The concept of Islam and its message


Islam declares itself to be one irreducible religion of God which has been delivered by the prophets of the Most Holy, ever since man was first sent down to this earth. In the Qur'an (42:13) God states,

{ The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - that which We have sent by inspiration to thee -and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein. }

In the Qur'an Islam is described as the religion of God (3: 19 & 83). Also, it is described as the religion of truth. Ibn "Abbas asked the Prophet which of the religions God loves most. The Prophet answered al-Hanifiyyah as-Samhah, the religion of purity and peace (i.e., Islam).(1) Anyone who submits to God through His religion as described above is the best of all people (Qur'an 4:125).

In the Qur'an, God distinguishes Islam as preached by all prophets and concluded by Prophet Muhammad from all other religions,

commanding Muhammad to say: { To you your religion and to me my religion. } (Qur'an 109:6)

The Arabic word Din "religion" is linguistically used to denote any kind of religions, creeds or faiths, whether false or true, whether revealed from God or created by man, in whole or in part.(2) True religion, according to Islam, is that which God revealed to the prophets which He chose from among His people to guide them along the right path. The Qur'an states that God did not deprive any nation of a prophet and a message. No people were exempt from this gift of God, { Thou art truly a warner, and to every people a guide. } (Qur'an 13: 7 & 4:165)

God sent His messengers, each speaking the tongue that would be understood by the people, and Revelation is present in the Hebrew Torah, and Psalter and the Aramaic Gospel as well as in the Arabic Qur'an (Qur'an 14:4). God also clearly states that He never punishes His people without sending a prophet to warn them and teach them first. To Prophet Muhammad, God states in the Qur'an that He has sent many prophets; some were named, some were not named:

{ We did aforetime sent Apostles before thee: of them are some whose story We have related to thee, and some whose story we have not related to thee. }

(Qur'an 40: 78)

However, the original language of all existing gospels is Creek, although the language of Jesus must have been Aramaic, unless an argument could be made that he knew Greek as a second language, which seems most unlikely. Matthew cannot have an Aramaic original because it uses 600 verses from Mark, according to the generally accepted priority of Mark. The only authentic Aramaic in the gospels then would be the handful of transliterated Aramaic phrases.

This is why we regard religion as the most important thing in the world, because it represents God's communication with men. God makes no distinction between nations, since He has sent prophets to all areas of the world, but He does make a distinction between the degree of obedience that they display to His Divine word, and the respect that they show to His prophets who deliver His message (see Qur'an 49:13).

The Qur'an directly acknowledges the prophets before Muhammad. It relates their mission and struggles against the societies to which they were sent. The Qur'an reports their stories accurately and reverently, acknowledging their function as prophets. Concerning the Muslim faith, we are commanded by God to believe in all prophets, without discrimination. God says:

{ The Apostle believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in God, His angels, His books, and His Apostles. 'We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His Apostles.' And they say: We hear, and we obey: (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys. }

(Qur'an 2: 285, also 2: 136,42: 13)

Ibn Kathir says that whosoever rejects one prophet rejects all prophets.(3)

The Muslim is therefore required to affirm his faith in all prophets of God and to show devotion to all of them. Hatred shown towards any prophet would cut him off from Islam. The Prophet Muhammad expresses his closeness to Jesus. Abu Hurayrah reported the Prophet as having said,

"/ am most akin to the son of Mary of all mankind, and all the prophets have different mothers but one religion, and no prophet came between me and him." (4)

The Prophet affirms the unity of the religions of heavenly origin.

Our belief in the prophets is accompanied by our belief in the Holy Scriptures, for, as Muslims, we hold that all these Holy books are the word of God - and originated from Him. The books named in the Qur'an are as follows: the Scroll given to Abraham, Az-Zabur which are the Psalms given to David, the Torah given to Moses, the Gospel given to Jesus and the Qur'an given to Muhammad.(5) I would like to note in passing that some of these books are lost - such as Abraham's Scroll, and that others have been subject to corruption and distortion.

The word Islam is used in the Qur'an by all prophets, for example, Abraham, Moses and Jesus and the Magicians at Pharaoh's court,

the Queen of Sheba, the disciples of Jesus, also declared themselves

Muslims.(6)

Islam is opposed to disbelief in God, and is in conflict with any form of atheism, but with regard to Judaism and Christianity, Islam believes that they all three came from the same source, the light shone from the same opening in the clouds. Islam has many points of agreement with the other two religions. Of course, there are differences, but despite the historical conflicts they have many things in common. The three religions lived together in harmony throughout the Muslim World. Everywhere in these areas you find synagogues and churches, perhaps side by side with mosques. Christians and Jews had their own schools and courts of judgment.

Islam means literally "complete submission to God", simply because He is our Creator. We do not create ourselves, so we cannot claim authority for our own selves. This is the simple meaning of Islam. The concept of Islam is Islam itself; you can feel it from just reading or hearing the name.

