Page 142 - World Religions I - Islam

Appendix B

I Is Muhammad Foretold in the Bible?
The Qur'an very clearly states in Surah 7:157 that the coming of Muhammad was foretold in the Jewish and
Christian Scriptures. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that Muslims have searched exhaustively through the
"Law and the Gospel" (the Tawrat and the Injil) for proof that these two books indeed contain prophecies of the
coming of Muhammad.

The Qur'an seems to suggest that these prophecies would be found in the Torah and the Gospel without much
difficulty, but when Muslims have applied themselves to finding these alleged predictions, they have been
unpleasantly surprised to discover that in these two books it is Jesus who is the subject of the many prophecies in
them and not Muhammad.

Nevertheless, spurred on by the assurance in the Qur'an that the Bible indeed foretells the coming of Muhammad,
Muslims have made every effort to find these prophecies. The obvious dearth of material in support of their
quest has led most of them to rely solely on two prophecies - one in each of the Testaments - to prove their
claim.

Muhammad in the Torah
The birth of Jesus, his ministry, parables, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, second
coming, deity, glory, and honor are the concerns of the prophetic texts of the Torah and the Gospel, and so
extensively do these prophecies herald his advent as the ultimate of God's revealed truth and love towards men,
that one cannot help but be struck by the fact that the Bible makes no allowance for the anti-climax of a
"prophet" to follow him.
• In order to establish that Muhammad is foretold in the Torah, they refer to the following verse to support
their claim:
o "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words
in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him"- Deuteronomy 18:18. These
claims must be examined in light of the context of the prophecy, since no passage can be fairly
interpreted if it is isolated from its context.
 The argument that the prophet by God to Moses was Muhammad rests on these
points:
• The Qur'an is allegedly the Word of God and therefore, as Muhammad recited
each passage that was delivered to him, he had the words of God put into his
mouth in accordance with the words of this prophecy.
• The prophet to come would be from among the brethren of the Israelites,
hence the Ishmaelites, because Israel (Jacob) and Ishmael were both descended
from Abraham, and the tribes who descended from the twelve sons of Ishmael
are therefore "brethren" of the tribes who descended from the twelve sons of
Israel.
• Muhammad was like Moses in so many ways that the prophecy can only refer
to him.

Keeping Prophecy in Context
These claims must be examined in light of the context of the prophecy, since no passage can be fairly interpreted
if it is isolated from its context.

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