|
Does the Bible say about Issa Al Massih or about Muhammad?
DOES THE BIBLE CONTAIN PROPHECIES CONCERNING MUHAMMAD?
THERE can be no question that Christ’s coming was foretold in the Old Testament in many different places. If, therefore, God Most High had intended to send into the world a Prophet far greater than He was, we should naturally expect to find predictions concerning this future Prophet in the Old Testament, and still more in the New. It is natural therefore for Muslims to seek for such prophecies regarding the Founder of their religion. For, if Muhammad was the Seal of the Prophets, the person on whose account God created the universe, it would be very strange had God concealed from men the fact that they should look for and obey the coming Prophet. Hence those who believe in Muhammad tell us that clear and unmistakable predictions regarding him are to be found in the Bible: though they often add that others were once there, but were struck out by Jews and Christians.
We need not concern ourselves with this latter assertion, since it is proved that the Old Testament and the New remain in our hands in their original languages and in the same form in which they existed in Muhammad’s time and for many centuries previously. They have not been corrupted either before or after Muhammad’s time. It follows from this that we have nothing to do with mere assertions, but that, if in the text of the Bible as we now have it there do exist true and genuine predictions of Muhammad’s coming, we Christians must admit it to be so. We cannot get rid of the force of this argument by saying that such passages are interpolations. On the other hand, should it become clear that the passages which Muslims quote do not refer to Muhammad, it will not be allowable for Muslims to say, “Well, the Bible did once contain such prophecies, but you People of the Book have expunged them.”
The appeal to the Bible in this matter implies that those who refer to it and adduce from it passages which they think to refer to Muhammad thereby admit that it is (1) Divinely inspired, and (2) uncorrupt: otherwise of what use would it be to refer to such a book as authoritative? If our Muslim brothers admit these two points, then an inquiry into the alleged Biblical prophecies regarding Muhammad maybe very interesting and instructive.Mission of their prophet. Of course many learned Muslims—all, in fact, who have carefully studied the matter—do admit these two facts. But if they do not admit these points, it is difficult to see what use it is for them to refer to the Bible at all in proof of the
It will be granted that we are justified in explaining one passage of the Bible by another. Wise men will admit that this is the correct method of proceeding in case of doubt, difficulty, or dispute about the meaning of any verse or passage not only in the Bible but in any other Book. Obscure passages can often be cleared up by plainer verses and by the context. If a later passage explains an earlier prophecy, for instance, it is unworthy of an unprejudiced man of learning to refuse to accept the explanation thus given by an inspired writer, and to expect us to receive instead some comment which does not suit the context and which is in contradiction to many other passages in the book.
We now proceed to examine the chief passages of the Old Testament in the first place in which our Muslim brethren claim to find predictions regarding Muhammad.
1. Gen. xlix. 10. This is asserted to refer to Muhammad, especially as “Judah” in ver. 8 comes from a verb meaning “to praise”, as does the name “Muhammad”. But the context shows that Shiloh was to be born among the descendants of Judah. Muhammad was of the Arabian tribe of the Quraish. He was not a Jew! The passage cannot therefore refer to him. Moreover, the scepter had departed from Judah more than 550 years before Muhammad was born. The verb “to praise” in ver. 8 has no possible connexion with the Arabic verb hamada (حَمَدَ). The Jewish commentaries explain that Shiloh is a title of the Messiah, and the Samaritan Targum implies this also. Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah, and the Gentiles have already in large measure become obedient unto Him.
2. Deut. xviii. 15, 18. It is urged that the promised prophet was not to rise among the Israelites (“from the midst of thee” in ver. 15 does not occur in the Septuagint or the Samaritan Pentateuch, nor in Acts iii. 22) but among their “brethren” the Ishmaelites (compare Gen. xxv. 9, 18) : that no such prophet did rise among the Israelites (Deut. xxxiv. 10): that Muhammad was like Moses in many points, e.g., both were brought up in their enemies houses, appeared among idolaters, were at first rejected by their own people and afterwards accepted by them, each gave a law, fled from their enemies (Moses to Midian, Muhammad to Medinah, a name of a similar meaning), marched to battle against their enemies, wrought miracles, and enabled their followers after their own decease to conquer Palestine. In reply it may be said that Deut. xxxiv. 10 refers only to the time at which it was written, and the word “since” may be said to imply the expectation that such a prophet would arise ” in Israel”, not outside. The words “from the midst of thee” are almost certainly genuine, though even without them the meaning is clear. It is true that Ishmael was Isaac’s half-brother: but, if the Ishmaelites may be called the brethren of Israel, assuredly, the Israelite tribes may more correctly be called one another’s brethren. (Compare Surah vii, Al A’raf, ver. 83, “their brother Shu’aib.”) Israelites are called one another’s brethren in this very book of Deuteronomy, e.g., in chapters iii. 18; xv. 7; xvii. 15; xxiv. 14. In ch. xvii. 15 we have an exactly parallel passage in reference to the appointment of a king: “one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee.” Most, if not all, the kingdoms of Europe are ruled by kings who belong to families which are or were originally foreign: but in all history we never hear of the Israelites appointing over themselves a foreigner as king. They should have gone to the Ishmaelites for their kings, if the Muslim explanation of “from among their brethren” in Deut. xviii. 