It is religion from God, not from Muhammad or any other human. God is the source of Islam, and God is its aim and end. The Prophet Muhammad was the vehicle for its transmission, he was a man chosen by God. His thoughts were not for himself, nor for his Companions, nor for the congregation, but for God. This is to say that Muhammad was a holy man and God's Messenger.

Islam also means complete acceptance of God and obedience to Him, not to worship any human, or impose divinity on any idea or system, or even upon the Prophet who delivered the message of God. Islam also means to sanctify the word of God, to protect it from tampering or corruption. Islam is a universal religion which addresses all humanity because all should submit their will totally to God. No one has separate will, or can be independent of the will of God. No one knows as God knows.

When we give ourselves to God and rise above our own natural arrogance and our egos then God gives us liberty and consciousness, working as free men but under His control. He will do things for us that are far beyond our

capabilities. Everything is given to us by Him and we have nothing to give in return but thanks and submission. Someone might say Islam calls us to be slaves, and submissive, it takes away our freedom, our free will as rational humans, and requires us to leave everything to God. This would be called Fatalism. This notion might be true if it referred to submission to a fellow human, but submission to God is a different matter entirely. God, of course, created us free, and wants us free, and wants us to be free, but in a godly sense. The wheel is free to move, but not free to leave the axle. If God required us to be captives, He would not require us to work to be good and would not have sent prophets to teach us what is good and what is bad.

All are equal before God's Law. Each one of us has been created only by Him. No one else can claim to have created us, only the Almighty. Every individual bears the stamp of God.

It is also useful to mention that the word Islam has a wider sense of:

- Obedience

- Reliance

- Worship

- Participation

- Peace

- Greetings, soundness or good health.

All these real and symbolic meanings of Islam show us what Islam stands for. More precisely, Islam is the religion of Muslims, past, present and future. It contains creeds, law and worship. It is, in brief, a whole system of life which embraces every aspect of our human activities. In Islam we do not say "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" (Matthew 22:21) because everything is God's, including Caesar himself.

Islam's credo is to believe in God, Angels, the Holy Books, Revelation, Messengers of God, the Day of Judgment, and in one's destiny, be it bad or good.

Islam stands on five pillars: the Shahadah or the Kalimah meaning the declaration that "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger".

Then we advance further forward and perform the five daily Prayers.

The third pillar is the Zakah (Alms-giving). We give either in goods or in money, two and a half percent of what we have every year, to be given to the poor and needy.

This refers to all our possessions, including cattle and everything we own.

The fourth pillar is Fasting in Ramadan, a whole month of Fasting from dawn to sunset. All people of different ages and countries share this period of Fasting during daylight hours.

The fifth pillar of Islam and the last is the Pilgrimage to Mecca, once in one's lifetime, when one is physically and financially able to make the journey and secure to do so.

In Prayer and in Pilgrimage, God is the center of all one's devotions.

The name of Prophet Muhammad is always mentioned in connection with God, but only as a Messenger may be mentioned in connection with his Lord and Master. In the Qur'an (6:162-163) Muhammad was commanded by God to say:

{ My Prayers and devotion, my life and my death, are for God, the Lord of all beings. No partner is with Him. }

The belief in earlier prophets and Revelations constitutes an important article of Islamic Faith. It is not a diplomatic strategy or courtesy to other religions. For example, anyone who does not believe in Jesus, Moses, Solomon or David is an unbeliever, a non-Muslim. Anyone who fails to

venerate Mary and do her honor is not to be counted among Muslims. Even when the adherents of the three religions are at war, the Muslims never fail to revere Jesus or the Old Testament prophets. The Qur'an does not contain a single offensive word against any of these prophets. On the contrary, it refrains from all ambiguous references, e.g., to Solomon in the Bible. Muslims believe that they have their name, i.e., Muslims not from Prophet Muhammad, but from their great father Abraham, and therefore from God. In the Qur'an 22:78 God says:

{ Struggle for God as is His due, for He has chosen you, and has laid on you no impediment in your religion, the creed of your father Abraham He named you Muslims.}

It is extremely important to note that in Islam morality is synonymous with religion. We cannot draw a line between the things that belong to morality and the things that belong to religion.(7)

On the other hand, it is not proper to perform Islamic religious duties with no regard to their moral context, for the empty performance of ritual brings no profit. A Muslim cannot follow the system of ethics and morality, and neglect his Islamic religious duties as prescribed by God.

Any Muslim who separates morality from religion or regards virtues as having a provenance other than God would not be a true Muslim.

Central to the Muslim belief is the universality of Islam. From the very beginning, Islam addresses itself to all humanity, and thus urges the Muslim to preach and spread its message among all people. Though in the Qur'an, God says { The re is no compulsion in religion.} (2:256), He commanded His Prophet Muhammad to invite people to the way of God with wisdom and good admonition, and if needed, he could dispute with them in the best of manners.(8)

In his inaugural address to the International Islamic Conference at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Saturday 3 April 1976, Prince Muhammad al-

Faysal said: "Islam knows no geographic boundaries or barriers of color, race or language. Islam is neither of the East nor of the West - it is the Message of God, the Lord of the universe, Lord of the East and Lord of the West, a message sent to the whole of mankind through all the prophets of God and finally through Prophet Muhammad who was sent as a mercy towards the universe.

