Testimonies from Scholars
Introductory Questions
The Bible is a scripture in both Judaism and Christianity. The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox versions of the Old Testament are slightly longer because they accept certain books that are not recognized by the Protestants. The Jewish Bible contains only the books known to the Christians as the Old Testament. In addition, the arrangements of the Jewish and Christian canons differ considerably. [1] Prophet Muhammad was announced in both the Old and New Testaments.
It is believed that Jesus and the apostles spoke Aramaic. The use of Aramaic lasted until around AD 650. then it was replaced by Arabic. [2] However, the current Bible is based not in Aramaic manuscripts, but in Greek and Latin versions.
Quoting biblical prophecies does not mean that Muslims accept the present Bible as a whole as God’s revelation. (For Muslims‘ belief in the scriptures before the Quran, please click here.)
It is not a prerequisite for accepting a prophet that it must have been previously announced by a previous prophet. Moses was a prophet for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh, even if no one had predicted him before. Abraham was God’s prophet for his people and for Nimrod, and no one predicted his coming. Noah, Lot, and others were true prophets of God, and they were not previously announced. Proof of the truthfulness of a prophet is not limited to old prophecies, but includes the current message he brought, miracles and more.
Discussing prophecies is a delicate topic. It requires reviewing Bible versions, translations, and recently discovered manuscripts; to study Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words. The task is particularly difficult because “before the printing press was invented (15th century), all copies of the Bible showed differences in the text.” [3] This is not an easy thing for laypeople. For this reason, the best testimony comes from past and modern experts in the field who confirmed the prophecies.
We have reports of early Jews and Christians, both monks and rabbis, who testify that Muhammad was the fulfillment of specific biblical prophecies. Here are some quotes from these people:
The Expected Prophet
Before Islam, the Jews and Christians in Arabia expected a prophet. Before the appearance of Muhammad, Arabia was home to Jews, Christians and pagan Arabs who occasionally waged war against each other. The Jews and Christians said: “The time has come for the illiterate prophet to come who will revive the religion of Abraham. We will join him and wage a cruel war against you. ” When Muhammad actually appeared, some of them believed in him and some rejected him. This is why God revealed:
“And when a book (ie the Quran) came to them from God, confirming what they already had – and they had previously called for a decisive victory over those who disbelieved – when what they knew came to them , they denied it. Therefore God’s curse on the unbelievers. ” (Quran 2:89)
The first witness was Bahira, the Christian monk who recognized Muhammad’s prophecy when he was young. He said to his uncle:
„… a great fate lies ahead of your young nephew, so take him home quickly.“ [4]
The monastery of the monk Bahira from outside.
The second witness was Waraqah bin Nawfal, a Christian scholar who died soon after a single meeting with Muhammad. Waraqah confirmed that Muhammad was the prophet of his time and received exactly the same revelation as Moses and Jesus. [5]
The Jews of Medina were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a prophet. The third and fourth witnesses were their two well-known Jewish rabbis, Abdullah bin Salam and Mukhayriq. [6]
The sixth and seventh witnesses were also Yemeni rabbis, Wahb ibn Munabbih, and Ka’b al-Ahbar (AD AD 656). Ka’b found long passages of praise and the description of the prophet announced by Moses in the Bible. [7]
The Quran says:
„Wasn’t it a sign for them that the scholars of the children of Israel knew about it?“ (Quran 26: 197)
Footnotes:
[1] “Bible.” Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. (http:
//www. Britainica.com/eb/article-9079096 ) [2] “Aramaic language.” Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. (http:
//www. Britainica.com/eb/article-9009190 ) [3] “biblical literature.” Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. (http://www. Britainica.com/eb/article-73396)
[4] ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources’ von Martin Lings, p. 29. ‘Sirat Rasul Allah’ by Ibn Ishaq übersetzt von A. Guillame, p. 79-81. ‘The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative Study,’ p. 46 von Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah von der Azhar University.
[5] ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources’ von Martin Lings, p. 35.
[6] ‘The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative Study,’ p. 47 von Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah von der Azhar University.
[7] ‘The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative Study,’ p. 47-48 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of Azhar University.