18 is correct. They did not do so, because they understood their own language. Who at the present day among Muslims, if told to summon one of his “brethren” to receive some important post, would conclude that members of his own family were excluded, and that he must find a man whose ancestors had, hundreds of years before, been kindred to his own? Moreover, the Torah clearly says that no prophet was to be expected from Ishmael, for God’s covenant was made with Isaac, not with him (Gen. xvii. 18-21; xxi. 10-12). The Qur’an also in several places speaks of the prophetic office as having been entrusted to Isaac’s seed (Surah xxix, Al Ankabut, ver. 27; Surah xlv, Al Fathiyyah, ver. 15). The promised prophet was to be sent unto Israel: but Muhammad professed to be sent to the Arabs among whom he was born. As for a likeness to Moses, we learn from Deut. xxxiv. 10-12, that the two points in which the Israelites expected the coming prophet to resemble Moses were: (1) personal knowledge of God, and (2) mighty works. As regards the former, is there not a tradition that Muhammad said, “We have not known Thee in the truth of Thy knowledge (or as Thou shouldest be known)”? With reference to mighty works,1 the Qur’an tells us that Muhammad was not2 given the power of working miracles (Surah xvii, Al Asra’, ver. 61: see Baizawi’s and ‘Abbasi’s commentaries: Surahs ii. 112; vi. 37, 57, 109; vii. 202; x. 21; xiii. 8, 30; xxix. 49, 50). The points of resemblance between Moses and Muhammad which Muslims adduce might be found in Musailamah and in Mani for the most part, but do not prove that these men were prophets. Finally, God Himself has explained in the Gospel that this prophecy referred to Christ, not to Muhammad (compare Deut. xviii. 15, 19, “Unto Him ye shall hearken,” &c., with Matt. xvii. 5: see also Mark ix. 2, and Luke ix. 35). Jesus explains that this and other passages in the Torah refer to Himself (John v. 46: see Gen. xii. 3; xxvi. 4; xviii. 18; xxii. 18; xxviii. 14). He was descended from Judah (Matt. i. 1-16; Luke iii. 23-38; Heb. vii. 14), was born in Israel, and spent almost all His life among the Jews, and sent His disciples in the first place to the latter (Matt. x. 6) and only secondly to the Gentiles (Luke xxiv. 47; Matt. xxviii. 18-20). In Acts iii. 25, 26, the prophecy we are considering is definitely referred to Christ.
3. Deut. xxxii. 21: “They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities.” This, we are told, refers to the Arabs, to whom Muhammad was sent. It cannot (Muslims say) refer to the Greeks, to whom St. Paul and the other Apostles of Christ went, for they were wise and learned. But this verse cannot be said to refer to any prophet at all. It tells how God will call the Gentiles, not the Greeks only, but the Arabs, the English, and all others, to become one spiritual brotherhood in Christ. This is the explanation of the passage given in I Pet. ii. 9, 10: compare Eph. ii. 11-13. As for the wisdom of the Greeks, it was not true wisdom, for they had no knowledge of the One True God, and the very beginning of wisdom consists in revering Him (Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7; ix. 10). “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (I Cor. iii. 19).
4. Deut. xxxiii. 2. Here the words, “The LORD came from Sinai” are said to refer to the giving of the Law to Moses: “And rose from Seir unto them;” to the “descent” of the Injil: while “He shined forth from Mount Paran” is claimed as a prophecy of the bestowal of the Qur’an, since it is said that one of the hills near Mecca is called by a similar name. But the context shows that Moses is here making no reference either to the Injil or to the Qur’an. He is reminding the Israelites how widely God’s glory was seen when they were encamped near Mt. Sinai. The map shows that Sinai, Seir, and Paran are three mountains quite close to one another. They are in the Sinaitic Peninsula, many hundreds of miles from Mecca. This is clear from the other places where Paran is mentioned (Gen. xiv. 6; Num. x. 12; xii. 15; xiii. 3; Deut. i. 1: I Kings xi. 18).
5. Ps. x1v. is said to be a prophecy regarding Muhammad, since he is called “the Prophet with the sword”, and it is thought that verses 3-5 are especially applicable to him. But there are two answers, either one of which alone would suffice to refute this theory. One is that in ver. 6 we read, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” Muslims never claim that Muhammad was God. The other is that in Heb. i. 8, 9, it is clearly stated that ver. 6 is an address to Christ. The “King’s daughter” of ver. 13 is the spiritual bride of Christ, that is, the Christian Church (compare Rev. xxi. 2), and the foes defeated are Satan and all his hosts and those men whom he has stirred up to oppose Christ’s Gospel (see Rev. xix. 11-21). Other similar prophecies about Christ are found in Pss. ii, lxxii, cx. Probably first of all the psalm had reference to Solomon’s marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter (I Kings iii. 1), and this wedding is taken as a type of the spiritual union between Christ and His Church.
6. Ps. cxlix. is also claimed as a prophecy about Muhammad. The “New song” (ver. 1) is said to be the Qur’an, and the “two-edged sword” (ver. 6) suits the “Prophet with the sword”. ‘Ali too had such a sword, and used it in Muhammad’s service. The “king” in ver. 2 is said to be Muhammad. But the Muslims do not use singing in their worship, and the Qur’an cannot be described as in any sense a “song”. The sword is not said to be in the king’s hands, but in that of the Israelites, and with it they were to avenge themselves upon their enemies. The “king” in ver. 2 is in the first part of the verse said to be the Creator, and in ver. 4 He is called the LORD. In no sense can it be said that Muhammad was King of Israel. Nor could the Israelites “rejoice” in him, as we shall see, if we remember how he treated the Banu Nadhir, the Banu Qainuqa’, the Banu Quraizah and other Jewish communities.