Islam addresses itself to man as such - whatever be his background, his country, his color, his race or his language, and invites him to become conscious of his real position in the world - which is neither that of an abject slave nor that of an absolute master - he is the representative, the vicegerent, the deputy of God on earth, he is a custodian and a trustee of whatever lies within the bowels of the earth or over it.

Everything is for him and he is in the service of Truth, for God. .(9)

The Prince goes on to ask: "What is the real challenge of the modern age?" And then he answered: "Without going into details, I would like to suggest that man is faced with a bewildering situation today: on the one hand he has achieved tremendous material progress -he has harnessed the forces of nature to his service and created a technological and industrial society unparalleled in its magnitude, grandeur and technical efficiency, but on the other hand, he has failed to control his own baser passions and build human relations on the foundations of love, sacrifice, trust, piety and service. The institution of family is disintegrating.

Social relations are at a low ebb. Economic exploitation is rampant. Political aggrandizement is the order of the day. International rivalries are on the increase. Cultural tensions are splitting human society apart.

Social injustice is tearing the soul of man. Man is proud that he has made a new world; man is ashamed, for this new world has failed to make his soul happy. After reaching the heights of technological progress, he finds his very existence is threatened by the forces of his own creation. He has learned to control his environment but not himself. He has lost direction

and his sense of proportion. If this is the challenge of the modern age then the answer to it lies in rediscovering the principles of balance and proportion, in rediscovering man's mission in life, in rediscovering the principles of control in human affairs; in short in rediscovering his relation with God.

There is nothing wrong with material progress as such but once material progress becomes dissociated with moral progress and spiritual discipline until it loses its relationship with reality and is exposed to the danger of becoming an instrument of destruction. Man left alone swings to extremes - crass materialism or ascetic spiritualism. Divine guidance leads to the path of balance, the straight path, symbolized in the prayer that God has taught man to pray. "Our Lord, give us the best in this world and the best in the Hereafter."

Islam is Divine guidance, God, in His infinite mercy, has not left man alone. He has endowed him with the guidance of the right path. This guidance was revealed through all the prophets of God, from Adam, through Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus to Muhammad (Peace be upon them all). The message of Muhammad is not a new message; it is the message of all prophets of God, a message that man has again and again forgotten or changed and distorted. This message was presented by Muhammad (peace be upon him) in its original purity and in its Divine perfection. This is Islam.

Islam stands for one loyalty only - man's loyalty to his God -loyalty to truth and virtue. It establishes the principle that all human beings are equal and it is unjust to discriminate between them on the basis of color, race or territory - there is only one valid and universal principle of nobility - all those who are true to God, who fulfill their commitment to truth, who prove trustworthy, who are pious and virtuous and heedful of God are noble and those who fail on this criterion are those who fall down.

{Mankind, We have created you male and female and set you up as nations and tribes so that you may know one another. The noblest among you in the sight of God are the most pious and heedful of you.}

(Qur'an49: 13)

And the mission towards which Islam invites man is to harness all material and human resources for the promotion of virtue, justice and peace. Material progress, yes - but not for the sake of material progress but for the creation of a noble, serene and just society and to seek man's salvation in this world and in the Hereafter.(10)

The Qur'an moreover, declared that Jewish and Christian scriptures had suffered corruption and distortion. Yet the Qur'an acknowledges

the Divine origin of the two scriptures, calling the Jews and Christians after their Divine Book "The People of the Book" and (29:46,3:20) "The People of the Injil (Gospel)." (5:47)

In the hadith, the two parties are called together Ahl adh-Dhimmah "The Godly and prophetically protected minorities". Under Islam the protected minorities enjoyed equality and freedom. Before Islamic (Shari'ah) Law, all people are equal. Specifically the laws concerning crimes and business dealings make no differences between Muslims and non-Muslims. In a Muslim country, the life of non-Muslims is well protected. The Prophet says,

"A Muslim who kills anyone who is living under Muslim protection can never smell the sweet odor of Paradise. Though its sweet odor can spread to a great distance, that distance would take forty years to walk. ".(11)

Unfortunately, we cannot go any further with this wide issue. The brief information sketched above clearly shows the Islamic tolerance towards Jews and Christians.

Having presented the concept of Islam, its dimension and its attitude towards Jews and Christians, at this point I feel it is urgently required to talk about the hitter's attitude towards Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Muhammad in the Torah and the Gospel

Since the advent of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the three religious communities - Muslims, Christians and Jews - have been in constant debate and dispute about Muhammad being foretold in the Bible. The People of the Book strongly, if not bitterly deny the occurrence of any prophecy concerning Muhammad as a Messenger of God. Muslims on the other hand insist that their Prophet was foretold, even by name, in the Revelations prior to the Qur'an, specifically the Torah and the Gospel. This is a major constituent of Muslim belief. Central to this is the fact that the Muslim belief in the early prophets and scriptures is qualified by their belief that Prophet Muhammad was foretold by the preceding prophets. Thus we cannot present Islam rightly without considering the Muslim claim that Prophet Muhammad was foretold by name and description in the earlier sacred books.