Prophezeihungen von Muhammad im Alten Testament
Deuteronomy 18:18 „I (God) want to raise up for you a prophet like you (Moses) from their brothers and put my words into his mouth: he shall speak to them everything that I command him.“
Many Christians believe that this prediction from Moses refers to Jesus. In fact, Jesus was preached in the Old Testament too, but we’ll clarify why this prophecy doesn’t fit him, but rather Muhammad, may God praise him. According to the Bible, God predicted the following in the Book of Moses:
1. The Prophet will be like Moses.
Compare
Moses
Jesus
Muhammad
Birth
Normal Birth
Wonderful Virgin Birth
Normal Birth
Mission
Prophet Only
Claim: he would be God’s son
Only prophet
Parents
Father & mother
Only mother
Father & mother
Family
life Married to children
Never married
Married to children
Acceptance among their own people
Jews accepted him
Jews rejected him [1]
Arabs accepted him
Political authority
Moses had them (Num 15:36)
Jesus rejected her [2]
Muhammad had drowned her
victory over the enemies
Pharaoh
Claim: He was crucified
Defeated Meccan
Death
Natural death
Claim: He was crucified
Natural death
Burial
Buried in the grave
Empty vault
buried Buried in the grave
Divinity
Not divine
Divine for Christians
Not divine
Mission started at the age of
40
30
40
Resurrection on earth
Not resurrected
Supposedly resurrected
Not resurrected
2. The expected prophet will be from the brothers of the Jews
The named Verse clearly states that the Prophet will come from the brothers of the Jews. Abraham had two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. The Jews are the descendants of Isaac’s son Jacob. The Arabs, on the other hand, are the children of Ishmael. Hence the Arabs are the brothers of the Jews. [3] The Bible confirms:
‚and he (Ismael) will live in defiance of all his brothers.‘ (Genesis 16:12)
‚So he settled (Ishmael) in defiance of all his brothers‘ (Genesis 25:18)
The children of Isaac are the brothers of the Ishmaelites. Accordingly, Muhammad is one of the brothers of the Israelites because he was a descendant of Ismael, the son of Abraham.
3. God will put His words in the mouth of the expected prophet.
In the Quran it says about Muhammad:
“And he does not speak out of his own inclination. It is only a revelation that is entered. ” (Quran 53: 3-4)
This is similar to the verse in Genesis 18:15:
„I (God) want to raise up a prophet like you (Moses) from their brothers and put my words into his mouth: he shall speak to them everything that I will command him.“ (Deuteronomy 18:18 )
The Prophet Muhammad came with a message for the whole world, and so also for the Jews. Everyone, including the Jews, must recognize his prophecy, and this is supported by the following words:
“The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me from you and from your brothers; you obey that. ” (Deuteronomy 18:15)
4. A warning for those who reject
the prophecy continues:
Deuteronomy 18:19 “But whoever will not hear my words, which he speaks in my name, I want to ask of it. ” (in some translations: „I will be the avenger“).
Interestingly, Muslims begin each section in the Qur’an in the name of God by saying:
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahiem
„In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.“
The following is evidence from several scholars who believe that this prophecy fits Muhammad.
The first witness
Abdul-Ahad Dawud, the former Rev. David Benjamin Keldani, BD, a Roman Catholic priest of the Uniate-Chaldean sect (read his bio-graph here). After accepting Islam, he wrote the book: ‚Muhammad in the Bible.‘ He writes, among other things, about the prophecy of Muhammad in the Bible:
“If these words do not refer to Muhammad, they remain unfulfilled. Jesus himself never claimed to be the prophet referred to here. Even his disciples were of the same opinion: they saw the second appearance of Jesus as fulfillment of the prophecy (Acts 3: 17-24). In this respect it is undisputed that the first coming of Jesus could not have been the arrival of this prophet, and his second coming can hardly fulfill this statement. According to the Church, Jesus will appear as a judge and not as a lawgiver; however, the prophecy must come with a “fiery law” in his right hand. ”[4]
The Second Witness
Muhammad Asad-born Leopold Weiss was born in July 1900 in the city of Lvov (German: Lemberg), now Poland, formerly part of the Third Reich. He was a descendant of a long line of rabbis, a line broken by his father, a lawyer. Asad himself received a careful religious education, which should enable him to maintain the family tradition as a rabbi. He had learned Hebrew at a young age and was familiar with Aramaic. He had studied the Old Testament in Hebrew, as well as the texts and commentaries of the Talmud, Mishna and Gemara, and he delved into the complexity of biblical exegesis, the Targum. [5]
When commenting on the Quran verse:
“And do not cover up the truth with the wrong, and do not keep the truth silent when you know. (Quran 2:42)
Muhammad Asad writes:
“By ‚does not cover up the truth through the wrong‘ is meant the falsification of the biblical texts, of which the Quran often accuses the Jews (and what is based on objective textual criticism). ‚Don’t hide the truth‘, on the other hand, refers to their non-observance or deliberate misinterpretation of the words of Moses‘ in the Bible: “The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me out of you and your brothers; you obey that. ” (Deuteronomy 18:15) and the words that are attributed to God himself: “I (God) want to raise up a prophet like you (Moses) to them from their brothers and to put my words into his mouth: he should talk to them everything I will command him. ” (Deuteronomy 18:18). The brothers of the children of Israel are obviously the Arabs and especially the musta’ribah (‚arabized‘) group of them,
Footnotes:
[1] “He (Jesus) became his property, and his did not accept him.” (John 1:11)
[2] John 18:36.