7. Some refer chapter v. 16, of the Song of Songs, to Muhammad, simply because in the Hebrew the word mahamaddim, “delights,” “delightfulnesses,” occurs there, and is derived from the same root. But we find that the word in Hebrew is a common, and not a proper noun, as the use of the plural here shows. The same word occurs again as a common noun in Hosea ix. 6, 16; I Kings xx. 6; Lam. i. 10, 11; ii. 4; Joel iv. 5; Isa. lxiv. 10; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 19; Ezek. xxiv. 16, 21, 25. InAl Fatihah, ver. 1: Al hamdo lillahi Rabbi ‘lalamin (“Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds”). In the same way a Hindu might assert that the name of Ram or some other of his deities was mentioned in the Qur’an, because in Surah xxx, Ar Rum, ver. 1, we read غُلِبَتِ الْرّوُمُ, “the Romans have been overcome,” where Arabic dictionaries give Rum as if derived from the root ram. This kind of argument is unworthy of men of learning and judgement. the last passage (Ezek. xxiv. 16, “the desire of thine eyes”) it is applied to a woman, Ezekiel’s wife (compare ver. 18), and to the sons and daughters of the idolatrous Jews (ver. 25). It would be just as wise to apply the word to Muhammad here as in the Song of Songs. In Arabic many words are formed from the same root حمد, but they do not on that account denote Muhammad. An ignorant Muslim might just as well assert that Muhammad’s name occurred in Surah i,
8. In Isaiah xxi. 7, Muslims hold that the words “a chariot (orJerusalem riding on an ass, and that “a (troop or) chariot of camels” refers to Muhammad, since he always rode on a camel. But the context shows that this chapter refers to neither Christ nor Muhammad. It is a prophecy of the fall of Babylon, as we learn from verse 9, and tells how word is brought by travellers of the capture of the city and the destruction of its idols, which took place under Darius in 519 B.C., and again in 513 B.C. troop) of asses” are a prediction of the coming of Christ, who entered
9. Muslims fancy that in Isaiah xlii. 1-4, they can find a prophecy about Muhammad. But if we may believe the accounts given us by Ibn Hisham, At Tabari, Ibn Athir, the Katibu’l Waqidi, the Rauzatu’s Safa, and other Muhammadan authors and works, the description of a man who was gentle and peaceable does not apply to him who is called “the Prophet with the Sword”. Moreover in Matt. xii. 15-21, we are distinctly told that the prophecy refers to Christ, and was fulfilled in Him. The Christian faith is that of the “isles” and coastlands of the Mediterranean, which are those primarily referred to in ver. 4.
10. In the same chapter (Isa. xlii) vers. 10, 11, 12, the mention of Kedar leads some to argue that this word means the Arabs, and hence that a reference is made to their conversion to Islam. But the “new song” in ver. 10 can hardly denote the new Muslim mode of worship, especially as no singing is permitted in it. Kedar was doubtless the name of one of the Arab tribes, but not a few of them (Himyar, Ghassan, Rabi’ah, Najran, Hirah, &c.) had embraced Christianity before they were compelled to become Muslims, or be expelled from Arabia. Doubtless they will be Christians again some day. These verses are a continuation of what is said in vers. 1-4, and must refer to the spread of Christianity even in Arabia, as we are told it would spread in the islands also, and among “ye that go down to the sea” (ver. 10). The expression “My Servant” in ver. 1 is explained in ch. xlix. 3, as meaning “Israel”, that is, doubtless, the “Israel of God”, those who believe in Christ. He Himself is the “Head2 of the body, the Church”. Hence in Isa. lii. 13, the ancient Jewish commentators explain the same phrase as meaning the Promised Messiah. Christ came from Israel, and represented it. Muhammad did not.
11. Isa. liii. is also claimed as referring to Muhammad,Arabia, he was “a root out of a dry ground”: (2) “they made his grave with the wicked,” for he was buried in Medinah: (3) the words “he shall see his seed” were fulfilled regarding him. (4) he did “divide the spoil with the strong”, that is, with the Ansars: (5) he fulfilled the words “he poured out his soul unto death”, since he did undoubtedly die, while many Muslims deny Christ’s death, and hold that He ascended to Heaven without dying. But (1) the whole of verses 5, 6, 7, 8, are absolutely inapplicable to Muhammad or to anyone but Christ. (2) Half of verses 9 and 12 do not in any way suit Muhammad. (3) As to dividing the spoil, this was to take place after death, which is true in a spiritual sense of Christ (since only after His Resurrection and Ascension did the Gentiles begin to enter His Kingdom), but not of Muhammad. (4) Why the people of Medinah, the Ansars who received and fought for Muhammad, should be called wicked, rather than those of MeccaAll parts of the prophecy were spiritually fulfilled in Christ, whereas many portions of it cannot possibly refer to anyone else, least of all to a victorious warrior like Muhammad. Besides this, the ancient Jewish commentators understood the chapter as a prophecy regarding the Promised Messiah. The whole of the New Testament shows how this prophecy and the similar one in Ps. xxii. were fulfilled in Christ alone. because, (1) being born in who rejected him, is not easily seen. (5)
12. Isaiah liv. 1 is supposed to be a prophecy of Muhammad’s birth from the descendants of Ishmael. It predicts that more people will become his followers and thus be brought to God than were converted by all the prophets of Israel. In reality, however, the prophecy has two meanings, a literal and a spiritual. The literal meaning is that the Jews will be rescued from Babylon and brought back to Jerusalem. This took place under Cyrus, beginning in 536 B.C. The spiritual meaning is taught by St. Paul (Gal. iv. 21-31. There we see that it was fulfilled when the Gentiles, long devoted to idolatry and estranged from God, began to receive the Gospel of Christ. Incidentally, moreover, St. Paul in that passage shows that Hagar’s descendants were not to be preferred to Sarah’s spiritual offspring.
13. Isa. lxiii. 1-6. Muslims say that the warrior here mentioned is Muhammad, as he was “the prophet with the sword”. They think that Bozrah mentioned in ver. 1 is the famous city of Basrah. But ver. 1 shows that Bozrah is in Edom. It is now called Al Busairah, and is a little south of the Dead Sea. If we compare ver. 5 with Isa. lix. 15, 16, it will be seen that the warrior is the Lord of Hosts Himself, who has punished Edom for its sins. The imagery is used again in Rev. xix. 11-16, where the warrior is explained as the Kalimatu’llah, who will finally punish the wicked and put down all enemies under His feet (I Cor. xv. 25).
