CONTENTS
- My
First Major Encounter
- Pope or Kissinger?
- Lucky Thirteen
- Why Nothing?
- Not One by
Name!
- What is Prophecy?
- Prophet Like
Moses
- Three Unlikes
- Eight
Irrefutable Arguments
- Father and
Mother
- Miraculous
Birth
- Marriage Ties
- Jesus Rejected
by His People
- "Other-Worldly"
Kingdom
- No New Laws
- How They Departed
- Heavenly Abode
- Further
Proofs
- Ishmael the
First Born
- Arabs and
Jews
- Words in the
Mouth
- The Faithful
Witness
- Unlettered
Prophet
- Grave Warning
- New
Testament Also Confirms
- Baptist Contradicts
Jesus
- Three Questions!
- "That
Prophet"
- The Acid Test
- The Greatest!
MY FIRST MAJOR
ENCOUNTER
Say: "Do you see? Whether this message be from Allah
(God Almighty), and yet you reject it, and a witness from among
the children of Israel bore witness of one like him...."
(Qur'an,
Al-Ahqaf 46:10)
Mr. Chairman, Ladies
and Gentlemen
The subject of this
evening's talk - "What the BIBLE says about Muhammad "
- will no doubt come as a surprise to many of you because the speaker
is a Muslim. How does it come about that a Muslim happens to be
expounding prophecies from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures?
As a young man, about
30 years ago, I attended a series of religious lectures by a Christian
theologian, a certain Reverend Hiten, at the "Theatre Royal",
Durban in South Africa.
Pope or Kissinger?
This Reverend gentleman
was expounding Biblical prophecies. He went on to prove that the
Christian Bible foretold the rise of Soviet Russia, and the Last
Days. At one stage he went to the extent of proving that his Holy
Book did not leave even the Pope out of its predictions. He expatiated
vigorously in order to convince his audience that the "Beast
666" mentioned in the Book of Revelation - the last book
of the New Testament - was the Pope, who was the Vicar of
Christ on earth. It is not befitting for us Muslims to enter into
this controversy between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants.
By the way, the latest Christian exposition of the "Beast
666" of the Christian Bible is Dr. Henry Kissinger [2].
Christian scholars are ingenious and indefatigable in their efforts
to prove their case.
Reverend Hiten's
lectures led me to ask that if the Bible foretold so many things
- not even excluding the "Pope" and "Israel",
then surely it must have something to say about the greatest benefactor
of mankind [3] - the Prophet Muhammad .
As a youngster I
set out to search for an answer. I met priest after priest, attended
lectures, and read everything that I could lay my hands relating
to the fields of Bible prophecies. Tonight I am going to narrate
to you one of these interviews with a dominee [4] of the
Dutch Reformed Church.
Lucky Thirteen
I was invited to
Transvaal [5] to deliver a talk. Knowing that in that Province
of the Republic of South Africa, the Afrikaans language is widely
spoken, even by my own people, I felt that I ought to acquire a
smattering of this language so as to feel a little "at home"
with the people. I opened the telephone directory and began phoning
the Afrikaans-speaking Churches. I indicated my purpose to the priests
that I was interested in having a dialogue with them, but they all
refused my request with "plausible" excuses. Number thirteen
was my lucky number. The thirteenth call brought me pleasure and
relief. A dominee Van Heerden agreed to meet me at his home on the
Saturday afternoon that I was to leave for Transvaal.
He received me on
his veranda with a friendly welcome. He said if I did not mind,
he would like his father-in-law from the Free State (a 70 year old
man) to join us in the discussion. I did not mind. The three of
us settled down in the dominee's library.
Why Nothing?
I posed the question,
"What does the Bible say about Muhammad ?" Without hesitation
he answered, "Nothing!" I asked, "Why nothing? According
to your interpretation the Bible have so many things to say about
the rise of Soviet Russia and about the Last Days and even about
the Pope of the Roman Catholics?" He said, "Yes, but there
was nothing about Muhammad !" I asked again, "Why nothing?
Surely this man Muhammad who had been responsible for the
bringing into being a world-wide community of millions of Believers
who, on his authority, believe in:
- the miraculous
birth of Jesus, - that Jesus is
the Messiah [6], - that he gave life
to the dead by God's permission, and that he healed those born
blind and the lepers by God's permission.
Surely this book
(the Bible) must have something to say about this great Leader of
men who spoke so well of Jesus and his mother Mary?" (peace
be upon them both).
The old man from
the Free State replied, "My son, I have been reading the Bible
for the past 50 years, and if there was any mention of him, I would
have known it."
Not One by Name!