[3] ‚Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources‘ by Martin Lings, p. 1-7.
[4] p. 156
[5] ‚Berlin to Makkah: Muhammad Asad’s Journey to Islam‘ by Ismail Ibrahim Nawwab in the January / February 2002 issue of Saudi Aramco Magazine.
[6] Muhammad Asad, ‚The Message of The Quran‘ (Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1984), p. 10-11.
Prophesies of Muhammad in the New Testament
John 14:16: „And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforter that he will be with you forever.“
In this verse, Jesus promises another “comforter” that will occur, so we need to clarify a few things about this “comforter”.
The Greek word paravklhtoss, ho parakletos, was translated as “comforter”. More specifically, Parakletos means ’someone who is committed to someone else’s affair, an advocate‘ [1] Ho parakletos is a person in Greek, not a disembodied existence. In the Greek language, each noun has a gender, either male, female or neutral. In the Gospel of John chapters 14, 15 and 16 ho parakletos is actually a person. All pronouns in Greek must match the word they refer to, and the pronoun “he” refers to paracletos. The New Testament uses the word pneuma, which means breath or spirit, the Greek equivalent of ruah, the Hebrew word for „spirit“ used in the Old Testament.
All of the present Bibles have been compiled from “ancient manuscripts”, the oldest of which dates from the fourth century BC. comes from. Not two of the old manuscripts are the same. [2] All Bibles are printed today by combining different manuscripts without any source. The translators of the Bibles try to „choose“ the correct version. In other words, because they don’t know which old manuscript is the right one, they decide for us which version of a particular verse to take. Take John 14:26 for example: John 14:26 is the only verse in the Bible that equates Paracletus to the Holy Spirit. But the old manuscripts do not all agree that “Paracletus” is the Holy Spirit. Take, for example, the famous Codex Syriacus, the around the fifth century BC. was written, and was rediscovered on Mount Sinai in 1812; the text of 14:26 reads as follows: “Paraclete, the Spirit” and not “Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.”
Why is that important? It is meaningful because in the biblical language, a “spirit” simply means “a prophet”.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are from God; for many false prophets have come out into the world. ”[3]
It is instructive to know that various biblical scholars have considered that Parakletos is an“ independent ”preserving figure (who has the power to save), not the Holy Spirit. [ 4]
The question that arises is: was Jesus‘ paracletus, comforter, a Holy Spirit or a person – a prophet – who should come after him? To answer this question, we need to understand the description of ho parakletos and see if it fits a mind or a human being.
If we read beyond chapters 14:16 and 16: 7, we find that Jesus predicts particular details about the arrival and identity of the paracletos. Therefore, if we refer to the connection with John 14:16, we discover the following facts:
1. Jesus said the Paracletus is a human being:
John 16:13 „He will speak.“
John 16: 7 “… because if I don’t go, the comforter will not come to you.”
It is impossible that the comforter can be the “Holy Spirit” because the Holy Spirit was present and in his office long before Jesus. [5]
John 16:13: Jesus refers seven times to the paraclete as ‚he‘ and not ‚it‘, no other verse in the Bible contains seven male pronouns. That is why paraclete is a person, not a spirit.
