raised to meet the need in reference to which the Holy
Quran says: "And We have not sent thee but as an embodiment of mercy
for all the worlds (i.e., for all peoples and all ages)". (Al-Quran
21:108).
For Us muslims
to check every phrase and verse in the bible for Muhammed is really
unjustified. We dont need the Bible to prove the bonifidy of our
Nabbee, however to Satisfy the christians we show to them their
scriptures. |
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