I enquired, "According
to you, are there not hundreds of prophecies regarding the coming
of Jesus in the Old Testament." The dominee interjected, "Not
hundreds, but thousands!" I said, "I am not going to dispute
the 'thousand and one' prophecies in the Old Testament regarding
the coming of Jesus Christ, because the whole Muslim-world has already
accepted him without the testimony of any Biblical prophecy. We
Muslims have accepted the de facto Jesus on the authority
of Muhammad alone, and there are in the world today no less
than 1,000,000,000 (1 in 5 people in the world is a Muslim) followers
of Muhammad who love, respect and revere the great Messenger
of God - Jesus Christ - without having the Christians to
convince them by means of their Biblical dialectics. Out of the
'thousands' of prophecies referred to, can you please give me just
one single prophecy where Jesus is mentioned by name? The
term 'Messiah', translated as 'Christ', is not a name but a title.
Is there a single prophecy where it says that the name of the Messiah
will be Jesus, and that his mother's name will be Mary,
that his supposed father will be Joseph the Carpenter; that
he will be born in the reign of Herod the King, etc. etc?
No! There are no such details! Then how can you conclude that those
'thousand' prophecies refer to Jesus (peace be upon him)?"
What is Prophecy?
The dominee replies,
"You see, prophecies are word-pictures of something that is
going to happen in the future. When that thing actually comes to
pass, we see vividly in these prophecies the fulfilment of what
had been predicted in the past." I said, "What you actually
do is that you deduce, you reason, you put two and two together."
He said, "Yes." I said, "If this is what you have
to do with a 'thousand' prophecies to justify your claim with regards
to the genuineness of Jesus, why should we not adopt the very same
system for Muhammad ?" [7] The dominee agreed that
it was a fair proposition, a reasonable way of dealing with the
problem.
I asked him to open
up Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 18 (the fifth Book of the Christian
and Jewish Bibles), which he did. I read from memory the verse in
Afrikaans, because this was my purpose in having a little practice
with the language of the ruling race in South Africa. [8]
"N Profeet
sal ek vir hulle verwek uit die midde van hulle broers, soos jy
is, en ek sal my woorde in sy mond le, en hy sy sal ann hulle
se alle wat ek hom beveel."
The English translation
reads as follows:
"I will raise
them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and
I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him."
(Bible, Deuteronomy
18:18)
Prophet Like Moses
Having recited the
verse in Afrikaans, I apologised for my uncertain pronunciation,
The dominee assured me that I was doing fine. I enquired, "To
whom does this prophecy refer?" Without the slightest hesitation
he answered, "Jesus!" I asked, "Why Jesus
- his name is not mentioned here." The dominee replied,
"Since prophecies are word-pictures of something that is going
to happen in the future, we find that the wordings of this verse
adequately describe him. You see the most important words of this
prophecy are 'soos jy is' (like unto thee), - Like You -
like Moses, and Jesus is like Moses." I questioned, "In
which way is Jesus like Moses?" The answer was, "In the
first place Moses was a Jew and Jesus was also a Jew;
secondly, Moses was a Prophet and Jesus was also a Prophet
- therefore Jesus is like Moses and that is exactly what God had
foretold Moses - 'soos jy is'." "Can you think
of any other similarities between Moses and Jesus?" I asked.
The dominee said that he could not think of any. I replied, "If
these are the only two criteria for discovering a candidate for
this prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18, then in that case the criteria
could fit any one of the following Biblical personages after Moses:
Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Malachi, John the
Baptist etc, because they were also all "Jews"
as well as "Prophets". Why should we not apply this prophecy
to any one of these Prophets, and why only to Jesus? Why should
we make fish of one and fowl of another?" The dominee had no
reply. I continued, "You see, my conclusions are that Jesus
is most unlike Moses, and if I am wrong I would like you to correct
me."
Three Unlikes
So staying, I reasoned
with him, "In the first place Jesus is not like Moses,
because, according to you - 'Jesus is a god', but Moses is
not God. Is this true?" He said, "Yes." I said. "Therefore,
Jesus is not like Moses!"
"Secondly,
according to you - 'Jesus died for the sins of the world',
but Moses did not have to die for the sins of the world. Is this
true?" He again said, "Yes." I said, "Therefore
Jesus is not like Moses!"
"Thirdly,
according to you - 'Jesus went to hell for three days', but
Moses did not have to go there. Is this true?" He answered
meekly, "Y-e-s." I concluded, "Therefore Jesus
is not like Moses!"
"But dominee,"
I continued, "these are not hard facts, solid facts, they are
mere matters of belief over which the little ones can stumble and
fall. Let us discuss something very simple, very easy that if your
little ones are called in to hear the discussion, would have no
difficulty in following it, shall we?" The dominee was quiet
happy at the suggestion.
