Prophecies About The Holy Prophet of Islam

Prophecies in Old and New Testaments

Now we come to the Jewish and the Christian scriptures. Before giving some of the prophecies from the Bible, one important thing should be made clear from the start.

It is the common practice of the Jews and the Christians to translate even proper names. Thus whenever they find the name 'Muhammad', they translate it as 'the praiseworthy', 'lovely' or words like that. This practice has helped them in 'hiding the truth' from the world, as the people reading the translations can never suspect that the sentence refers to a certain person. Now, if that practice is followed by others, a non- English speaking man will translate the name of 'Livingstone' as a 'stone which was alive.' Then he will elaborate on this theme and will try to prove that in the 19th century, stones in Europe had life, and one of such stones had come to Africa and had travelled upto Kigoma and Ujiji in Tanzania.

Add to it the frequent changes and alterations which the Christians are so wont to make in the Old and the New Testaments, and then you can appreciate the true position.

Book of Genesis

Anyhow, let us begin from Genesis. I will use the King James version throughout this chapter.

Genesis 17:20, records the promise of God to Prophet Ibrahim: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall be beget, and I will make him a great nation.”

The prayer referred to in this sentence, is given in detail in many places in the Qur'an, which runs as follows:

”And remember when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House (with this prayer): “Our Lord! Accept this (service) from us for Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing. ”Our Lord; and raise amongst them a Messenger of their own who shall recite Thy communication to them and instruct them the Book and Wisdom, and purify them, for Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.” (Qur'an, 2:127-129)

Deuteronomy

God promised to Prophet Musa (a.s.):

”The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” (18:15)

”I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words into his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 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.” (18:18-19)

Christians try to fit this prophecy on Prophet 'Isa (a.s.). But it fits nobody except Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.w.a.) because:-

The Prophet was to come from among the breathen of Israel. Any Prophet coming from Bani Israel is therefore excluded from this good tiding. Now, as we know, Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) was from Bani Israel, while Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) was from Bani Ismael who were the brethren of Bani Israel.
The Prophet was to be 'like unto Moses.' Prophet Musa (a.s.) had to make war, and Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) also had to defend himself through war. But Prophet Isa (a.s.) did never enter a war.
Prophet Musa (a.s.) had a brother Haroon (Aaron), who was to succeed him. No such brother was to Prophet 'Isa (a.s.), while Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) had Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) to whom he said “Thou art to me as Aaron was to Moses, expect that there is no prophet after me.”
Prophet Musa (a.s.) left the religious leadership to the children of Aaron. Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) did not make any such arrangement. Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) made similar arrangement in his Ummah by leaving Islam in the hands of Ali and his children Hasan and Husayn (a.s.)
”…… and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak upto them all that I shall command him.” This criterion fits Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) only, because Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) did not claim it for himself, while Allah (s.w.t.) said in the Qur'an for Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.):

”And he doesn't speak (aught) on his own accord; it is naught but a revelation revealed (unto him).” (Qur'an, 53:34)

Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) did never claim that he was the promised Prophet of this sentence, while Allah (s.w.t.) mentioned this similarity between Prophet Musa (a.s.) and Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) in the Qur'an in the verse,

”Verily, we sent unto you a Messenger, a witness on you, as we sent a messenger unto Pharaoh.” (73:15)

Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) did not claim that he was the like of Moses (a.s.), while Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) said to Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) “Thou art to me as Aaron was to Moses, expect that there is no prophet after me.”
Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) himself said that the Prophet who was to come after him will fulfil this prophecy. See the following sentences of John: ” 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.” (John, 16:13)

Other Prophecies

(A) Dueteronomy

“And he (i.e. Moses) said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them.” (Duet, 33:2)

The coming of Lord means coming of God's Representatives. Now the prophet of God who came from Sinai was Prophet Musa (a.s.); that who rose from Seir (a mountain in Palestine.) is Prophet 'Isa (a.s.). But who is the Prophet who shined forth from mount Paran? Paran is the name of a mountain in Mecca. The Prophet of God who shined forth from there is none other than Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.w.a.).

(B) Isaiah

“Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth….” (42:10)

The old malady of translating proper names has made this prophecy meaningless. In an Armenian translation, written in 1666 and published in 1733, it has been translated as follows: “They sing unto the Lord a new song; and his kingdom continues after him; and his name is Ahmad.” (Now the name Ahmad has been translated as meaning 'his praise')

Anyhow, in this prophecy, a new song unto the Lord means a new Shari'at from God, which fits the Holy Prophet of Islam; but not so much on Prophet 'Isa (a.s.).

(C) Habakkuk

The vision of Nabi Habakkuk says:

“God came from Teman and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah … … his ways are everlasting.” (3:3-6).

I believe there is no need to interpret this prophecy, which is so clear. The representative of Lord who came from Paran was Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) and all other attributes can easily be applied to him. Allamah Fakhrul-Islam Muhammad Sadiq (formerly a Christian priest) has explained more than 30 prophecies from the Old Testament. But as this is a short booklet, I have quoted only some of them here.

From New Testament

(A) “That Prophet”

“And this is the record to John (i.e., the Baptist) when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? “And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. “And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, No.” (John,1:19-21).

This talk clearly shows that just before the advent of Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) (Jesus Christ), the Jews were waiting for three Prophets: Christ, Elias and 'that Prophet.'

And when John said that he was none of the three, then: “And they asked him, and said unto him, why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet?” (John, 1:25)

It also shows that 'that Prophet' commanded such a high respect that his name was not uttered and his adjective 'Prophet' is written with a capital 'P'. And his advent was so well-understood that simply addressing him as 'that Prophet' was enough to know him.

(B)“Comforter”

Prophet 'Isa (.s.) is recorded as saying to his twelve disciples:-

”It is the 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. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement: Of sin because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgement, because the prince of this world is judged.

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come “He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”(John 18:7-14)

Similar references have been recorded in John, 14:26 and 15:26.

I do not think there is any need to explain how perfectly these prophecies of Prophet 'Isa (a.s.) fit on the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.a.)

There are more than thirty prophecies mentioned in ”A n i s u ' l - a ' l a a m .” Now you may clearly understand the meaning of the following verses of the Qur'an:

“The people of the Book know him (i.e. Muhammad s.a.w.a.) as they know their own sons; but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know.” (Qur'an, 2:146)

”Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own scriptures in the Torah and the Injil…….” (Qur'an, 7:157)

”Although from old days they (the Jews) had prayed for victory against those without faith, when there came to them that {i.e.,Muhammad (s.a.w.a.)} whom they did recognise, they refused to believe in him…” (Qur'an, 2:89)