14. Isaiah lxv. 1-6. This passage is asserted to be a prophecy of the conversion of the Arabs to Muhammad. The second and following verses are said to tell of the sins of the Jews and Christians, who were therefore rejected by God. In reality, however, ver.1 is a prophecy of the conversion of many of the Gentiles to Christ. The sins of some of the Jews are mentioned in vers. 2-6, but vers. 8-10 tell us that God will not finally reject the whole Jewish nation (compare Rom. xi). Nothing is said of the Christians, and not a word about Muhammad.
15. Dan. ii. 45 contains a prophecy of the rise and spread of Islam, in the opinion of some Muslims. They say that the four kingdoms mentioned in that chapter are the Chaldaean, the Median, the Kayanian (or Persian), and the Macedonian. Alexander the Great shattered the Persian Empire, but under the Sasanian kings it revived. At one time strong, at another weak, it lasted until Muhammad’s birth in the time of Khusrau Anushiravan. But soon after Muhammad’s death the Muslim hosts overthrew the Persian Empire, conquered Persia, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and “filled the whole land” (vers. 44, 45). This explanation, however, does not agree with the facts of history for the simple reason that (1) there was no Median Empire after the Babylonian (Darius the Mede—Dan. v. 31; vi; ix. 1—”was made king” of Chaldaea only, i.e. the region around Babylon, reigned only part of one year, and was viceroy of Cyrus the Great), and hence the Persian was the second Empire (Dan. viii. 3, 4, 20): (2) The Macedonian was the third Empire (Dan. viii. 5, 7, 21): (3) The fourth was the Roman Empire (Dan. ii. 40), which was the greatest of them all, and which the Muslim version of history entirely omits: (4) The revived Persian Empire under the Sasanians might be counted as the fifth, or as the third Empire, but could not be the fourth, and yet the prophecy refers to what happened during the fourth Empire (Dan. ii. 40, 44; vii. 7, 19, 23). That the Macedonian Empire was the third, and not the fourth, is clear from what is actually said about it, for it overthrew the Persian Empire (Dan. viii. 5, 7, 21), and, after Alexander’s death, was divided into four (Dan. viii. 8, 22) and thus gradually faded into insignificance and was swallowed up by the Roman Empire. It was in the time of the Roman Empire, when it ruled nearly the whole civilized world, that Christ was born in part of that Empire. The kingdom which He set up was “not of this world” (John xviii. 36; Luke i. 31-33; Dan. vii. 13, 14, 27) and did not spread through the sword, like all earthly kingdoms. Christ called Himself the Son of Man, and thus showed that He was the person mentioned in Dan. vii. 13. His is the kingdom which is described as the stone that filled the whole earth (Dan. ii. 45). When He returns, to Him every knee shall bow (Phil. ii. 9-11).
16. Habakkuk iii. 3. Muslims seem to fancy that “The Holy One from Mount Paran” was Muhammad. But we find that the verse goes on to say “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise”, where the use of the singular pronoun clearly shows that the “Holy One” is God, who is mentioned at the beginning of the verse. We have already seen that Mt.Paran is in the Sinaitic Peninsula, and not anywhere near Mecca. Teman was a district and town in Edom, the town of this name being not far from Sela (Petra), and only a few days’ journey south of Jericho. Mt. Paran and Teman were therefore close to one another, and both were hundreds of miles north of MeccaJerusalem. and very much nearer
The fact that Teman is spoken of as descended from Esau, father of the Edomites (Gen. xxxvi. 11, 19), confirms what we learn from historians, geographers, and the statements of the prophets (Jer. xlix. 7, 20; Ezek. xxv. 13; Amos i. 11, 12: Obadiah, vers. 8, 9, 10) regarding the situation of the town, which bore the same name. If after this Muslim theologians persist in stating that Teman is in some way connected with Islam, we must ask them to notice how in Obadiah God threatens Teman with utter destruction. But we Christians do not apply this prophecy to Islam, because we know that there is no connexion whatever between Islam and Teman.
17. Haggai ii. 7. Here Muslims argue that “the Desire of all nations” means Muhammad, because the Hebrew word meaning “desire” (חמדּה hemdah— حمداة) comes from the same root as does the word “Muhammad”. But it is admitted that, even in Arabic, not every word derived from that root refers to Muhammad, still less does every such Hebrew word. This very word hemdah is employed again in Dan. xi. 37, “the desire of women,” and there probably denotes a false god worshipped by the heathen. We cannot therefore logically found any argument upon the form of the word. Nor can it be shown that the nations of the world “desired” Muhammad’s advent, for the Muhammadan conquest of many lands was hardly to be considered a desirable thing for the conquered, though the Arabs desired to make such conquests. “The Desire of all nations” denotes either (1) “the desirable things of all nations”, referring to the silver and gold mentioned in ver. 8; or (2) “the choice of all the Gentiles”, that is “the election of grace” (Rom. xi. 5) from among them, i.e. the Christian Church; or (3) the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who did come to His Temple, and in Jerusalem by His Atonement gave peace (Hag. ii. 9; Mal. iii. 3; Matt. xii. 6, 41, 42; Luke xxiv. 36; John xiv. 27; xvi. 33; xx. 19, 21, 26) to His people.
The Shi‘ahs have founded arguments in support of their own ideas upon a few passages in the Old Testament. Although the Sunnis do not agree with them in this, yet it may be worth while to consider their arguments, because they really have as solid or as unstable a foundation as those which we have already dealt with.
18. The Shi‘ahs say that Gen. xvii. 20, “Twelve princes shall he beget,” is a prophecy of the twelve Imams, whom they hold to be the legitimate successors of Muhammad. In answer to this we need do nothing but refer to Gen. xxv. 13-16, where we are told that the promise was fulfilled in the twelve sons born to Ishmael, whose names are there given, and who are distinctly called “twelve princes” in the end of ver. 16.