EIGHT IRREFUTABLE
ARGUMENTS
1. Father and
Mother
"Moses had a
father and a mother. Muhammad also had a father and a mother.
But Jesus had only a mother, and no human father. Is this true?"
He said, "Yes." I said, "Daarom is Jesus nie soos
Moses nie, maar Muhammad is soos Moses!" Meaning: "Therefore
Jesus is not like Moses, Muhammad is like Moses!"
(By now the reader will realise that I was using the Afrikaans language
only for practice purposes. I shall discontinue its use in this
narration).
2. Miraculous
Birth
"Moses and Muhammad
were born in the normal, natural course, i.e. the physical association
of man and woman; but Jesus was created by a special miracle. You
will recall that we are told in the Gospel of St. Matthew 1:18:
"....Before
they came together, (Joseph the Carpenter and Mary). She was found
with child by the Holy Ghost."
And St. Luke tells
us that when the good news of the birth of a holy son was announced
to her, Mary reasoned:
"....How shall
this be, seeing I know not a man? And the Angel answered and said
unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of
the Highest shall overshadow thee...."
(Bible, Luke
1:35)
The Qur'an confirms
the miraculous birth of Jesus, in nobler and more sublime terms.
In answer to her logical question:
"O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched
me?" The angel says in reply: "Even so: Allah createth
what He willeth: when He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it
'Be', and it is."
(Qur'an,
Al-'Imran 3:47)
It is not necessary
for God to plant a seed in man or animal. He merely wills it and
it comes into being. This is the Muslim conception of the of birth
of Jesus.
(When I compared
the Qur'an and the Biblical versions of the birth of Jesus to the
head of the Bible Society in our largest City, and when I enquired,
"Which version would you prefer to give your daughter, the
Qur'anic version or the Biblical version?" The
man bowed his head and answered, "The Qur'anic.") In short,
I said to the dominee, "Is it true that Jesus was born miraculously
as against the natural birth of Moses and Muhammad ?" He replied
proudly, "Yes!" I said, "Therefore Jesus is not
like Moses, Muhammad is like Moses!" And God says
to Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy 18:18, "Like unto thee."
(Like You, Like Moses) and Muhammad is like Moses."
3. Marriage Ties
"Moses and Muhammad
married and beget children, but Jesus remained a bachelor all his
life. Is this true?" The dominee said, "Yes." I said,
"Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, Muhammad is like
Moses!"
4. Jesus Rejected
by His People
"Moses and Muhammad
were accepted as prophets by their people in their very lifetime.
No doubt the Jews gave endless trouble to Moses and they murmured
in the wilderness, but as a nation, they acknowledged that Moses
was a Messenger of God sent to them. The Arabs too made Muhammad's
life impossible. He suffered very badly at their hands. After thirteen
years of preaching in Mecca, he had to emigrate from the city of
his birth. But before his demise, the Arab nation as a whole accepted
him as the Messenger of Allah. But according to the Bible:
"He (Jesus)
came unto his own, but his own received him not."
(Bible, John
1:11)
And even today,
over two thousand years, his people - the Jews, as a whole, have
rejected him.
Is this true?" The dominee said, "Yes." I said, "Therefore
Jesus is not like Moses, Muhammad is like Moses!"
5. "Other-Worldly"
Kingdom
"Moses and Muhammad
were Prophets as well as kings. A prophet means a man who receives
Divine Revelation for the Guidance of Man and this Guidance he conveys
to God's creatures as received without any addition or deletion.
A king is a person who has the power of life and death over his
people. It is immaterial whether the person wears a crown or not,
or whether he was ever addressed as king or monarch - if the man
has the prerogative of inflicting capital punishment - He is
a King. Moses possessed such a power. Do you remember the Israelite
who was found picking up firewood on Sabbath Day, and Moses had
him stoned to death? (Numbers 15:13). There are other crimes
also mentioned in the Bible for which capital punishment was inflicted
on the Jews at the behest of Moses. Muhammad too, had the
power of life and death over his people.
There are instances
in the Bible of persons who were given gift of prophecy only,
but they were not in a position to implement their directives. Some
of these holy men of God who were helpless in the face of stubborn
rejection of their message, were the prophets Lot, Jonah, Daniel,
Ezra, and John the Baptist. They could only deliver the message,
but could not enforce the Law. The Holy Prophet Jesus (peace be
upon him) also belonged to this category. The Christian Gospel clearly
confirms this when Jesus was dragged before the Roman Governor,
Pontius Pilate, Charged for sedition, Jesus made a convincing point
in his defence to refute the false charge:
"Jesus answered,
"My kingdom is not of this world". If my kingdom were
of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not
be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence."
