The Religion Of Islam vol.1
Biblical Prophecies as referring to the Advent
of The Prophet - Mohammed
Although Moslems hold, that the original Old and New Testaments have largely been corrupted by the interference of prejudiced men, or otherwise, as has already been pointed out elsewhere in this book, they still believe, that the existing Scriptures contain, to such an extent as they are confirmed and supported by the Holy Koran, the True Word of God.
The following are therefore, a few extracts of the safe contents of the Bible which Moslems take to refer directly to the Prophet Mohammed:
“The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Paran and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand went a fiery law for them.” (Deut. xxxiii-2).
“God came from Teman, and the Holy one from Paran. Saleh. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.” (Hab iii.3).
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deut. vviii.18).
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. 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: and he will show you things to come.” (John xvi. 12-13).
While Moses promises to the children of Israel the coming Epiphany of God in the person of a “Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee”. Jesus characterises the promised one as the Spirit of truth, who will guide them into all truth. The description of the Holy one in the words of Moses and Jesus, however, is strikingly similar: “I will put words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deut xviii.18) “ He shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.” (John xvi.13.) These words make the promised one a messenger from God, and a Prophet rather than one abstract and impersonal Divine Epiphany, and if “ The Lord came from Sinai” in His revelation to Moses, and “He rose up from Seir” according to His message from the Nazarene, should we not look for some other son of man “from Paran”, to stand for the shining forth of God from the same? Especially when the Prophet Habakkuk calls him ‘The Holy One from Paran’ (Hab. iii.3). The Prophet spoken of by Moses, has however, wrongly been confused with Jesus, in later Christian theology. The house of Jacob always distinguished Christ from the Prophet spoken of in Deut. xviii.18, as it appears from the following we read about John the Baptist. “What then, art thou Elias?” and He said: “No I am not.” Art thou that Prophet? And He answered, “No….And they asked him, “Why baptised thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet? (John i.21–25).
These words speak distinctly of three different personalities, namely Christ, Elias and that Prophet. Jesus himself did not claim to be “that Prophet.” If Jesus was the Christ and John the Baptist Elias, as Jesus himself makes him to be, we are quite justified in concluding that the appearance of Jesus was not the promised Prophet. Even the first followers of Jesus were of the same opinion. “And He shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.” (Acts. iii.20-22). Though the writer of these words looks to the second advent of Jesus for the fulfillment of the Mosaic prophecies, so far it is undisputed that the first advent of Jesus is not the advent of the “Prophet like unto me.” The second advent of Christ as well cannot be the fulfillment of the words in Deuteronomy. Jesus, as it is believed by the Church has to appear for the judgment and not for giving the law, while the Prophet like unto Moses, has to come with a fiery law in his right hand, like Moses, he will bring the law; besides, the promised Prophet was to be raised not from amongst the Israel, but from amongst the brethren of the Israelites, namely the Ishmaelites.
In ascertaining the personality of the promised Prophet, the other prophecy of Moses is, however, helpful, in which he speaks of the shining forth of God from Paran. In Deuteronomy xxxiii.2, the Lord has been compared with the sun. He comes from Sinai, he rises from Seir, but he shines in his full glory from Paran, where he had to appear with ten thousands of saints; from his right hand went a fiery law for them. None of the Israelites, including Jesus, had anything to do with Paran. Hagar, with her son Ishmael, wandered in the wilderness of Beershena, who afterwards dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. (Gen. Xxx.21). He married an Egyptian woman, and through his first born, Kedar gave descent to the Arabs who, from that time till now, are the dwellers of the wilderness of Paran. Admittedly on all hands, the descent of Mohammad is traced to Ishmael through Kedar, he appeared as a Prophet in the wilderness of Paran, and re-entered Mecca with ten thousand saints, and gave a fiery law to the people, so that the prophecy has been fulfilled to its very letter. The words of the prophecy in Habakkuk are especially noteworthy. His – the Holy One from Paran’s glory covered the heaven and the earth with full praise. The word ‘praise’ is very significant as the very name ‘Mohammed’ as already stated elsewhere in this book, means ‘ the highly praised’. Again the inhabitants of the wilderness of Paran had been promised a Revelation: “Let the wilderness and cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; He shall cry yea, roar, He shall prevail against His enemies,” (Isa. X 1ii.11.12.13).[1]
Moreover we read in Isaiah two other prophecies worthy of note, where references have been made to Kedar. “Arise shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee… The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephak; all they from Sheba shall come… All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaiath shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on Mine Altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.” (Isaiah 1x 1-7). The other prophecy runs thus: “The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge. O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread Him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail.” (Isaiah xx.13-16)