The Muslim claim stated above will be discussed and evaluated in the light of the Qur'an and Muhammad's biography. On the other hand, the Christian denial of the prophecies concerning Prophet Muhammad will be

sifted and examined in the context of the Biblical foretelling, its implications and bearing.

The Christians in the Western world in general may be surprised to learn that their Bible contains references to the Prophet of Islam. They will be

even more surprised to learn that Muslims take some prophecies which Christians believe apply to Jesus and apply them to Prophet Muhammad. To the Christians this is a new concept.

The life of Muhammad before and during his mission as a Prophet well testifies to the truthfulness of his Apostleship. Muhammad was always aware of the Divine link between himself and the pre-Islamic prophets. He defined his position in the line of prophets by stating that he was (the last brick on the edifice, the missing brick, so that the edifice was now complete) .(12 )He clearly indicates the continuation and completion of God's message. He says: "/ was sent to complete the code of the noblest morality."} .(13)

Muhammad was also fully aware that his rule as a prophet came as a fulfillment of the Biblical foretelling, a fact which was well endorsed by some eminent Jewish and Christian scholars of his time. Muhammad fulfills every prophetic characteristic perfectly, and is thus the world's great Prophet and the last Prophet to come to Planet Earth. The prophetic office culminated in and was sealed after him.

Before Muhammad was appointed as Prophet, even in his early years, everyone who saw him noticed the signs of prophethood - in his face, in his tongue and in his behavior. The Christian monk Bahira noticed this, and affirmed with his own words to the Prophet's uncle Abu Talib, after he saw the seal of prophethood between his shoulders, in the very same place described in his Book: "Take your nephew back to his country and guard him carefully against the Jews, for by God if they see him and

know about him what I know, they will do him evil; a great future lies before this nephew of yours, so take him home quickly. (l4)

Later on, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received a Revelation: Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an Arab Christian, old in years and well versed in the Bible told him that he was the Prophet of his time, and that what he

heard from him was exactly like what was revealed to Moses and Jesus.''.(15 )

The Jews of Medina were busily awaiting the coming of the expected prophet.(16)

From among the Jews of Medina, two famous Jewish rabbis, "Abdullah ibn Salam and Mukhayriq and later two other Jewish rabbis. The Yemenite Jew known as Ka'b al-Ahbar, died in Syria between [(32-36 A.H.) (652-656 A.C.)], was probably converted to Islam in about (638 A.C.) and moved to Medina during the Caliphate of ' Umar ibn al-Khattab.

Ka'b al-Ahbar said that the true "Torah" contains at least ten explicit verses from the Qur'an. According to Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Ka'b al-Ahbar found in the Torah a long form of praises and descriptions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his people (referred to in Qur'an 48:29), then Ibn al-Qayyim relates, "And [Ka'b] the 'Habr' said: Well, when Moses wondered at all the good which God had bestowed on Muhammad and his people and said: 'I wish I were one of his Companions? Then God revealed to him three verses of the Qur'an (all of them from Surat al-A'raf):

{(Said He (God): Moses, I have chosen thee above all men for My message and My utterance; take what I have given thee, and he of the thankful. And We wrote for him on the Tablets of everything an admonition, and a distinguishing of everything ... }

(7: 144-145)

{...of the people of Moses there is a nation who guide by the truth, and by it act with justice.}

(7: 159)

I was told the story of "Abdullah ibn Salam, a learned rabbi, by one of his family. He said: When I heard about the Apostle I knew by his description, name, and the time at which he appeared that he was the one we were waiting for, and I rejoiced greatly thereat, though I kept silent

about it until the Apostle came to Medina. When he stayed in Quba' among the Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf, a man came with the news

while I was working at the top of a palm-tree and my aunt Khalidah Bint al-Harith was sitting below. She said: "When I heard that Moses Ibn 'Imran had come you could not have made more fuss!" "Indeed, aunt," I said, "he is the brother of Moses and follows his religion, being sent with the same mission." She asked, "Is he really the Prophet who we have been told will be sent at this very time?" And she accepted my assurance that he was. Straightway I went to the Apostle and became a Muslim, and when I returned to my house I ordered my family to do the same.

