Many people make arguments for Mohammad (saws) in the Bible using words that sound similar to his name. Jews flatly reject these claims and point to similar verses describing fools and apostates. I believe there is a much simpler and less debateable relationship between a prophesied Biblical character and the Prophet: The Prophet Elijah (as).
First of all, it is important to acquaint the reader with the original Elijah (as), as many of my readers are Muslims and have little to no background in Biblical history. I have demonstrated here how Elijah was from Mecca, and was indisputably an Arab not of Jewish descent. What are the other important facts about his life?
He performed many miracles including the multiplication of food (1 Kings 17:8-16). This miracle was also performed by the Prophet Mohammad (saws):
Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 780:
Narrated Jabir:
My father had died in debt. So I came to the Prophet and said, "My father (died) leaving unpaid debts, and I have nothing except the yield of his date palms; and their yield for many years will not cover his debts. So please come with me, so that the creditors may not misbehave with me." The Prophet went round one of the heaps of dates and invoked (Allah), and then did the same with another heap and sat on it and said, "Measure (for them)." He paid them their rights and what remained was as much as had been paid to them.
He preformed the miracle of supplication for rain after a long drought (1 Kings 18:41-46). This miracle was also preformed by the Prophet Mohammad (saws), again as narrated in Sahih Bukhari:
Volume 8, Book 73, Number 115:
Narrated Anas:
A man came to the Prophet on a Friday while he (the Prophet) was delivering a sermon at Medina, and said, "There is lack of rain, so please invoke your Lord to bless us with the rain." The Prophet looked at the sky when no cloud could be detected. Then he invoked Allah for rain. Clouds started gathering together and it rained till the Medina valleys started flowing with water. It continued raining till the next Friday. Then that man (or some other man) stood up while the Prophet was delivering the Friday sermon, and said, "We are drowned; Please invoke your Lord to withhold it (rain) from us" The Prophet smiled and said twice or thrice, "O Allah! Please let it rain round about us and not upon us." The clouds started dispersing over Medina to the right and to the left, and it rained round about Medina and not upon Medina. Allah showed them (the people) the miracle of His Prophet and His response to his invocation.
He saw angels, and was fed by them (1 Kings 19:5). The Prophet Mohammad (saws) also saw angels regularly, as has been narrated many times.
Also in 1 Kings 19, Elijah traveled forty days from Jerusalem into the mountains of Arabia, where God spoke to him in a still, small voice. It was in these same mountains that the Prophet Mohammad (saws) would receive his revelation from God.
Prophecy Concerning Elijah's Return
As I have mentioned before, Elijah's return is linked in Jewish tradition with the Messiah, although this link is not made in the scriptures. The verse that does promise the return of Elijah promises that he will do some specific things: namely, that he will turn the hearts of the fathers towards the children, and the children towards the fathers. How the Prophet Mohammad (saws) did so is written out beautifully here and I will not elucidate on it further. The other prophecy concerning the return of Elijah in Rabbinic literature states that he will restore the Torah, which was lost. You can read about how it was lost in this series of blog posts:
and how he was promised to restore it here.
Why Not John the Baptist?
Parts of the Christian Bible claim that John the Baptist was Elijah. I reject this notion on two grounds:
1. He did not fulfill the prophecy concerning Elijah.
2. He himself said that he was NOT Elijah: John 1:21.
In conclusion, I believe as I have written before, that Mohammad (peace be upon him) was the promised prophet, sent by God to restore the world to the teachings of monotheism, and sent to restore the family unit and bring peace to households that had never known it.
Thanks for writing this article. It sounds that the coming of our prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is or was not clearly mentioned in the previous Books. At best it can only be conjectured, that too on the basis of man-written/derived traditions, that Mohammad (PBUH) is the foretold prophet. But honestly speaking, the foretold prophet could be any prophet after Mallachi, if one is to base his/her judgement purely on divine God-ordained sources (not on some man-made sources). I think Koran states that the coming of Mohammad (PBUH) is/was mentioned in unambiguous terms just as Jesus is/was mentioned unambiguously in Torah. In the light of this Koranic claim, the-coming-of-Elijah argument based on the purported miracles of the first Elijah sounds not very clear on Mohammad (PBUH). Probably the only strong argument may be is that both Torah and Christian Bible have been distorted to exclude the clear mentioning of Mohammad (PBUH), and this argument (I am afraid) cannot be proved.
ReplyDeleteThe question that most of us ask now, arose before during the time of Muhammad s.a.w; preaching the words of God onto Arabia. Was Muhammad mentioned? This was the question by inhabitants of Arabia towards Jews that embraced Islam. And if we refer to the claim by past Jewish converts, they had quote verses from Isaiah 42.
ReplyDeleteIn passages of Isaiah. God address His chosen servants with their names, and in the prophesied verse we see God mention clearly the prophet’s name. **Some examples of God mentioning His servant by name.
(My Servant Isaiah, My Servant Eliakim, David My Servant, Jacob My Servant, My Servant Israel, and so in Isaiah 42:1 , God specifically mention My Servant Ahmad)
In Isaiah 42:1, it is deemed not a coincidence upon seeing the writing of both אתמך (Atmc) אחמד (Ahmd). And the word before אתמך (Atmc), is עבדי (Abdi~My Servant). For indeed, it is indicating Ahmad; Abdullah (Ahmad; Servant of God).
**Not to mention אתמך (Atmc) happen to be a special term foretelling the coming of a righteous man and is used only ONCE throughout the entire Book. [could this be a copying error or an intended error?]
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The prophecy Isaiah (42:1–17) tells about Ahmad; ‘Servant of God’ whom will war to correct the wrongs and bringing judgement based on the law of God. He will liberate act of worshiping molten images and thus Arabia (wilderness desert, villages and cities) will glorify God since then. **As can be seen today, Arabia are worshiping,praising God and singing words of God daily. Inhabitants from all around the world gather there and voice out loud their praise to God.
And we continue reading Isaiah (42:18–25); God remind the ‘blind and deaf’ about the wrath of God towards Children of Israel, whom neglect the message brought by past Servant of God.
And not to repeat; the same mistake upon the coming of the new Servant of God
Islam is a parody religion invented after the fact to justifry Arab conquests Mohammad was invented because the Arabs needed a prophet
ReplyDeleteNow this is the first time I've heard the theory that Mohammad (saws) was not a real person. I've heard the criticisms that Adam-Solomon and Jesus were not real people, but I've never heard someone say that Mohammad was not a real person. What's the evidence for this?
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