19. They also hold that Jer. xlvi. 10, “The Lord, the LORD of Hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates,” is a prophecy of the murder of Husain at Karbala, believing that in some way his death was a sacrifice for sin and an atonement. But the second verse of this very same chapter states that the reference is to “the army of Pharaoh-neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah”, 606 B.C. It can hardly be supposed by any Muslim that the slaughter of a host of Egyptians, who were then heathens, was an atonement for sin. The word rendered “sacrifice” also means “slaughter” (as is evident from such passages as Isa. xxxiv. 6-8; Ezek. xxxix. 17-21; Zeph. i. 7, 8). Besides all this, Karbala could in no sense be said by Jeremiah to be “in the north country”.
We now pass to the New Testament, in order to consider with due care and attention the passages in it which Muslims claim as prophecies relating to Muhammad.
I. Matt. iii. 2, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” These words of John the Baptist, repeated by Jesus (Matt. iv. 17), are said by Muslims to be a prediction of the establishment of the power of Islam (see also Matt. xiii. 31, 32), the Qur’an being the Law of the Kingdom. But, in order to understand what is meant by “The Kingdom of Heaven”, or, as it is also called, “The Kingdom of God,” we must consider all the passages in the New Testament in which the words occur. One of these is Matt. xii. 28, where Christ says, “If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the Kingdom of God come upon you.” In Mark ix. 1, Christ tells His disciples that some of those who stood there should not taste of death till they saw the Kingdom of God come with power. In some verses this Kingdom is spoken of as already established in Christ’s lifetime, in others to be established after His death. It was begun before He was crucified, but its perfection is to be when He comes again to judge the world (Dan. vii. 13, 14; Rev. xi. 15). Meanwhile it is spreading daily through the preaching of the Gospel and the invitation being given to all men to enter it (Matt. xxviii. 18-20). It is not a kingdom of this world (John xviii. 36); it does not come with worldly pomp and show (Luke xvii. 20); it belongs to the humble-minded (Matt. v. 3), not to the proud; men can enter it only through a new, spiritual birth (John iii. 3, 5); it is not possible for the wicked to be in it (I Cor. vi. 9, 10; Gal. v. 21; Eph. v. 5). Hence it can hardly be identified with the dominion founded by Muhammad and his successors.
2. Matt. xvii. 11. Some Muslims take the words “Elias (Elijah) indeed cometh” here as a prediction of Muhammad’s advent. But Christ goes on to say, “Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they listed” (ver. 12). The next verse adds, “Then understood the disciples that He spake unto them of John the Baptist” (ver. 13). Of course John the Baptist was not Elijah in person, for transmigration of souls (تناسُخ) is not taught in the Bible; therefore he answered as he did (John i. 21) when asked whether he was Elijah or not. But he was Christ’s forerunner, appointed before birth to go before Him “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke i. 17), as the Angel Gabriel had predicted (Luke i. 19), and in this sense, as Malachi had foretold (Mal. iv. 5), he came as Elijah, living in much the same way (Matt. iii. 4) as the latter had done, often in the desert (I Kings xvii. 1-6).
3. Matt. xx. 1-16. In this parable some Muslims say that the “morning” represents the Jewish, “noon” the Christian, and “evening” the Muhammadan dispensation. But the “even” of ver. 8 is the time mentioned in ch. xix. 28, as “the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory”, that is to say, at the end of the ages, when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory to judge the world (Matt. xxiv. 30, 31; Mark xiii. 26, 27; Luke xxi. 27; Rev. i. 7; xx. 11-15). This is clear from the fact that Matt. xx. begins with “for”, and that the parable ends with the words, “So the last shall be first, and the first last”, which are repeated with little change from the end of the preceding chapter. The evening of the world’s history is now drawing nigh, and both Christians and Muslims expect the return of Christ to take place very soon. As He rules up to the end of the world, and is then to judge the quick and the dead at His appearance (2 Tim. iv. 1), there is no room for the Islamic dispensation. It cannot therefore be predicted in this parable.
4. Matt. xxi. 33-44 (see also Mark xii. 1-11; Luke xx. 9-18). Muslims argue that here Christ is prophesying of Muhammad’s coming and the success of his arms. They admit that the householder is God, and that Christ in this parable is speaking of Himself when He mentions the householder’s son. They admit that in the parable Christ speaks of Himself as slain by the Jews. It would be well if they would ponder these admissions. If Christ said this, then they must confess that He is the Son of God, and that He died for men’s sins. If this is admitted, there is no need to find a prophecy about Muhammad. But if they do not admit that this was said by Christ, then they have no right to assert that He spoke this parable at all, and hence its meaning is of no importance to them. Here then their argument at once breaks down. It should be noted also that in the parable there is no messenger sent after the Son. As the Muslims grant that the servants whom the householder sends are God’s prophets, it is evident from the parable that no prophet was to be sent after Christ. Here for a second time their whole argument is refuted. Again, Christ quotes the statement about “the stone which the builders rejected” from Ps. cxviii. 22, and in Acts iv. 11, 12, Peter explains that the Psalmist meant Christ Himself by this stone.1 He says, “He is the stone which was set at nought OF YOU the builders.” Therefore the builders were the Jews of His own time, and not Abraham and Ishmael, who built the Ka’bah, as the Muhammadan story asserts. The parable said that the Kingdom of God would be taken from the Jews and “given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. xxi. 43). Muslims hold that this means the sons of Ishmael; but the New Testament shows that it denotes the true believers in Christ, who are “an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession”, chosen to show forth the excellences of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light; “which in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (I Pet. ii. 9, 10). This passage teaches us also what were the fruits which the Lord God required to be produced. The same lesson is taught in Titus ii. 14 (compare Gal. v. 22-24). The “other husbandmen” to whom the vineyard was to be given are explained to be the Christian Church, and the vineyard is the Kingdom of God (Matt. xxi. 43 explains ver. 41). Therefore they cannot be Muhammad and his disciples. Since the stone is Christ, it cannot be Hagar, or the Black Stone in the wall of the Ka’bah, nor can it be Muhammad. Opposition to Christ is therefore what the parable shows to be displeasing to God, and in the end fatal and ruinous to all His enemies. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, about forty years after the Crucifixion of Christ, explained part of its meaning. Some Muslims fancy that the “Lord of the Vineyard” who was to come (Matt. xxi. 40) was Muhammad. But this cannot be maintained, for Christ (ver. 37) was the Son of the Lord of the Vineyard, and no one imagines Him to be Muhammad’s son. It is only by wresting words from their places and omitting to consider the context and the explanations given in other parts of the Bible that an appearance of plausibility can be given to the Muslim view regarding this parable.