I concealed the matter from the Jews, and then went to the Apostle and said: "The Jews are a nation of liars and I wish you would take me into one of your houses and hide me from them. Then ask them about me so that they may tell you the position I hold among them before they know that I have become a Muslim. For if they know it beforehand they will utter slanderous lies against me." The Jews came and the Apostle asked them about my standing among them. They said: "He is our chief, and the son of our chief, our rabbi, and our learned man." When they said this I emerged and said: "O Jews, fear God and accept what He has sent you. For by God you know that he is the Apostle of God. You will find him described in your Torah and even named. I testify that he is the Apostle of God, I believe in him, I hold him to be true, and I acknowledge him." They accused me of lying and reviled me. Then I reminded the Apostle that I had said that they would do this, for they were a treacherous, lying

and evil people. I publicly proclaimed my conversion and my household and my aunt Khalidah followed suit.(17)

Ibn Ishaq says: Mukhayriq was a learned rabbi owning much property in date palms. He recognized the Apostle by his description and his own learning, and he felt a predilection for his religion until on the day of Uhud which fell on the Sabbath,

he reminded the Jews that they were bound to help Muhammad. They objected that it was the Sabbath. "May you have no Sabbath," he answered, and took his weapons and joined the Apostle in Uhud. His parting testimony to his people was: "If I am killed today my property is to go to Muhammad to use as God shows him." He was killed in the battle that followed. I am told that the Apostle used to say, "Mukhayriq is the best of the Jews." The Apostle took over his property and all the alms he distributed in Medina came from it."(l8)

San Pedro referred to a certain Jew of Medina who converted many to Islam by saying that Muhammad was the Prophet foretold by Jewish law, in which his name was prefigured (l9)

Ka'b al-Ahbar and Wahb ibn Munabbih accepted Muhammad and followed him. Even the people who heard of him from far away accepted him as a genuine Prophet exactly like Moses and Jesus.(20)

The Qur'an does not only declare that Muhammad was foretold in the Jewish and the Christian scriptures, it also emphatically insists that the Jews and Christians do

{Recognize him (Muhammad) as they recognize their sons. But verily, a party of them knowingly conceal the truth. }

(Qur'an 2: 146)

The Qur'an also asks:

{ Is it not a sign to them that the learned men of the Children of Israel knew it (as true) ? }

(Qur'an 26: 197)

It is very interesting to note that the Qur'an ascribed to Jews alone among the prophets the message to the people that a prophet would come after him whose name would be Ahmad (Qur'an 61:6). This is another name of our Prophet Muhammad, as shall be mentioned later in this chapter.

Moreover, Prophet Muhammad and those who believe in him are foretold in the Torah and the Gospel, recognizable by the Prayer mark on their foreheads:

{ This is the sign of their prostration in Prayer. That is their likeness in the Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel is like a seed that puts forth its shoot, and strengthens it, and it grows stout and rises straight upon its stalk, pleasing the sowers, that through them He may enrage the unbelievers. }

(Qur'an 48: 29)

The chapter and verse of the Bible in which this prophecy occurs are not mentioned in the Qur'an. It is for us to find out these prophecies.

The prophecy, its function and purpose

It is easy for anyone who reads the Bible in Jewish or Christian hands to find many prophecies and foretellings, whether concerning natural happenings such as earthquakes, or concerning kings and principalities. Prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and also Jesus foretold that great events would happen, like those connected with King Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, the land of Edom, Egypt, Nineveh and Babylon.

In this context it should be pointed out however that, there are no clear references to Alexander in the canonical Jewish and Christian Bibles. Such references, which are historical rather than prophetic, as are found, are conferred to the apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. Some have speculated that references exist to Alexander in Ezekiel and the minor prophets, but that is far from established. References in the Book of Daniel appear to refer to the Greek or Macedonian empire but not to him personally.

Can any Christian or Jew imagine, or agree with the learned rabbis or Christians, that their Books would contain no prophecy about Muhammad and the Islamic conquests which changed the face of the world and the course of history? Nothing about the Islamic Civilization which gave birth to Western Civilization? No prophecy concerning the Muslim scholars and saints? This is what the Syriac patriarch Timothy assumed, saying that if he had found one prophecy concerning Muhammad he would have been a Muslim.(2l) This is despite the fact that many people even greater than Timothy have accepted Muhammad as the fulfillment of the prophecies that they have in the Bible, as I shall mention later.

As a counter argument, some people may point out that there are a lot of prophecies in the Old and New Testaments, but referring to false prophets. Such people try to prove that Muhammad was a false prophet. But if we examine the prophecies referring to the appearance of prophets we see that Jesus, for example, warned against false prophets. He specifically foretold that many false prophets would come after him, and indeed this was so, as we can gather from Corinthians 11:13-15 where Paul gave an account of distinguishing false from genuine prophets. Also 1 John 4:1-2:

"Beloved friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God..."

It is clear that the prophets against whom Jesus warned come into the world after him. In Matthew 24:23 we read:

"Then if anyone says to you 'Lo, here is Christ,' or There he is,' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and

wonders, so as to lead astray the elect - if possible, even the elect."

Jesus did not say that future prophets should be immediately disbelieved, but their message should be tested. Matthew helps us here when he tells us that Jesus said:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?"

(Matthew 7: 15-16)

Before Jesus, Moses warned his people against false prophets and messiahs who would come after him:

"A prophet or dreamer may arise, of thy own race, and foretell some signal event which afterwards comes about; even so he must not persuade thee to follow the worship of alien gods, untried till now."