(Bible, John
18:36)
This convinced Pilate
(a pagan) that though Jesus might not be in full possession of his
mental faculty, he did not strike him as being a danger to his rule.
Jesus claimed a spiritual Kingdom only; in other words he only claimed
to be a Prophet. Is this true?" The dominee answered, "Yes."
I said, "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad
is like Moses."
6. No New Laws
"Moses and Muhammad
brought new laws and new regulations for their people. Moses not
only gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, but a very comprehensive
ceremonial law for the guidance of his people. Muhammad comes
to a people steeped in barbarism and ignorance. They married their
stepmothers; they buried their daughters alive; drunkenness, adultery,
idolatry, and gambling were the order of the day. Gibbon describe
the Arabs before Islam in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire": 'The human brute, almost without sense, is poorly
distinguished from the rest of the animal creation.' There was hardly
anything to distinguish between the "man" and the "animal"
of the time; they were animals in human form.
"From this abject
barbarism, Muhammad elevated them, in the words of Thomas
Carlysle, 'into torchbearers of light and learning', 'To the
Arab nation it was as a birth from darkness into light. Arabia first
became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people, roaming unnoticed
in its deserts since the creation of the world. See, the unnoticed
becomes world noteable, the small has grown world-great. Within
one century afterwards Arabia was at Granada on one hand and at
Delhi on the other. Glancing in valour and splendour, and the light
of genius, Arabia shines over a great section of the world....'
The fact is that Muhammad gave his people a Law and Order
they never had before."
"As regards
Jesus, when the Jews felt suspicious of him that he might be an
impostor with designs to pervert their teachings, Jesus took pains
to assure them that he had not come with a new religion - no new
laws and no new regulations. I quote his own words:
"Think not
that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come
to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till Heaven
and Earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from
the Law, till all be fulfilled."
(Bible, Mathew
5:17-18)
In other words he
had not come with any new laws or regulation he came only to fulfil
the old law. This what he gave the Jews to understand - unless he
was speaking with the tongue in his cheek trying to bluff the Jews
into accepting him as a man of God and by subterfuge trying to ram
a new religion down their throats. No! This Messenger of God would
never resort to such fo ul means to subvert the Religion of God.
He himself fulfilled the laws. He observed the commandments of Moses,
and he respected the Sabbath. At no time did a single Jew point
a finger at him to say, 'why don't you fast' or 'why don't
you wash your hands before you break bread', which charges they
always levied against his disciples, but never against Jesus. This
is because as a good Jew he honoured the laws of the prophets who
preceded him. In short, he had created no new religion and had brought
no new law like Moses and Muhammad . Is this true?" I asked
the dominee, and he answered, "Yes." I said, "Therefore,
Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."
7. How They Departed
"Both Moses
and Muhammad died natural deaths, but according to Christianity,
Jesus was violently killed on the cross [10]. Is this true?"
The dominee said, "Yes." I averred, "Therefore
Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."
8. Heavenly Abode
"Moses and Muhammad
both lie buried in earth, but according to you, Jesus in heaven.
Is this true?" The dominee agreed. I said, "Therefore
Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."
FURTHER
PROOFS
Ishmael the First
Born
Since the dominee
was helplessly agreeing with every point, I said, "Dominee,
so far what I have done is to prove only one point out of the whole
prophecy - that is proving the phrase 'Like unto Thee' -
'Like You', 'Like Moses'. The Prophecy is much more than this single
phrase which reads as follows: "I will raise them up a Prophet
from among their brethren like unto thee...." The emphasis
is on the words - "From among their brethren."
Moses and his people, the Jews, are here addressed as a racial entity,
and as such their 'brethren' would undoubtedly be the Arabs.
You see, the Bible speaks of Abraham as the "Friend of God".
Abraham had two wives - Sarah and Hagar. Hagar bore Abraham a son
- his firstborn:
"....And Abraham
[11] called his son's name, which Hagar bare Ishmael."
(Bible, Genesis
16:15)
"And Abraham
took Ishmael his son...."
(Bible, Genesis
17:23)
"And Ishmael
his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the
flesh of his foreskin."
(Bible, Genesis
17:25)
Up to the age of
thirteen Ishmael was the only son and seed of Abraham,
when the covenant was ratified between God and Abraham. God grants
Abraham another son through Sarah, named Isaac, who was very much
the junior to his brother Ishmael.
Arabs and Jews
If Ishmael and Isaac
are the sons of the same father Abraham, then they are brothers.
And so the children of the one are the brethren of the children
of the other. The children of Isaac are the Jews and the Children
of Ishmael are the Arabs - so they are brethren to one another.
The Bible affirms:
"And he (Ishmael)
shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
(Bible, Genesis
16:12)
"And he (Ishmael)
died in the presence of all his brethren."