5. Mark i. 7. Muslims often say, “The Injil contains the words of Jesus, and accordingly we find that in Mark i. 7 He prophesied of Muhammad, saying, ‘There cometh after Me he that is mightier than I,’ &c.” This shows how hopelessly impossible it is for Muslims to find any prophecy regarding Muhammad; for ver. 6 of this chapter tells us that these words were not spoken by Jesus, but by John the Baptist. Moreover, we learn from John i. 26-34, that John spoke of Christ, not of Muhammad. The context shows this clearly (see also Matt. iii. 11-14; Luke iii. 16, 17). If it be said that Christ was already in the world, and that therefore He could not be said to come after John, the answer is that He began to preach only after John had been cast into prison (Mark i. 14: compare Matt. iv. 12, 17) and had thus ended his ministry, for he was soon after beheaded in prison by Herod’s command.
6. John i. 21. “Here,” say some among the Muslims, “we have a clear mention of Muhammad. The Jews mentioned three prophets in succession, Christ, lijah, and ‘the Prophet’, i.e. Muhammad, and John did not contradict them. ‘The Prophet’ is Muhammad, who is foretold in Deut. xviii. 18. He cannot be Christ or Elijah, who are mentioned quite separately.” But we have already seen that Deut. xviii. 18 cannot refer to Muhammad, but does refer to Christ. Hence “the Prophet” in this verse is Christ. The Jews were reckoning backwards. They thought John the Baptist might be the promised Messiah. When he denied this, they asked whether he was the Messiah’s forerunner, Elijah (Mal. iv. 5; Matt. xvii. 10; Mark ix. 11). John explained that he was not Elijah in person, nor had the latter returned to earth, as the Jews thought he would (though John was the person to whom Mal. iv. 5 pointed; see Matt. xi. 14). Being then unable to understand who he was, the Jews asked whether he was “the prophet”, referring to Deut. xviii. 18. With regard to the meaning of this latter prophecy there was at that time some difference of opinion among the Jews. Many rightly understood that it indicated the promised Messiah, as is clear from John vi. 14. But others did not think so, as we see from John vii. 40, 41, supposing that the prophet mentioned in Deut. xviii. 15, 18, was another forerunner of the promised Messiah. The whole passage (John i. 19-28) shows that the questioners wanted to learn whether John the Baptist was the Messiah, or one of His forerunners. It would not have been reasonable to ask whether John the Baptist was a supposed prophet coming hundreds of years after the Messiah, when the Messiah Himself had not yet declared Himself such, and was not recognized by them.
7. John iv. 21 is supposed by some to be a declaration that Jerusalem would be the Holy City and the Qiblah no longer, but that its place would be taken by another city, which, the Muslims say, must be Mecca. But in vers. 23, 24, Christ Himself explains the meaning of His own words, by saying that true and acceptable worship does not depend upon the place where it is
offered, but upon the state of the worshipper’s heart. Hence He does away with the possibility of there ever afterwards being a true Qiblah on earth.
8. John xiv. 30. “The Prince of the World cometh.” Many Muslims consider that these words of Christ are a prediction of the coming of Muhammad. But, in the first place, the context shows that here Christ was not speaking of a prophet who was to come after Him, for He adds, “and he hath nothing in Me.” This shows that the person spoken of was an enemy of all that is good; which cannot be said of any prophet. Secondly, when we compare other passages of Scripture where this or other equivalent titles are given to the person here spoken of we see that he is Satan. See Luke x. 18; John xii. 31; xvi. 11; 2 Cor. iv. 4; Eph. ii. 2: vi. 11, 12.