(Deut. 13: 1)

I may note here in passing that if the Christians apply the injunction of Jesus to Muhammad, as I said once to a Christian critic, why not that of Moses to Jesus? Moreover, Moses also provides us with a yardstick against which we can measure the claim of any prophet. Here I quote Deuteronomy 18:20:

"But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods must be put to death."

Bearing all this in mind, can anyone with sound judgment and responsibility say that Muhammad is a false prophet? Can anyone say that when this is his fruit, one thousand million Muslims of many races livin g all over the world in all climates - Arab Muslims are now the smallest number. In fact non-Arab Muslims outnumber Arab Muslims by five to one.

Muhammad's fruit is the preaching of the One God, the Almighty God, and calling the people to believe in Him, acknowledge Him and to worship Him alone, delivering the people from sin and darkness to virtue and light, from destruction to life eternal, praising the prophets of God and defending their position, spreading peace and mercy for all mankind, human unity and equality, the brotherhood of nations, morality, virtue and civilization. Prophet Muhammad never raised himself above the human level - he was only a Prophet and Messenger of God, not divine himself.

Muhammad was known even among his enemies as most truthful, and God Himself says about him:

{ No! I swear by that you see and by that you do not see, it is the speech of a noble Messenger. It is not the speech of a poet (little do you believe) nor the speech of a soothsayer (little do you remember). A sending down from the Lord of all Being. Had he invented against Us any sayings, We would have seized him by the right hand, then We would surely have cut his life-vein and not one of you could have defended him. Surely it is a reminder to the godfearing, but We know that some of you will cry lies. Surely it is a sorrow to the unbelievers; yet indeed it is the truth of certainty. }

(Qur'an 69: 38-51)

Prophet Muhammad himself denounced lying; his most hated things were lies and liars. Safwan ibn Salim who took Anas ibn Malik as his source reported that Prophet Muhammad was asked :

"Can the believer be a miser?" "Yes," he answered. "Can the believer be a coward?" "Yes," the Prophet said. Lastly he was asked "Can the believer be a liar?" The answer was "No."(22) He was close to expelling liars from being Muslims, as can be seen from the above hadith. Prophet Muhammad's genuineness and truthfulness were established beyond doubt, Jesus asked his followers to test the mission and the purpose of a prophet before rejecting him? As far as I understand, the prophecy may not be clear enough, or it may be clear to some and ambiguous to others.

I am fully aware that some of the prophecies which I have mentioned and which do not precisely refer to Muhammad or identify him were taken by some evangelists and churchmen and explained as referring to Jesus, such as Deuteronomy 18:18; "I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee ..." as shall be seen later. But if we know that even Jesus' Apostles themselves misconstrued some of his prophecies and failed to understand his purposes, then others may have wrongly criticized the Muslim interpretation.

When John the Baptist was asked whether he was the prophet or Elijah (John 1:19) he said, "I am not Elijah." "Are you the prophet? "I am not." They said, "Who are you then?" Here it is clear that the Pharisees were ignorant of Isaiah's prophecies and even John the Baptist failed to make himself clear.

In Matthew 11:11-15 Jesus said:

"Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is

greater than he ... and if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear".

You will have noticed that the learned Jews and the disciples of Jesus were not certain of the nature of John the Baptist. And John himself admits that he did not recognize Jesus until God sent down the sign of the dove at the time of baptism. So there was a period of thirty years before John recognized Jesus by God's sign. The miraculous birth was not enough.

Yet, from his prison, John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Moreover, if we read the prophecy in Isaiah we cannot understand it as a reference either to John or to Jesus. It is a general one. If it pointed precisely to Jesus, the Jews, Pharisees and disciples would not have had to ask him or doubt him. We should bear in mind that the calling in the wilderness is a general character of the prophets of God: it is not a specific reference to John. The Christians take Isaiah's prophecy (7:14) in which he predicted that a woman would conceive and deliver a child to refer to Jesus (he does not mention a virgin). (The Jews still do not believe that Mary remained virgin at the Conception). Another misinterpretation of prophecies of the Did Testament is Matthew 27:3-10 concerning Judas Iscariot and the thirty pieces of silver, which they identify with Jeremiah the prophet. Reading the prophecy, we gather that the wording and interpretation of Jeremiah are Matthew's own, not Jesus' because the passage in Matthew actually refers to Zechariah 11:12-13 rather than any part of Jeremiah.

I call upon the reader to open the Book of Zechariah to 11:4-14 and to read it in line with Matthew and then judge for himself whether the reference is to Judas Iscariot or the rabbis or the betrayal of Jesus.

Is it only the similarity in the two passages between the potter's field and the thirty pieces of silver which make it apply to Jesus?