(Bible, Genesis
25:18)
The children of Isaac
are the brethren of the Ishmaelites. In like manner Muhammad
is from among the brethren of the Israelites because he was a descendant
of Ishmael the son of Abraham. This exactly as the prophecy has
it:
"From among
their brethren." (Bible, Deuteronomy 18:18)
There the prophecy
distinctly mentions that the coming prophet who would be like Moses,
must arise not from the 'children of Israel' or from
'among themselves', but from among their brethren. Muhammad
therefore was from among their brethren!
Words in the Mouth
"The prophecy
proceeds further: '....And I will put my words into his mouth....'
What does it mean when it is said 'I will put my words in your
mouth'? You see, when I asked you (the dominee) to open Deuteronomy
chapter 18, verse 18, at the beginning, and if I had asked you to
read, and if you had read: would I be putting my words into your
mouth?" The dominee answered, "No." "But,"
I continued, "if I were to teach you a language like Arabic
about which you have no knowledge, and if I asked you to read or
repeat after me what I utter i.e:
Say: "He is Allah the One and Only;
Allah,
the Eternal Absolute;
He
begetteth not, nor is He begotten:
And
there is none like unto Him."
(Qur'an,
Al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
( I read them in
Arabic.)
Would I not be putting
these unheard words of a foreign tongue which you utter, into
your mouth?" The dominee agreed that it was indeed so.
In an identical manner, I said, the words of the Qur'an, the Revelation
vouchsafed by the Almighty God to Muhammad , were revealed.
History tells us
that Muhammad was forty years of age. He was in a cave some
three miles north of the City of Mecca. It was the 27th night of
the Muslim month of Ramadan. In the cave the Archangel Gabriel commands
him in his mother tongue: 'iqra' which means read!
or proclaim! or recite! Muhammad was terrified
and in his bewilderment replied that he was not learned!
The angel commands him a second time with the same result. For the
third time the angel continues.
Now Muhammad , grasps,
that what was required of him was to repeat! to rehearse!
And he repeats the words as they were put into his mouth:
"Read! In the Name of the Lord and Cherisher, who
created:
Created
man, from a (mere) clot of congealed blood:
Read!
and the Lord is Most Bountiful:
Who
teacheth by the pen,
Teacheth
man that which he knew not".
(Qur'an,
Al-'Alaq 96:1-5)
These are the first
five verses which were revealed to Muhammad which now occupy
the beginning of the 96th chapter of the Qur'an.
The Faithful Witness
Immediately the angel
had departed, Muhammad rushed to his home. Terrified and sweating
all over he asked his beloved wife Khadija to 'cover him up!' He
lay down, and she watched by him. When he had regained his composure,
he explained to her what he had seen and heard. She assured him
of her faith in him and that Allah would not allow any terrible
thing to happen to him. Are these the confessions of an imposter?
Would impostors confess that when an angel of the Lord confronts
them with a Message from on High, they get fear-stricken, terrified,
and sweating all over, run home to their wives? Any critic can see
that his reactions and confessions are that of an honest, sincere
man, the man of Truth- 'Al-Amin' - the Honest, the Upright,
the Truthful. During the next twenty-three years of his prophetic
life, words were 'put into his mouth', and he uttered them.
They made an indelible impression on his heart and mind: and as
the volume of the Sacred Scripture (Qur'an) grew, they were recorded
on palm-leaf fibre, on skins and on the shoulder-blades of animals;
and in the hearts of his devoted disciples. Before his demise these
words were arranged according to his instructions in the order in
which we find them today in the Qur'an.
The words (revelation)
were actually put into his mouth, exactly as foretold in
the prophecy under discussion:
"And I will
put my words in his mouth."
(Bible, Deuteronomy
18:18)
Unlettered Prophet
Muhammad's
experience in the cave of Hira, later to be known as Jabal-un Noor
- The Mountain of Light, and his response to that first Revelation
is the exact fulfilment of another Biblical Prophecy. In the Book
of Isaish. Chapter 29, verse 12, we read:
"And the Book
(al-Kitab, al-Qur'an the 'Reading', the 'Recitation') is delivered
to him that is not learned."
(Bible, Isaiah
29:12)
"...The unlettered Prophet..."
(Qur'an,
Al-Araf 7:158)
And the biblical
verse continues: "Saying, read this, I pray thee:"
(the words "I pray thee", are not in the Hebrew
manuscripts; compare with the Roman Catholics' "Douay Version
and also with the "Revised Standard Versions") "And
he saith, I am not learned." ("I am not learned."
is the exact translation of the Arabic words which Muhammad
uttered twice to the Holy Ghost - the Archangel Gabriel,
when he was commanded: "Read!").
