PROPHECIES ABOUT MUHAMMAD
IN THE
BIBLE?
By: Azali
Encouraged by two passages in the Koran, Muslims
search in the Bible for prophecies about the coming of
Muhammad:
Sura 7:156-157, 156 ... but My mercy knows no limits. And I will
accord it to those who are pious, and to those who give alms regularly, and to
those who believe in Our signs; - 157 (to those) who follow the messenger,
the unlearned Prophet (an-nabi al-ummi), whom they find
mentioned in the Torah and in the Gospel, who commands them what is right
and forbids them what is evil; ...
Sura 61:6,
And (back then) when 'Isa, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I
am sent by Allah to you, to confirm that of the Torah, which was there before
me, and to announce a messenger with a highly acclaimed name (ismuhu ahmad), who will come after
me."
...
A Jew who converted to Islam (Ali bin Rabban al-Tabari) in 855 AD published a book (Kitab al-Din wa
al-Dawla = The Book on
Religion and the State), in which he, based on his knowledge of the Bible, tried
to prove that Muhammad really was announced in the Bible. Here is the List of
biblical references that he used:
|
PROPHET |
Announcements of
Muhammad |
Announcements of Christ
(not considered by al-Tabari) |
|
Moses |
Deuteronomy |
Genesis |
|
David |
Psalm 45:2-5; 48:1-2; 50:2-3; 72:8-12;
110:5-7; 149:4-9; |
Psalm 2:7 (= Acts |
|
Isaiah |
Isaiah 2:12-19; 5:26-30; 9:2-4; 9:6; 21:1-10;
21:13-14; 24:16-18; 35:1-2; 40:35; 40:10-11; 41:2-4; 41:8-16; 41:17-20;
42:11-13 43:20-21; 44:7-13; 45:23-24; 46:9-4; 49:1-5; 49:16-21;
49:22-23; 54:1-4; 54:11-15; 55:1; 55:4-7; 59:15-19; 60:1-7;
60:9-19; 62:10-12; 63:1-6; 63:14-16 |
Isaiah 7:14; 9:5; 9:6b; 11:1-3; 42:1-3; 49:6-7;
53:12 (= Luke |
|
Hosea |
Hosea
13:5 |
|
|
Micah |
Micah
4:1-2 |
|
|
Habakkuk |
Habakkuk
3:,3-13 |
Habakkuk 1:5 (= Acts
|
|
Zephaniah |
Zephaniah
3:8-10 |
|
|
Zechariah |
Zechariah
14:9; |
Zechariah 9:1 (= Matthew
21:5) |
|
Jeremiah |
Jeremiah
1:5-10; |
|
|
Ezekiel |
Ezekiel
19:10-14 |
|
|
Daniel |
Daniel 2:31-35; 7:2-8; |
Daniel
7:13 |
|
Christ |
John 14:7,13; |
|
|
Paul |
Galatians
4:22-26 |
|
MOSES,
MUHAMMAD and CHRIST
The Koran has the following statement concerning the
announcement of Muhammad's coming in the Bible:
Sura 7:156-157, 156 ... but My mercy knows no limits. And I will
accord it to those who are pious, and to those who give alms regularly, and to
those who believe in Our signs; - 157 (to those) who follow the messenger,
the unlearned Prophet (an-nabi al-ummi), whom they find
mentioned in the Torah and in the Gospel, who commands them what is right
and forbids them what is evil; ...
One example of this statement of the Koran is seen by
Muslims in the following prophecies of the
Torah:
Deuteronomy 18:15+18, 15 The LORD your God will
raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you and your brethren; him you
shall obey. ... 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you
from their brethren, and will put my words in his mouth; and he will speak to
them all that I shall command him.
Muslims interpret these verses from Deuteronomy as
referring to Muhammad and not to Christ. In order to justify this opinion they
point out similarities between Moses and Muhammad that do not apply to
Christ:
|
MOSES |
MUHAMMAD |
CHRIST |
|
Had a father and a
mother |
Had a father and a
mother |
Had only a mother (Maryam) |
|
Was begotten the natural
way |
Was begotten the natural
way |
Was begotten in a supernatural way (miracle of
virgin birth) |
|
Married and had children
|
Married and had
children |
Did not marry and did not beget
children |
|
Died a natural
death |
Died a natural
death |
Did not die a natural death
|
|
Was buried in the earth
|
Was buried in the
earth |
Is not buried in the earth
|
|
Died aged more than 60 years
|
Died aged more than 60
years |
Ended his life on earth aged less than 60
years |
The triviality of this argument is revealed by
comparing Moses with my own grandfather:
|
MOSES |
MY
GRANDFATHER |
|
Had a father and a
mother |
Had a father and a
mother |
|
Was begotten the natural
way |
Was begotten the natural
way |
|
Married and had
children |
Married and had
children |
|
Died a natural
death |
Died a natural
death |
|
Was buried in the
earth |
Was buried in the
earth |
|
Died aged more than 60
years |
Died aged more than 60
years |
If in all these points my grandfather was similar to
Moses, does this make him a prophet like Moses? Of course not! In the same way
Muhammad was NOT a prophet like Moses in spite of all these
similarities.
In order to find a true answer to our problem we must
take into consideration completely different Qualities, not simply human but
superhuman attributes, when comparing someone with Moses:
|
MOSES |
CHRIST |
|
Was in danger at his
birth (slaying of male babies by Pharao) |
Was in danger at his
birth (slaying of male babies by
Herod) |
|
God himself ordered his
rescue through the daughter of Pharao |
God himself ordered his
rescue through Joseph, the fiancé of Mary. God sent an angel, to
tell Joseph what to do. |
|
Spent his childhood in
|
Spent a good portion of his
childhood in |
|
God performed many
miracles through him (transformed a rod into a snake, split the
sea, water out of a rock etc.) |
Performed many miracles
(healed the blind and the lepers, made the lame walk again, raised the
dead etc.) |
|
Liberated his people from their slavery to the Egyptians
and led them out to the promised land. |
Liberated and still liberates anyone who believes in him
from the slavery to evil and to sin |
|
Many Israelites quarreled and
conspired against him |
Many Israelites refused his
message and conspired against
him |
|
Died according to God's plan
and is now in heaven |
Died according to God's plan
on the cross and is now in
heaven |
At the same time it must be pointed out, how Muhammad
is different from Moses:
|
MOSES |
MUHAMMAD |
|
Was a Jew from the
tribe of Levi, a descendant of Isaac |
Was an Arab from the
house of Hashim of the
tribe of Quraish |
|
Spent his childhood in
|
Spent his childhood in the
|
|
Lived in the |
Lived as a Bedouin and
moved between his wet nurse and his grandfather resp. his uncle, worked as a shepherd and later
as a caravan guard for a rich woman |
|
Lived 40 years in the Sinai
desert where he was trained to lead his people by having direct talks
with God and with his father in law Jethro |
Traveled on business
trips by caravan between |
|
God performed many
miracles through him (transformed a rod into a snake, split the
sea, water out of a rock etc.) |
Did not perform one
single miracle |
|
Lead his people 40 years in
the Sinai desert, in this he did not found a state and did not
settle down |
Founded a
state first in Yathrib ( |
|
God ordered his death and God
himself buried him at an unknown place on |
Died under the influence of
poison and his grave in known in a mosque in |
|
Died at the age of 120
years |
Died at the age of 63
years |
These indications suffice to show that the Torah nowhere has hints much less prophecies about the coming of Muhammad. Rather, one can find there unmistakable evidences about the coming of Christ, who was announced by God many centuries before his birth. < email: azali5059457@msn.com >