This passage is one of the great scandals of the Bible. Jer. 12:4 contains no relevant reference. Jer. 18:2-6 refers to a potter, but no field or pieces of silver. Jer, 32:7-15 refers to the purchase of a field for 17 shekels of silver, but contains no potter. Usually Zechariah 11:12-13 is seen as a closer reference because it mentions 30 shekels of silver given as wages, but the reference is not clear either. The attribution to Jeremiah is a plain mistake in Matthew's text. The attribution of the above reference (Zechariah 11:4-14) to Jeremiah is credited by most scholars to Matthew's source and possibly to florilegium of texts, but it seems unlikely that a florilegium would have circulated with this attribution, some scholars consider Matthew's passage as an allusion to the purchase to a field in Jeremiah 32:6-15 and to Jeremiah's visit to the potter 18:2-3, from which allusions the entire text is attributed to Jeremiah; but this justification is entirely unlikely.

It should be pointed out that the text as in Matthew 27:3-10 is not quoted exactly from either the Masoretic text (of the Hebrew Bible) or the LXX (Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT).(23)

It is nevertheless clear that Zechariah is talking about himself, using the past tense. He speaks of tending the sheep and taking wages, which he called generous wages, in contrast to that taken by Judas. God commanded him to give it to the potter, not to buy the field. The donation was paid by a prophet to a good man, not paid by rabbis to a betrayer, Judas.

Why do we need prophecy, and when did prophecy start? We ask, is it necessary for a prophet to be foretold by a prophet before him?

The answer is emphatically no; the adherents of all religions are in agreement on this answer. For instance, there is no prophecy of the coming of Abraham, nor of Noah, nor of several of the Biblical and non-Biblical prophets. In other words, there are many other criteria to test the authenticity of a prophet. For example, it is valid to claim that the truth of a prophet is measured by his character, his miracles, his career, his achievements, and so on.

It is therefore not necessary for us as Muslims to supply proof of Muhammad's prophethood, simply from past prophecies and foretellings. But the question arises, why do Muslims insist that Muhammad was in fact foretold in Jewish and Christian scriptures? It is because God himself tells us in the Qur'an that Muhammad was foretold in them as referred to above.

It is true beyond any shadow of doubt that Prophet Muhammad fulfills all the requirements of a great prophet: his personal life, a radiant inspiration to all people, his achievements in building up nationhood, his performance of miracles of healing, the feeding of multitudes, and finally his own ascension to heaven and descending from it in the Night of al-Isra' Wa al-Mi'raj. In addition to this are his true prophecies concerning the wide and rapid spread of Islam, and major events in world history. A true prophecy can come only from God, and is the highest proof of the Divine origin of the message of which it is a part.

The question of when prophecy started, concerning the next coming prophet I would briefly say that prophecy was necessary only when required by circumstances. It began with the great prophet Abraham. God foretold to him that He would give him sons, son after son, and raise prophets from his seed. The prophecies given by and to Abraham are clear and decisive. God knows best about the conflict and dispute which would occur between the cousins, the Muslims and the Jews, who are

respectively the descendants of the two wives of Abraham, Hagar and Sarah.

Even Paul, who is said to preach the Gospel of unity between nations, emphasizes the difference between the two wives (Galatians 4:21-31). God, in His greater knowledge of His people, gave prophecies of Jesus before Muhammad because He knew that the Jews might take their books and their prophets as testimony against him in order to defeat his mission, and the prophecies of Prophet Muhammad were given by God so that Jews and Christians might not unite in denying him using their creeds, books, antiquities and traditions as means of rejecting him. Otherwise the deeds and moral character, miracles and success of the Prophet are enough to prove his mission. In the case of Jesus and Muhammad specifically, prophecy has a unique function, and each of these two prophets was supported by many prophetic passages in the Old Testament.

Muslims believe that Jesus foretold Muhammad even by name (Ahmad). Why by name, why was the name prophesied as Ahmad, the less common form of Muhammad, we should ask? Prophecy should not be so precise. The answer is that the prophecy contained the name because of the mentality and character of the people when Prophet Muhammad came -the Jewish and Christian communities were large and powerful and fanatical. It was necessary that a prophecy should be very clear and give an actual name.

It is essential to point out moreover that Christians believe that Jesus had an extraordinarily super power of predicting future events and happenings. In The Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels (24) we read the following words: "If the Hebrew prophets received at times illumination which revealed to them glimpses of coming events, Jesus

was at all times able to reveal hidden things of the future with as much certainty as He could speak of the things clearly seen in the present."

The editors of the same Dictionary go on to make comparisons between Jesus and those Hebrew prophets who were able to foretell particular events to individuals, then they say: "Here also Jesus surpasses them with a certainty and clearness far beyond theirs. He was able to announce particular coming events to his disciples. Following the Gospel narrative, we find that the treachery of Judas was open to him for long (Jn.6:70 f.). The fall of Peter and his final martyrdom and the prolonged life of John, were all equally clear (Luke. 22:31, Jn. 21: 1 8-22)"(25)

Having stated this one could ask, if Jesus was extraordinarily able to give clear and certain prophecies, what wonder then if he foretells the coming of Muhammad by name?