Let me quote the
verse in full without a break as found in the "King James Version,"
or the "Authorised version" as it is more popularly know:
"And the Book
is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, read this I pray
thee: and he saith, I am not learned."
(Bible, Isaiah
29:12)
It may be noted that
there were no Arabic Bibles [12] in existence in the 6th
Century of the Christian Era when Muhammad lived and preached.
Besides, he was absolutely unlettered and unlearned. No human had
ever taught him a word. His teacher was his Creator:
"He does not speak (aught), of (his own) desire:
It
is no less than inspiration sent down to him:
He
was taught by One Mighty in Power."
(Qur'an,
An-Najm 53:3-5)
Without any human
learning, 'he put to shame the wisdom of the learned'.
Grave Warning
"See!"
I told the dominee, "how the prophecies fit Muhammad
like a glove. We do not have to stretch prophecies to justify their
fulfilment in Muhammad ."
The dominee replied,
"All your expositions sound very well, but they are of no real
consequence, because we Christians have Jesus Christ the "incarnate"
God, who has redeemed us from the Bondage of Sin!"
I asked, "Not
important?" God didn't think so! He went to a great deal of
trouble to have His warnings recorded. God knew that there would
be people like you who will flippantly, light-heartedly discount
his words, so he followed up Deuteronomy 18:18 with a dire warning:
"And it shall come to pass," (it is going to happen) "That
whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak
in My Name, I will require it of him." (in the Catholic
Bible the ending words are - "I will be the revenger",
I will take vengeance from him - I will take revenge!) "Does
not this terrify you? God Almighty is threatening revenge!
We shake in our pants if some hoodlum threatens us, yet you have
no fear of God's warning?"
"Miracle of
Miracles! in the verse 19 of Deuteronomy chapter 18, we have a further
fulfilment of the prophecy in Muhammad ! Note the words - '....My
words which he shall speak in My Name," In whose
name is Muhammad speaking?" I opened Yusuf Ali's translation
of the Qur'an, at chapter 114 - 'Surah An-Nas', or Mankind - the
last chapter, and showed him the formula at the head of the chapter
- and the meaning: "In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful." And the heading of chapter 113 - and the meaning:
"In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful."
And every chapter downwards 112, 111, 110,.... was the same formula
and the same meaning on every page, because the end Surahs
(chapters) are short and take about a page each.
"And what did
the prophecy demand? '....Which he shall speak in My Name'
and in whose name does Muhammad speak "In the Name of God,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful." The Prophecy is being fulfilled
in Muhammad to the letter. Every chapter of the Qur'an except
the 9th begin with the formula: "In the Name of God, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful." The Muslim begins his every lawful act
with the Holy formula. But the Christian begins: "In the
Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." [13]
Concerning Deuteronomy
chapter 18, I have given you more than fifteen reasons as to how
this prophecy refers to Muhammad and not to Jesus.
NEW
TESTAMENT ALSO CONFIRMS
Baptist Contradicts
Jesus
In New Testament
times, we find that the Jews were still expecting the fulfilment
of the prophecy of 'One like Moses', refer John 1:19-25.
When Jesus claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, the Jews began
to enquire as to where was Elias? The Jews had a parallel prophecy
that before the coming of the Messiah, Elias must come first in
his second coming. Jesus confirms this Jewish belief:
"....Elias
truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto
you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not... Then
the Disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."
(Bible, Matthew
17:11-13)
According to the
New Testament the Jews were not the ones to s wallow the words of
any would-be Messiah. In their investigations they underwent intense
difficulties in order to find their true Messiah. And this the Gospel
of John confirms: "And this is the record of John,"
(the Baptist) "when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? And he confessed and denied
not; but confessed, I am not the Christ." (This was only
natural because there can't be two Messiahs [14] at the same
time. If Jesus was the Christ then John couldn't be the Christ!)
"And they asked him, what then? Art thou Elias? And he saith,
I am not." (Here John the Baptist contradicts Jesus!
Jesus says that John is "Elias" and John denies that he
is what Jesus ascribes him to be. One of the two (Jesus or
John), God forbid! is definitely not speaking the truth!
On the testimony of Jesus himself, John the Baptist was the
greatest of the Israelite prophets:
"Verily I
say unto you, among them that are born of women there has not
risen a greater than John the Baptist...."