9. John xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 13, &c. Muslims assert that the Paraclete here mentioned by Christ is Muhammad, whose name they fancy to be a translation of this word. They contend that the prophecy was fulfilled in Muhammad, since he received the Qur’an from the Angel Gabriel (whom Muslims imagine to be the Holy Spirit), and bore witness to Christ (John xv. 26) and glorified Him (John xvi. 14) as a prophet, as born of a Virgin, as a worker of miracles, as having ascended up to Heaven without dying, as not God’s Son, and as never having claimed to be such, and as having had the Gospel brought to Him. That the early Christians understood Christ to have promised that another great prophet should come is, the Muslims assert, clear from the fact that Mani claimed to be the Paraclete, and was on that account accepted by many Christians as having come in fulfilment of this prophecy. But it is quite impossible for any scholar and for anyone who carefully studies the New Testament to accept this explanation of our Lord’s words in the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of St. John’s Gospel. For:
(1) First of all, the word Paraclete does not mean anything at all like “Muhammad”. It means the “Comforter” or “Sustainer”, and also the “Advocate” (الوكيل). The first of these titles is clearly unsuited to the “Prophet with the Sword”, and the Qur’an itself denies the title of Advocate to all but God Himself (Surahs xvii, Al Asra’ or Banu Isra’il, ver. 56: iv. An Nisa’, ver. 83). Hence Muhammad cannot be the Paraclete. (2) In the New Testament the title Paraclete is applied only to the Holy Spirit, as in these chapters (John xiv. 16, 17, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 13), and also by implication to Christ (John xiv. 16: see I John ii. 1). (3) The Paraclete of whom Christ here speaks is therefore not a man, but a spirit, the Spirit of Truth, invisible: He was then dwelling with Christ’s disciples and was to be in their hearts (John xiv. 17; xvi. 14). (4) He was to be sent by Christ (John xv. 26; xvi. 7), which Muslims cannot admit concerning Muhammad. (5) His work was not to gather armies and gain victories with earthly weapons, but to convict men of sin, the very essence of sin being disbelief in Christ (xvi. 9). (6) His teaching was to glorify not Himself, but Christ, and was not to be His own, but what Christ gave Him (John xvi. 14, 15). (7) To teach men to deny the truth of Christ’s Sonship, which Christ had affirmed on oath (Mark xiv. 61), and to oppose belief in His Divine Nature, which (as we have seen) is taught in both Old Testament and New (for example in Isa. ix. 6; Ps. xlv. 6; John x. 30; Heb. i), is not to glorify Christ, but to oppose Him. (8) To deny that Christ was crucified and thereby atoned for the sins of the whole world is to deny another of the most vital doctrines of the whole Bible (Ps. xxii; Isa. lii. 13 and liii; Matt. xx. 19, &c. &c.), for on the fact of the Atonement made in His death on the cross depends the salvation of all men. (9) Denial of His Crucifixion implies denial of His Resurrection, upon which the whole Christian faith is based (I Cor. xv. 17-19). As therefore Muhammad contradicts the Injil in these and other leading doctrines, and thereby utterly opposes the faith which Christ taught and which He bade His disciples teach all nations (Matt. xxviii. 18-20), it is impossible to say that Muhammad fulfilled the prophecy that the Paraclete would bring to the remembrance of the Apostles what Christ had taught them (John xiv. 26). (10) To appeal to Mani’s claim to be the Paraclete in proof that Muhammad was such, is a strange way of arguing. If we Christians were to compare Muhammad with Mani and the Qur’an with the Artang, which book Mani claimed had been brought him from heaven, and was such that no one could produce another like it, our Muslim brethren would be much offended. Let it be noticed that the writer of these pages carefully abstains from instituting any such comparison. But it is clear that the best instructed Christians refused to accept Mani principally because they knew (1) that the prophecies regarding the Paraclete were such that they could be fulfilled by no man, but only by the Holy Spirit, and that (2) these prophecies had already been fulfilled by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the fiftieth day after the Crucifixion of Christ (Acts ii. 1-36). This shows that the teaching of the New Testament in Mani’s time was just what it is now. Christ’s only prophecies about prophets who would come after Him were not such as to induce Christians to accept any who claimed to be prophets (Matt. xxiv. 11, 24; Mark xiii. 22: compare Matt. vii. 15), hence they refused to accept Mani, whom Muslims also hold to have been a false prophet. (11) The Paraclete was to dwell in the hearts of all true Christians (John xvi. 14: compare I Cor. vi. 19; Rom. viii. 9), which cannot be said of Muhammad. (12) Christ promised that the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit (John xiv. 26), should descend from Heaven upon the disciples within a few days of His Ascension (Acts i. 5), and bade them not begin their task of evangelizing the world (Matt. xxviii. 19, 20) until the Paraclete had come upon them, but to remain at Jerusalem until this promise was fulfilled (Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4, 8). Did this mean that they should wait until Muhammad’s claim to be a prophet was made, nearly 600 years afterwards? By that time they were all dead. Moreover, as we have seen, the promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii), just after Christ’s Ascension. Then, rightly understanding their duty, they began their task of preaching the Gospel throughout the world. It is clear therefore that in the promise of the coming of the Paraclete no reference to Muhammad can be found.
10. In 1 John iv. 2, 3, some have endeavoured to prove that “the Spirit of God” denotes Muhammad. But no true Muslim ever gives Muhammad such a title. Some say that, in accordance with ver. 2, Muhammad taught that Jesus Christ had “come in the flesh” because he denied Christ’s Deity and affirmed that He was a mere man. But “to come in the flesh” is an unmeaning phrase, if applied to a mere man. In reality the verse condemns the Docetic view that Christ had only a phantom body, and not a real human one. The belief that Christ was a mere man is condemned in scathing terms in this very Epistle (I John ii. 22, 23; v. 5, 9-13, 20). Hence the deduction which scholars draw from I John iv. 2, 3, is not one which in any way confirms Muhammad’s claims.
11. Jude 14, 15. Some people have ventured to assert that “the Lord” in this passage is Muhammad, and that the “executing judgement” denotes his being “the Prophet with the Sword” and waging war with his enemies. But no true Muslim can hold this view, for the title “the Lord” (الرّبّ) belongs to God, and in the Qur’an (compare Surah ix, At Taubah, ver. 31) is given to Him only. Enoch’s prophecy which is quoted by Jude refers to Christ’s second Advent, when He will judge the world (Dan. vii. 13, 14; Matt. xxiv. 29-51; 2 Thess. i. 6-10; Rev. i. 7; xix. 11-21). The title “Lord” is often applied to Christ in the New Testament, and correctly, as we learn from Phil. ii. 9-11.