It is amazingly strange that Duncan B. Macdonald asserts that the Muslims have applied the name Ahmad (as in Qur'an 61:6) to Muhammad only because of the references in John to the Paraclete which agrees in meaning with Ahmad, "The praised one" (26) This is a serious charge, not only against Muslims, but also against the Qur'an. The question concerning the veracity of the Qur'an shall be dealt with in some detail in chapter three of this book, but it should be absolutely clear that there is no evidence whatsoever, neither to support the assertion that the Qur'anic phrase, Ismuhu Ahmad, whose name shall be Ahmad, was interpolated, nor to give credence to the assumption that Ahmad was not Muhammad's name. On the contrary there is a considerable amount of early and sound tradition to prove that Muhammad was also named Ahmad from the very beginning.

In this context it is interesting to note that the Gospel according to St. Barnabas one of Jesus' Apostles (Acts 11:24; 15:12; 28:9),

explicitly recorded Jesus' prophecy concerning Prophet Muhammad. According to this Gospel, Jesus clearly announced the coming of "Muhammad the Messenger of God", Rasul of Allah.

The Gospel of Barnabas also agrees with the Qur'an concerning the nature of Jesus and his message (27) Unfortunately the church banned that Gospel on the basis of their own reasoning.

Despite the fact that this Gospel agrees with Islam in many fundamental aspects, it does not however satisfy the meticulous criteria for authenticating a text according to the Muslim traditionalists, it stands on a single authority and its Isnad, uninterrupted chain of authorities, is entirely lacking.

Muhammad was the last of the prophets. This is stressed again and again in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah, Muslim tradition, because it is of such importance. It is worth emphasizing that none before Prophet Muhammad claimed that he was the seal, the last of the line of prophets, Khatam an-Nabiyyin.

Endnotes


1- See Ibn Kathir, Mukhtasar Tafsir, vol.1, pp. 128 ff, and vol. 2. pp.556 f and vol. 3, pp. 272 f.

2- See al-Firuzabadi, Al-Qamus Al-Muhit, (Misr, al-Babi al-Halabi 1371 A. H. 1952 A. C.) second edition vol. 4, pp. 226 f, Ibn Manzur, Lisan Al-Arab (Beirut, Dar Sadir 1410 A. H. 1990 A. C.) pp.166 f, and al-Raghib al-Isfahani, Mufradat Alfaz Al-Qur'an, ed. by Safwan Adnan Dawudi (Beirut, Daral-Qalam 1412 A. H. - 1992 A. C.) p. 323.

3- Ibn Kathir, Mukhtasar Tafsir, vol. 1, p. 134.

4- Al-Bukhari, Sahih. Bab Al-Anbiya'.

5- See Qur'an 87:19, 4:163, 3:3, 5:43, 2:23, 3:3-4. also al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Anbiya' and Fada'il al-Sahaba.

6- See Qur'an 2:132-133; 27:44; 5:111.

7- See M. Abu Laylah, In Pursuit of Virtue, (London, TaHa Publishers Ltd., 1990).

8- Ibr Kathir, Mukhtasar Tafsir, vol. 1, p. 231.

9- Altaf Gauharn ed., The Challenge of Islam, (London. Islam Council of Europe, 1978) pp. xxvii ff.

10- Ibid.

11- See M. Abu Laylah, Inter-Faith Dialogue and Muslim Approach. (forthcoming).

12-Tie hadith is reported by Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi, see also Ibn

Kathir, Mukhtasar Tafsir, vol. 3, p. 100.

13-S:e As-Sahihin.

14- See Ibn Ishaq, Si rat Rasul Allah, translated by A. Guillanume. (Oxford University Press, 1978), pp.79-81.

15- Ibid, pp.73, 83, 99.

16- See Qur'an 2:89 and Ibn Kathir, Mukhtasar Tafsir, vol. 1, p. 88.

17- Ibn Ishaq, Si rat Rasul Allah, translated by A. Guillaume, pp. 240 f.

18- Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, translated by A. Guillaume, pp. 240 f.

19- Morman Daniel, Islam and the West, (Oxford, One World Publications,

997). p. 74.

20- See Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, PP- 219 ff, and Ibn Qayyiam al-Jawziyya, Hidayat al-Hayara, Beirut, Maktabat al-Haya, 1400-1980), pp. 176 f, sec M. Perlmman Another Kab al-Ahbar Story J. Q. R, 1955: pp. 48-58. Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, (Routledge and Kagan Paul, London, 1981), pp. 96 and Hava Lazarus, Intertwined Worlds, (New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1992) pp. 24.

21- A. Mingana, The Apology of Timothy the Patriarch before the Caliph al-Mahdi, Cambridge, Heffer and Sons Ltd. 1928.

22- See M. Abu Laylah, In pursuit of Virtue, pp. 84 ff.

23- See Brown Etvate, The Jerome Bible Commentary, (1986) vol. II, p. 111.

24- James Hastings, (Edinburgh, T&T. Clark, 1906) vol.1, pp. 860 f.

25- Ibid.

26- Abu Laylah, Christianity from Muslim Point of View.

27-See the Gospel of Barnabas, (Cairo, Dar al-Manar,) p. 96.