(Bible, Matthew
11:11)
We Muslims know John
the Baptist as Hazrut Yahyaa (peace be upon him). We revere
him as a true prophet of Allah. Prophet Jesus known to us as Hazrut
Isa (peace be upon him), is also esteemed as one of the mightiest
messengers of the Almighty. How can we Muslims impute lies to either
of them? We leave this problem between Jesus and John for the Christians
to solve, for their "sacred scriptures abound in discrepancies
which they have been glossing over as the "dark sayings
of Jesus" [15]. We Muslims are really interested
in the last questions posed to John the Baptist by the Jewish
elite:
"Art thou
that Prophet? And he answered, No."
(Bible, John
1:21)
Three Questions!
Please note that
three different and distinct questions were posed to John the
Baptist and to which he gave three emphatic "No's"
as answers. To recapitulate:
- Art thou the Christ?
- Art thou Elias?
- Art thou that
Prophet?
But the learned men
of Christendom somehow only see two questions implied here. To make
doubly clear that the Jews definitely had T-H-R-E-E separate prophecies
in their minds when they were interrogating John the Baptist,
let us read the remonstrance of the Jews in the verses following:
"And they
asked him, and said unto him, whey baptizest thou then, if thou
be:
- Not that Christ,
- Nor Elias,
- Neither that
Prophet?"
(Bible, John
1:25)
The Jews were waiting
for the fulfilment of three distinct prophecies: One,
the coming of CHRIST. Two the coming of ELIAS, and Three,
the coming of THAT PROPHET.
"That Prophet"
If we look up any
Bible which has a concordance or cross-references, the we will find
in the marginal note where the words "the Prophet",
or "that Prophet" occur in John 1:25, that these
words refer to the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18. And that
'that prophet' - 'the prophet like Moses' - "Like
unto thee", we have proved through overwhelming evidence that
he was Muhammad and not Jesus!
We Muslims are not
denying that Jesus was the "Messiah", which word is translated
as "Christ" [16]. We are not contesting the "thousand
and one prophecies" which the Christians claim abound in the
Old Testament foretelling the coming of the Messiah. What we say
is that Deuteronomy 18:18 does not refer to Jesus Christ
but it is an explicit prophecy about Prophet Muhammad! "
The dominee, very
politely parted with me by saying that it was a very interesting
discussion and he would like me very much to come one day and address
his congregation on the subject. A decade and half has passed since
then but I am still awaiting that privilege.
I believe the dominee
was sincere when he made the offer, but prejudices die hard and
who would like to loose his sheep?
The Acid Test
To the lambs of Christ
I say, why not apply that acid test which the Master himself wanted
you to apply to any would be claimant to prophethood? He had said:
"By their
fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes from the thorns,
or figs from the thistles? Every good tree will bear good fruit
and every evil tree will bear evil fruit... By their fruits ye
shall know them."
(Bible, Matthew
7:16-20)
Why are you afraid
to apply this test to the teachings of Muhammad ? You will find
in the Last Testament of God - the Qur'an - the true
fulfilment of the teachings of Moses and Jesus which will bring
to the world the much-needed peace and happiness. "If a man
like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern
world, he would succeed in solving its problems that would bring
it the much needed peace and happiness." (George Bernard Shaw)
The Greatest!
The Weekly News Magazine
"TIME" dated July 15, 1974, carried a selection of opinions
by various historians, writers, military men, businessmen and others
on the subject: "Who Were History's Great Leaders?"
Some said that it was Hitler; others said Gandhi, Buddha, Lincoln
and the like. But Jules Masserman, a United States psychoanalyst
put the standards straight by giving the correct criteria wherewith
to judge. He said: "Leaders must fulfil three functions:
- Provide for the
well-being of the led, - Provide a social
organisation in which people feel relatively secure, and - Provide them with
one set of beliefs."
With the above three
criteria he searches history and analyses - Hitler, Pasteur, Caesar,
Moses, Confucius and the lot, and ultimately concludes:
"People like
Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense. People like Gandhi
and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on
the other, are leaders in the second and perhaps the third sense.
Jesus and Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps
the greatest leader of all times was Muhammad , who combined all
three functions. To a lesser degree, Moses did the same."
According to the
objective standards set by the Professor of the Chicago University,
whom I believe to be Jewish, - Jesus and Buddha are now - here in
the picture of the "Great Leaders of Mankind",
but by a queer coincidence groups Moses and Muhammad
together thus adding further weight to the argument that
"Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."
Deuteronomy 18:18 "Like unto thee" - Like Moses!
In conclusion, I
end with a quotation of a Christian Reverend the commentator of
the Bible, followed by that of his Master:
"The ultimate
criterion of a true Prophet is the moral character of his teachings."
(Professor Dummelow)
"By their fruits
ye shall know them." (Jesus Christ)
A concluding suggestion:
Come let us reason together!
Say: "O people of the Book Come to common terms as between
us and you: that we worship none but God; that we associate no partners
with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons
other than God." If then they turn back, Say: "Bear witness
that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to God's Will)."
