_001.jpg)
Preliminary Issues
The Bible is the sacred
scripture of Judaism and Christianity. The Christian Bible consists of
the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the Roman Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox versions of the Old Testament being slightly larger because of their
acceptance of certain books not accepted as scripture by Protestants. The
Jewish Bible includes only the books known to Christians as the Old
Testament. Furthermore, the arrangements of the Jewish and Christian
canons differ considerably.[1]
Prophet Muhammad has been prophesized in both the Old Testament and the New
Testament.
Jesus and the Apostles are believed to have spoken
Aramaic. Aramaic continued in wide use until about AD 650, when it was
supplanted by Arabic.[2]
The present day Bible is not, however, based on the Aramaic manuscripts, but on
Greek and Latin versions.
Quoting the Bible prophecies does not entail that Muslims
accept the present day Bible in its entirety as God’s revelation. For the
Islamic belief on previous scriptures, please click here.
It is not a pre-condition of acceptance that a prophet
be foretold by an earlier prophet. Moses was a prophet to Pharaoh even
though he was not prophesized by anyone before him. Abraham was God’s
prophet to Nimrod, yet no one prophesized his coming. Noah, Lot , and others were true prophets of God, yet they were
not foretold. The evidence of a prophet’s truth is not limited to old
prophecies, but it includes the actual message brought by him, miracles and
more.
Discussing prophecies is a delicate matter. It
requires sifting through Bible versions and translations, recently discovered
manuscripts and searching out Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic words and
investigating them. The task becomes especially difficult when: “prior to
the printing press (15th century), all copies of Bibles show textual
variations.”[3] This
is not an easy subject for lay people. For this reason, the best
testimony comes from ancient and modern experts in the area who acknowledged
the prophecies.
We have records of early Jews and Christians, both monks and
rabbis, who witnessed that Muhammad was the fulfillment of specific Bible
prophecies. The following are some examples of these people.
The Awaited Prophet
Pre-Islam Jews and Christians of Arabia were awaiting a
prophet. Before the appearance of Muhammad, Arabia
was home to Jews, Christians, and pagan Arabs who, on occasion, went to war
with each other. The Jews and Christians would say: “The time has come
for the unlettered prophet to appear who will revive the religion of
Abraham. We will join his ranks and wage fierce war against you.”
When Muhammad actually appeared, some of them believed in him, and some
refused. This is why God revealed:
“And when there came to them a Book [Quran] from God
confirming that which was with them – although before they used to pray for
victory against those who disbelieved – but [then] when there came to them that
which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of God will be upon
the disbelievers.” (Quran 2:89)
The first witness was Buhaira, the Christian monk, who
recognized Muhammad’s prophethood when he was still young and told his uncle:
“…a great fortune lies before your nephew, so take him
home quickly.”[4]
The second witness was Waraqah bin Nawfal, a Christian
scholar who died soon after a solitary meeting with Muhammad. Waraqah
attested Muhammad was the Prophet of his time and received revelation exactly
like Moses and Jesus.[5]
The Jews of Medina were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a
prophet. The third and fourth witnesses were their two famous Jewish
rabbis, Abdullah bin Salam and Mukhayriq.[6]
The sixth and seventh witnesses were also Yemeni Jewish
rabbis, Wahb ibn Munabbih, and Ka’b al-Ahbar (d. 656 CE). Ka’b found long
passages of praise and the description of the Prophet prophesized by
Moses in the Bible.[7]
The Quran states:
“Is it not a sign to them that the learned men of the
Children of Israel knew it (as true)?” (Quran 26:197)
Footnotes:
[1] “Bible.” Encyclopædia
Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9079096)
[2] “Aramaic language.”
Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9009190)
[3] “biblical literature.”
Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-73396)
[4] ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the
Earliest Sources’ by Martin Lings, p. 29. ‘Sirat Rasul Allah’ by Ibn Ishaq
translated by A. Guillame, p. 79-81. ‘The Quran And The Gospels: A Comparative
Study,’ p. 46 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of Azhar University
[5] ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the
Earliest Sources’ by Martin Lings, p. 35.
[6] ‘The Quran And The Gospels: A
Comparative Study,’ p. 47 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of Azhar University
[7] ‘The Quran And The Gospels: A
Comparative Study,’ p. 47-48 by Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah of Azhar University
I like this article very much
ReplyDelete