2. Jesus is called a paracletus:
„And if someone sins, we have an advocate (parakletos) with the Father, Jesus Christ, who is just.“ (1 John 2: 1)
Here we see that Paracletus is a physical and human mediator.
3. The divinity of Jesus – a late renewal of
Jesus had not been accepted as divine until the Council of Nicea, AD 325, but everyone – except the Jews – agreed to consider him as a prophet of God, like the Bible shows:
Matthew 21:11 „… This is Jesus the Prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.“
Luke 24:19 „… Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, powerful in deeds and words before God and all the people.“
4. Jesus prayed to God for another paracletus:
John 14:16 „And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paracletus to be with you forever.“
Footnotes:
[1] Vine’s Explanatory Dictionary of New Testament Words.
[2] “Apart from major discrepancies like this, there is hardly a verse in which there are no differences in the various editions [in the old manuscripts from which the Bible was compiled]. Nobody can say that these additions or omissions or changes are meaningless things. ” ‚Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts,‘ by Dr. Frederic Kenyon, Eyre and Spottiswoode, p. 3.
[3] 1 John 4: 1-3
[4] ‚… Christian tradition has identified this figure (Paraclete) as the Holy Spirit, but scholars like Spitta, Delafosse, Windisch, Sasse, Bultmann and Betz have doubts as to whether this identification corresponds to the true original picture and it suspect that the Paraclete was once an independent figure of salvation who was later confused with the Holy Spirit. ” ‚the Anchor Bible, Doubleday & Company, Inc, Garden City, NY 1970, Volume 29A, p. 1135.
[5] Moses 1: 2, 1 Samuel 10:10, 1 Samuel 11: 6, Isaiah 63:11, Luke 1:15, Luke 1:35, Luke 1:41, Luke 1:67, Luke 2:25, Luke 2:26, Luke 3:22, John 20: 21-22.
More prophecies from Muhammad in the New Testament
5. Jesus describes the other Paracletus‘ task:
John 16:13 “he will guide you in all truth”
God says in the Quran about Muhammad:
“O people! The Messenger has now come to you with the truth from your Lord, therefore believe (in him) that is better for you …. ”(Quran 4: 170)
John 16:14“ The same will glorify me. ”
The Quran that Muhammad brought praises Jesus:
“… whose name the Messiah Jesus is the son of Maryam, viewed in this world and the afterlife and one of the (God) close ones.” (Quran 3:45)
Muhammad also praises Jesus:
“Whoever testifies that no one is worthy of worship except God who has no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and that Jesus is God’s servant, His Messenger and His Word, which He gave to Mary, and one Spirit created by him; and that paradise is true and that hell is true, God will let him enter paradise according to his deeds. ” (Sahieh Al-Bukhari, Sahieh Muslim)
John 16: 8 “He will open the eyes of the world about sin and about justice and about judgment.”
The Quran announces:
“Indeed, those who say: Certainly, God is the Messiah, the Son of Mary, when the Messiah (himself) said: ‚O children of Israel serve God, my Lord and your Lord!‘ Those who associate with God (something) are truly forbidden by God, and whose refuge will be the (hell) fire. The unrighteous will have no helper. ” (Quran 5:72)
John 16:13 „Because he will not speak from himself, but what he will hear, he will speak …“
The Quran says of Muhammad:
„and he does not speak out of (own) inclination . It is only a revelation that is entered. ” (Quran 53: 3-4)
John 14:26 „… he will teach you everything and remind you of what I told you.“
The words of the Quran:
“… when the Messiah (himself) said: ‚O children of Israel serve God, my Lord and your Lord!’” (Quran 5:72) … remind people of the first and greatest command from Jesus that they had forgotten :
“The noblest commandment is: ‚Hear Israel, the Lord our God, only the Lord is …’” (Mark 12:29)
John 16:13 “… and what will be in the future he will tell you.”
The Quran states:
“This is one of the messages of the hidden that We enter (as a revelation). ”(Quran 12: 102)
Hudhaifa, a companion of Prophet Muhammad, tells us:
“ The Prophet once spoke to us and he did not read anything out, but mentioned everything that will happen until the hour (of judgment). ” (Sahieh Al-Bukhari)
John 14:16 “that he be with you forever”
… means that his teachings will always be preserved word for word. Muhammad was God’s last prophet for all mankind. [1] His teachings have been passed down completely. He lives on in the hearts and minds of his devoted following, who serve God as he served God. Nobody, including Jesus and Muhammad, has eternal life on earth. Paracletus is no exception. This cannot be a hint at the Holy Spirit, because current belief in the Holy Spirit has only existed since the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, four and a half centuries after Jesus.