(Qur'an,
Al-'Imran 3:64)
"People of
the Book"
is the respectful title given to the Jews and the Christians in
the Qur'an. The Muslims is here commanded to invite - "O
People of the Book!" - O Learned People! O People who claim
to be the recipients of Divine Revelation, of a Holy Scripture;
let us gather together onto a common platform - "that we
worship none but God", because none but God is worthy of
worship, not because:
"The Lord
thy God is a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me."
(Bible, Exodus
20:25)
But because He is
our Lord and Cherisher, our Sustainer and Evolver, worthy of all
praise, prayer and devotion.
In the abstract the
Jews and the Christians would agree to all the three propositions
contained in this Qur'anic verse. In practice they fail. Apart from
doctrinal lapses from the unity of the One True God, (ALLAH Subha-nahu
wa ta-ala) there is the question of a consecrated Priesthood
(among the Jews it was hereditary also), as if a mere human being
- Cohen or Pope, or Priest, or Brahuman,
- could claim superiority apart from his learning and the purity
of his life, or could stand between man and God in some special
sense. Islam does not recognise priesthood!
The Creed of Islam
is given to us here in a nutshell from Qur'an:
Say
ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and
to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given
to Moses and Jesus and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord:
We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow
to Allah (in Islam)."
(Qur'an,
Al-Baqarah 2:136)
The Muslim position
is clear. The Muslim does not claim to have a religion peculiar
to himself. Islam is not a sect or an ethnic religion. In its view
all Religion is one, for the Truth is one. It was the same religion
preached by all the earlier Prophets (Qur'an 42:13). It was
the truth taught by all the inspired Books. In essence it amounts
to a consciousness of the Will and Plan of God and a joyful submission
to that Will and Plan. If anyone wants a religion other than
that, he is false to his own nature, as he is false to God's Will
and Plan. Such a one cannot expect guidance, for he has deliberately
renounced guidance.
Notes
- This
refers to Moses. See Yusuf Ali's commentaries Nos. 4783/4 to this
verse.
[back] - Christian
exegesis's give progressive numerical values by sixes, to the
English alphabet and add up to get the total 666, i.e. A=6, B=12,
C=18, D=24 and so on. Progression by 6's because the number of
the Beast in the Bible is "666". Try it for Dr. Kissinger.
[back] - The
writer has just delivered another talk in the City Hall, Durban
on the 10th December, 1975 on the subject "Muhammad the Greatest".
[back] - "Dominee"
is the Afrikaans equivalent of priest, parson and predikant.
[back] - One
of the Provinces of the Republic of South Africa.
[back] - The
word "Messiah" comes from the Arabic and Hebrew word
masaha which means to rub, to massage, to anoint. The religious
significance is "the one who is anointed' - priests and kings
were anointed in consecration to their offices. Messiah translated
Christ does not mean God. Even the heathen Cyrus is called "Christ"
in the Bible, (Isaiah 45:1)
[back] - Muhammad
is mentioned by name in the Song of Solomon 5:16. The Hebrew word
used there is Muhammaddim. The end letters IM is plural of respect
majesty and grandeur. Minus "im" the name would be Muhamedd
translated as "altogether lovely" in the Authorised
Version of the Bible or 'The Praised One' 'the one worthy of Praise'
i.e. Muhammad!
[back] - If
this lecture is translated into any language, please change the
Afrikaans words into the local dialect; and do not try a free
hand translation of the Biblical quotation. Obtain a Bible in
the language in which translation is being made and transcribe
exactly as the words occur in that Bible.
[back] - Please
open the Qur'an 3:42 and 19:16 where the birth of Jesus is spoken
about; read it with the commentary, note the high position which
Jesus and his mother occupy in Islam.
[back] - Write
for "Was Christ Crucified?" by the writer, free on request.
[back] - According
to the Bible Abraham's name was Abram before it was changed by
God to Abraham.
[back] - There
are today Arabic Bibles in Fourteen different scripts and dialects
for the Arabs alone. See "The Gospels in many tongues",
obtainable from the Bible Society.
[back] - The
Christian theologians are ignorant of even the "name of God.
Because "God" is not a name, and "Father"
is also not a name. What's his name? See "Muhammad - the
Natural Successor to Christ", by the author, available free.
[back] - The
Jews were expecting a single Messiah not two.
[back] - See
the "TIMES" Magazine December 30th, 1974, article "How
true is the Bible?" And write for your free copy of "50,000
Errors in the Bible?" a reproduction from the Christian Magazine
"AWAKE!" September 8, 1957.
[back] - How
the word Messiah was transmuted to Christ? Write for booklet above,
reference
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