The above two revelations read in the light of the one in Deuteronomy, will make the meaning quite clear: It is acknowledged, that Ishmael inhabited the wilderness of Paran, where he gave birth to Kedar, who is the ancestor of the Arabs. The sons of Kedar had to receive revelation from God. The flocks of Kedar had to come up with acceptance to a divine altar, to glorify “the house of my glory”, where the darkness had to cover the earth for centuries, and then that very land had to receive light from God. All the glory of kedar had to fail, and the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, had to diminish within a year after they fled from the swords and from the bent bows. Therefore, the Holy one from Paran (Hab. iii.3) should be no one else than the Prophet Mohammed. He is the holy offspring Ishmael through Kedar, who settled in the wilderness of Paran [2] , the Prophet Mohammed is the only Prophet, through whom the Arabs received revelation at the time when the darkness had covered the earth and gross darkness the people. [3] Through him God shone from Paran, and Mecca is the only place, where the house of God is glorified by the flocks of Kedar who come up with acceptance on its altar. The Prophet Mohammed was persecuted by his people and had to leave Mecca. He was thirsty and fled from the drawn swords and the bent bows; within a year after his flight; the descendants of Kedar met him at Badar, the field of the first battle between the Meccans and the prophet. [4] There the children of Kedar and their number of archers diminished, and all glory of Kedar failed. Besides, the house of ‘ my glory’, referred to in Isaiah Ix, is the house of God at Mecca, and not the Church of Christ as thought by Christian commentators. The flocks of Kedar, as mentioned in verse 7, have never come to the Church of Christ. It is a fact, that the village of Kedar, and their inhabitants are the only people in the whole world who have remained impenetrable to any influence of the Church of Christ. [5] Again, the mention of ten thousand saints, in Deuteronomy xxxiii, is very significant…. “He shined forth from Paran and he came with ten thousand of saints.” “The whole history of the wilderness of Paran shows that there was no other event but when Mecca was conquered by the Prophet. He came with ten thousand followers from Medina and reentered the “house of my glory.” He gave a fiery law to the world which has superseded and cancelled all other laws. The comforter the Spirit of Truth[6] spoken of by Jesus was no other than the Prophet Mohammed himself. It cannot be taken to be the Holy Ghost, as the Church theology says. “It is expedient for you that I go away, says Jesus, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” The way, in which Jesus describes the Comforter, makes him to be a human being, and not a ghost. He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that he shall speak. The words of Jesus clearly refer to some messenger from God. He calls him the Spirit of Truth, and so the Koran speaks of the Prophet Mohammed. “Nay he has come with the Truth and verified the apostles.”
The above prophecy of Jesus has also been reported in the Koran in the following words: “Jesus the son of Mary, said: O children of Israel surely I am the apostle of Allah to you, verifying that which is before me of the Torah, and giving the good news of an apostle who will come after me, his name being Ahmed.” The word “ Ahmed” which is another name of the Prophet Mohammed, is derived from the same root, namely ‘Hamd’ which signifies praising and it means a person whose personal qualities are such as to be worthy of praise. It should not be supposed, that Jesus uttered the very words which are reported in the Holy Koran, for he spoke in Hebrew, and not in Arabic. The actual words of Jesus not being preserved, we should depend of a Greek version, in which we find the word paraclete, which is translated in English as comforter. It is a well known fact, that translations are sometimes misleading, and therefore the use of the word paraclete in the Greek version, or that of comforter in the English, does not positively, show, what the textual word spoken by Jesus was. Anyhow the qualifications which are reported in John xiv. 16 and xvi 7, are met with in the person of the Prophet Mohammed. He is stated to be one who shall abide forever, and it is the Prophets law, for after him comes no prophet, to promulgate, a new law. He is to teach all things and it was with a perfect law, that the Prophet came. The prophecy in John xvi 12-14, about the Spirit of Truth which is the same as the comforter, mentioned in John xiv. 17, clearly establishes the following points:
(1) Jesus could not guide into all truth, because his teaching was confined to reform the Israelites, and he denounced only their crying evils; but the teaching of the Comforter would be a perfect law, guiding men to all truth; and the Holy Koran is the only book which claims to be a perfect Book of Divine Laws
(2) That the Comforter would not speak a word of himself, but that which he shall hear he shall speak, a qualification which is met with only in the person of the Prophet Mohammed.
(3) That he will glorify Jesus, and the Prophet did glorify Jesus by denouncing as utterly false all these calumnies which the Israel indulgingly attributed to Jesus and his mother.
([1]) Reference to the life of the Prophet in part II of this book shows how distinctly this prophecy has been fulfilled.
([2]) See the History of the Arabs, in this book or anywhere else.
([3]) George Sale: Prelim. Discourse.
([4]) See Sir William Muir’s ‘The Life of Mohammad’
([5]) See George Sale’s Prelim. Discourse.
([6]) It is to be noted, that the Prophet Mohammad is frequently called “ The Truth” in the Holy Koran, as in 17-81: “ And say, The truth has come, and the falsehood has vanished.”