MUHAMMAD, THE GOOD NEWS OF THE PROPHETS

It is now clear that both Judaism and Christianity had completed their historical missions for the process of abrogation and perfection is a natural matter with respect to the divine laws. It was known that humanity should resort to another divine law in accordance with the Divine Will. In addition, both religions had been distorted and tampered with. So, logically and with respect to following the revealed path, it is irrelevant to adopt them as ways of life. The substitute is Islam, the promised divine faith for all mankind. It is the faith about which the prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus, peace be with them all, gave good news.

Should seekers of truth be certain of the fact that Muhammad, peace be with him and his progeny, was the prophet promised by Moses and Jesus, peace be with them, and that he was mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, this would constitute a miracle pertaining to him and be confirmation of his prophethood. It rests as a proof on the Jews and Christians who believe in the Pentateuch, the Bible and pre-Islamic history.

 

Humanity was waiting for the advent of a new prophet. The Qur'an argues with the Jews and Christians on this point and reminds them of this fact:

"When there came to them a Book from God, confirming what was with them-and aforetime they prayed for victory over those who disbelieve-when there came to them the truth which they recognized, they disbelieved therein. The curse of God is on the unbelievers."                                    Holy Qur'an (2:89)

 

The Pentateuch and the Bible did mention the characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad, the place of his appearance and his message. A great number of Jewish and Christian clergy at the time embraced Islam and believed in the Prophet because they found his name and attributes in the Pentateuch and the Bible.

 

"Say: Have you considered if it is from God, and you disbelieve in it, and a witness from among the children of Israel has borne witness of one like him, so he believed, while you are big with pride; surely God does not guide the unjust people."                                                   Holy Qur'an (46:10)

 

This verse was revealed in respect to Abdullah bin Salam, the witness among the Israelites. It was narrated that Abdullah bin Salam came to the Prophet and embraced Islam, and said, "O Apostle of God, ask the Jews about me. They will say that I am the most learned. If they say so, I will say to them the Torah approves of your prophethood and your attributes are clearly mentioned in it." When the Prophet asked them they said as Abdullah had expected. Abdullah then announced his embracing of Islam but they accused him of being a liar.

The Qur'an drew their attention and called on them to return to the Pentateuch and the Bible:

"...the Prophet, the 'Ummi' (one who neither reads nor writes) whom they find written down with them in the Torah and Evangel,..."        Holy Qur'an (7:157)

 

The Qur'an quotes Jesus as saying:

"And when Jesus, son of Maryam said: 'O children of Israel! Surely I am the apostle of God to you, verifying that which is before me of the Torah and giving the good tidings of an apostle who will come after me, his name being Ahmad'; but when he came to them with clear arguments they said: 'This is clear magic.'"

Holy Qur'an (61:6)

Let's take a look at what the Old and New Testaments, and works authored by the researchers and thinkers, particularly the Christian intellectuals like Professor David Benjamin Kildani have to say concerning the coming of the Prophet Muhammad.

"When emphasizing the character of the promised prophet, the other prophecy attributed to Moses is, in any case, conducive when it speaks of 'the bright light of God which comes from Faran', which is the wilderness of Mecca."

In chapter 33 of the Pentateuch the second sentence states: "The Lord came from Sinai, and shined to them from Saer and gleamed from the mountain of Faran. And ten thousand saints came with him. From his right hand the fire of a law for them appeared. So the brightness of the Lord is likened to the light of the sun, 'The Lord came from Sinai, and shined to them from Saer.' He gleamed with glory from Faran. He appeared with ten thousand of his followers, carrying a divine law for them in his right hand. None of the Israelites had anything to do with Faran, Christ concluded." (Faran is a reference to the place where the Prophet Muhammad was chosen to prophethood. He came to Madina at the head of 10,000 warriors to conquer Mecca. This is widely known as recorded history.)

"Hagar and Ishmael, her son, wondered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Then they settled in the wilderness of Faran." (Professor David Benjamin Kildani, Muhammad in the Holy Bible, 3rd ed., pp. 31-33.)

Professor Kildani writes in the same book of another text: "The other prophecy is mentioned in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 21, verses 13-17. It says: 'This is a message about Arabia. You people of Dedan, whose caravans camp in the barren country of Arabia, give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema give food to the refugees. People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot, from all the dangers of war.' Then the Lord said to me, 'In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end. The bowmen are the bravest men of Kedar, but few of them will be left.'"

In yet another text, we read about the good news of the coming of the prophet Muhammad: "During that rare chance, God sent His servant, the prophet Haggai to console those sad people. He carried with him this important message: 'I will overthrow all the nations, and Hamada will come to all nations. I will fill this temple with wealth. Such the lord of the soldiers said. All the silver and gold of the world is mine. Such the lord of the soldiers said. And there I will give my people prosperity and peace. The lord of the soldiers had spoken.' I had translated this paragraph from the only copy which was in my possession which was borrowed from a lady who was a cousin of mine. This copy was written in the national language.

"Let us return to the English translation of the Bible, which we believe to have changed the world 'Hamada' from the Hebrew origin of 'Amniya', and the word 'Shalom' to 'Islam'."

Professor Kildani (who was a Catholic priest who converted to Islam and has taken the name Abdul-Ahad Dawood) says: "...therefore we should view this prophecy truthful beyond question. It is identified with the character of Ahmad and his message of Islam. That is because both the words Hamada and Shalom or Shalama give precisely the same meaning and have the same importance of Ahmad and Islam...in many of Christ's statements we read the good news of the prophethood of Muhammad and the mentioning of his name."