12. Rev. ii. 26-29. Some Muslims claim this also as a prediction of “the Prophet with the Sword”. But if so, it would follow that Muhammad had received power from Christ, because he had kept Christ’s works, i.e. obeyed His commands, unto the end. Muslims hold that Muhammad was a greater Prophet than Christ, and therefore they cannot really believe that these words refer to Muhammad. It must be noticed that the speaker in these verses is Christ, and that He speaks of God as His Father. The meaning of the verse is evident from a comparison with vers. 7, 11, 17; and ch. iii, vers. 5, 12, 21, in which the phrase “He that overcometh” is repeated again and again. The context shows that the promise is general, to everyone who gains the victory, and that the victory is not over men, but over one’s own sins and the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
These are all the important passages which Muslims fancy contain prophecies concerning Muhammad. It is quite clear that not a single one of them all does constitute a prediction about him. Nor does the New Testament lead us to expect any other Dispensation after the Christian, before the return of Christ and the complete establishment of His everlasting Kingdom. This particular proof of Muhammad’s Divine Commission therefore has completely broken down. It is true that certain people have been astounded at noticing the fact that in Rev. ix. 4, these words occur: “And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads.” For they tell us that this prophecy was actually fulfilled when the Khalifah Abu Bakr sent out the armies of Islam to conquer Syria. It is certainly very remarkable to find in two Arabic historians, both of whom were probably unacquainted with this passage, statements which remind the reader of it: Shaikh Jalalu’ddin Suyuti quotes Al Baihaqi and others as affirming, on the authority of ‘Imranu’l Juni, that Abu Bakr, when placing Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan in command of the army that was starting for Syria, said to him: “Ye shall not slay a woman or a child or a decrepit old man, nor shall ye cut down fruit-bearing trees, nor shall ye lay waste cultivated ground, nor shall ye slaughter sheep or beast of burden except for food, nor shall ye split a date-palm, nor burn it: nor shalt thou deal treacherously, nor shalt thou be cowardly.” The Katibu’l Waqidi also relates the same thing at greater length. He tells us that on that occasion Abu Bakr said to Yazid: “When ye shall have prevailed over your enemies, do not slay a lad or a very old man or a woman or a babe, nor approach a date-palm, nor burn a cornfield, nor cut down fruit-bearing trees, nor slaughter beasts, unless a beast for food, nor shall ye deceive when ye have made an agreement; nor shall ye break the compact when ye have made peace. And ye shall pass by communities in cells, monks who fancy that they are serving God, therefore let them alone, unto Him have they not secluded themselves, and they are satisfied for themselves with Him: and ye shall not pull down their cells, nor shall ye slay them. And ye shall find another community, the sect of Satan and worshippers of crosses, who have shaved the middle of their heads until they are, as it were, nests of the Qata-bird (القطا). Therefore with your swords strike through the middle of their heads, until they return to Islam or ‘give the Fizyah-tax out of hand, and are humble’. And to God have I commended you.” There is no doubt that the resemblance between the prophecy in the Book of Revelation and the command thus given to the Arabs, who came forth from the land of the locusts and in swarms almost as numerous, is very great. But the passage contains nothing about a prophet, and so cannot be said to support Muhammad’s claims. Nor can any true Muslim adduce this chapter with any satisfaction, even if it be granted that it is a prophecy which was fulfilled a few years after Muhammad’s death.
Gamal and brothers Arabs, as you know there are hundreds of different religions. Some of people believe in god of war, other in god called sun…others in different spirits…and so on. And sorry but I cannot agree that I believe in God who is in Islam. Because my God who is God of our father Ibrahim in Bible said: that anyone who believes in other gods who are not HE will die! So, if Islam doesn’t believe in this God who has the ONLY ONE SON called Jesus then I refuse to agree that my God Jesus is your God. If you will believe in Jesus that He is God it means that you are Christian and you believe in this Messiah about whom many prophets said in Bible before His birth. It means that you believe in God of Ibrahim and you will be called son of God and your sins will be forgiven through your faith into this God. If you refuse to believe in Jesus it means you don’t accept His Father. And it means that you don’t believe in the words of His Father. It means that He is not your God. It means that you are condemned by this God and you will die without Him. It means your flight will bring you to hell- a place where you will be eternally separated from God. If you will reconsider your beliefs and will start to believe to the words of this Great God Father and His Son Jesus than you are forgiven.
Look what God said to you personally in Bible:
John 3:18
“Whoever believes
in him( Jesus) is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he
has not believed in the name of
God’s one and only Son.“
So, brothers, if you want to submit and believe in God who is God of LOVE then let’s believe in Him! He is Issa Al Massih who was dead and resurrected nt he third day. He is Jesus Christ who died and accepted our sins, murders and transgressions ito His HOLY BODY on the cross. His blood washed away all your sins thorough your faith into Him and repentance.
How to submit to God of LOVE?
You can trust and submit to God right now by faith through prayer. Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you have never trusted Christ, you can do so right now.
Jesus, my Lord, Issa Al Massih, I know that I am a sinner.
I know now that You are God.
Forgive me that I didn’t believe in You and sinned all my life.
And thank You for diying on the cross for my sin
and paying prize for it and risen again from the dead.
I am turning from my sin now.
And I am making choice to believe in You all my life
and follow You as my Savior and Lord.
Thank You for calling me and forgiving me, and receiving me, and loving me.
Thank you Lord that You adopted me through my Faith into YOU.
Help me to follow You from this day forward.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer
then know that God promised if we confess our sins then He is faithful and just to forgive us through faith into Jesus Christ and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Contact me here:
anaalmaas@maghreb.cc
Christians should be together
to support each other!
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End,”
says the Lord,
“who is and who was and
who is to come, the Almighty.”
And when I saw Him,
I fell at His feet as dead.
But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me,
“Do not be afraid;
I am the First and the Last.
I am He who lives,
and
was dead,
and behold,
I am alive forevermore.
Amen.
And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
God has so much more for you,
walk in His plan,
and you will fulfill His great commission for your life just believe in Him.
To believe in Him means to believe in His Son God Jesus, repent and live as God says in Bible. Because God is ONE and He is worthy to be praised. Don’t forget what God said:
“ Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
(said God in Isaiah 49:15)
www.arabworld.ning.com
www.arabkingdom.wordpress.com
anaalmaas@maghreb.cc
|
Jesus said to him,
“I am the
way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the
Father except
through Me.
John 14:6
|
Kingdom of Heaven for Arabs 