John 14:17 “the Spirit of Truth”
… means he will be a true prophet, see 1 John 4: 1-3.
John 14:17 „because she (the world) does not see him …“
Many people today do not know Muhammad.
John 14:17 “… and does not know him”
Even fewer people recognize the true Muhammad, God’s prophet of grace.
John 14:26 “the defender (parakletos)”
Muhammad will be the defender of humanity in general and of sinful believers on the day of judgment:
on the day of judgment, people will look for those who can intercede in their favor with God to reduce despair and suffering. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus will apologize.
Then they will come to our Prophet Muhammad and he will say, „I am the one who is able to do this.“ Then he will intercede for the people at the Great Level of the congregation, so that the judgment will pass. This is the ‘commendable position’ that God promises him in the Quran:
“… perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy position (honor to intercede on Judgment Day)” (Quran 17:79) [ 2]
Prophet Muhammad said,
„My intercession is for those of my community who have committed great sins.“ (At-Tirmidhi)
“I may be the first advocate in paradise.” (Sahieh Muslim)
Some Muslim scholars believe that what Jesus actually said in Aramaic corresponds to the Greek word periklytos, which means „admirer“. In Arabic, the word ´Muhammad´ means the admired, the one to be priced. In other words, periklytos is Muhammad in Greek. We have two strong reasons to support this opinion. First, due to various documented cases of similar word substitutions in the Bible, it is quite possible that both words were included in the original text, but one was omitted by a copyist because of the old custom of spelling the words closely next to one another without any space. In this case the original is: “and He will give you another consolator (parakletos), the one to be praised (periklytos).” Secondly:
Here are some who confirm that Paraclete is indeed a hint at Muhammad, may God praise him:
The first witness
Anselm Turmeda (1352 / 55-1425 AD), a priest and Christian scholar, was a witness to the prophecy. After accepting Islam, he wrote the book „Tuhfat al-arib fi al-radd ‚ala Ahl al-Salib.“
The second witness
Abdul-Ahad Dawud, former Rev. David Abdu Benjamin Keldani, BD, a Roman Catholic priest of the Uniate-Chaldean sect [4], after he accepted Islam, wrote the book: ‚Muhammad in the Bible . ‚ He states:
„There is no doubt that“ Periqlyte, „means the Prophet Muhammad, ie Ahmad.“
The third witness
An overview of Muhammad Asad’s life has already been described. When commenting on the verse:
“… and proclaiming an envoy who will come after me: his name is Ahmad” (Quran 61: 6)
… where Jesus predicts the coming of Muhammad, Asad explains the word Paracletus:
“… It is almost certainly a falsification of Periklytos (‚the much-praised‘), an exact Greek translation of the Aramaic term or name Mawhamana. (It should not be forgotten that Aramaic was the language of Palestine at the time of Jesus and a few centuries after him, and no doubt it was the language of the original texts of the Gospels that have now been lost). Given the phonetic similarity of Periklytos and Parakletos, it is easy to understand that the translator – or, more likely, a later writer – has confused these two terms. It is significant that both Aramaic Mawhamana and Greek Periklytos have the same meaning as the two names of the Last Prophet, Muhammad and Ahmad,
Footnotes:
[1] Quran 33:40.
[2] Siehe auch Sahieh Al-Bukhari
[3] ‚Sirat Rasul Allah,‘ von Ibn Ishaq (85-151 n.Chr.) S, 103. ‚Bayn al-Islam wal-Masihiyya: Kitab‘ Abi Ubaida al-Khazraji , ‚S. 220-221 von Abu Ubaida al-Khazraji (1146-1187 n.Chr.) S. 220-221. ‚Hidaya tul-Hayara,‘ von Ibn ul-Qayyim, S. 119. ‚al-Riyadh al-Aniqa,‘ von al-Suyuti, S. 129.
[4] Lies seine Biographie: (http: //www.muhammad .net / biblelp / bio_keldani.html.)
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/biblische-prophezeihungen-von-mumammad-