Rays from the Same Lamp
A natural question to ask someone who believes in any
prophet is: ‘What are the criteria for your belief in him?’ Reasonable
criteria would be:
(i) evidence for his claim.
(ii) consistency in his teachings (about God,
afterlife, and similar issues of belief)
(iii) similarity to the teachings of earlier
prophets.
(iv) integrity: he must be a man of high morals.
The Bible lends support to our criteria. The Old
Testament says of a false prophet:
1. Pretends to be sent by God.[1]
3. Prophesizes falsely,[6] lies in the name of the
Lord,[7] out of his own heart,[8] in
the name of false gods.[9]
4. Often practices divination and
witchcraft.[10]
5. Leads people into error,[11]
makes to forget God’s name,[12] teaches profaneness and
sin,[13]
and oppresses.[14]
The New Testament says of Jesus’ criteria to identify false
prophets:
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit.”[15]
We learn the following:
(i) prophecy will continue after Jesus.
(ii) beware of false prophets.
(iii) the criteria to identify a false prophet is his
fruits, that is his works or deeds.[16]
As stated earlier, Muhammad claimed unequivocally, ‘I am
God’s Messenger.’ If a person evaluates his claim on the above criteria,
he will find it meets the criteria completely.
In Islamic doctrine, all prophets constitute a spiritual
fraternity of brothers with a single ‘father,’ but different ‘mothers.’
The ‘father’ is prophethood and unity of God, the ‘mothers’ are the different
Laws they brought. Emphasizing the spiritual fraternity of all prophets,
Prophet Muhammad said:
“I am the closest of all people to the son of Mary
(Jesus). The prophets are paternal brothers, their mothers are different,
but their religion is one.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)
All prophets are ‘rays’ from the same ‘Lamp’: the central
message of all prophets throughout ages was to dedicate worship to God
only. That’s why Islam views denying a single prophet as equivalent to
denying them all. The Quran states:
“Indeed, those who deny God and His messengers, and wish to
separate God from His messengers, saying: ‘We believe in some but reject
others’ and want to pursue a path in-between - it is they, they who are truly
denying the truth: and for those who deny the truth We have readied shameful
suffering. But as for those who believe in God and His messengers and
make no distinction between any of them - unto them, in time, will He grant
their rewards [in full]. And God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of
grace.” (Quran 4:150-152)
Denying the prophethood of Muhammad is tantamount to denying
all prophets. The prophethood of Muhammad is known just like the
prophethood of Moses and Jesus is known: the numerous reports of their miracles
that have reached us. The Book brought by Muhammad (the Quran) is fully
preserved, and His Law is complete and applicable to today’s world. Moses
brought the Law and justice, Jesus brought grace and flexibility.
Muhammad combined between the Law of Moses and the grace of Jesus.
If someone were to say, ‘he was an imposter,’ others are
more fit to be charged with this accusation. Hence, denying Muhammad is
denying one’s own prophets. If a reasonable person looks at two bright
stars, he must acknowledge both are stars, he cannot say to one, ‘Yes, this one
is a bright star,’ but deny the other! Doing so would be denying reality
and a lie.
Make a table of all the prophets you believe in. Start
from the first one to the last one you believe in. Answer the following
questions:
What is the evidence I believe he was a true prophet?
What was the mission of the prophet in his own words?
Did he bring a Law? Is his Law applicable today?
What scripture did he bring? How is its content and
meaning?
Is the scripture preserved in the original language it was
revealed in? Is it considered a literary authority, free of internal
inconsistencies?
What do you know of his morals and integrity?
Compare all the prophets you have listed and then answer the
same questions about Muhammad. Then ask yourself, ‘Can I honestly take
Muhammad out of my list because he does not meet the criteria as other
prophets?’ It will not take too much effort to discover that the evidence
for Muhammad’s prophethood is stronger and more convincing.
A skeptic need consider what is so unusual about Muhammad’s
claim to be a prophet? When did God declare an end to prophecy before
him? Who decided that there would not be any more divine communication
with human beings? With no evidence to block divine revelation, it is
natural to accept a continuity of revelation:
“Indeed, We have sent you with the truth, as a bearer of
glad tidings and a Warner: for there never was any community but a Warner has
[lived and] passed away in its midst.” (Quran 35:24)
“And We sent forth Our messengers, one after another: [and]
every time their messenger came to a community, they gave him the lie: and so
We caused them to follow one another [into the grave], and let them become
[mere] tales: and so - away with the folk who would not believe!” (Quran 23:44)
This is true especially when the truth was perverted by Jews
and Christians, the Christians claiming Jesus was the son of God and Jews
calling him an illegitimate son of Joseph the Carpenter. Muhammad brought
the truth: Jesus was God’s noble prophet born of a miraculous virgin
birth. As a result, Muslims believe in Jesus and love him, neither going
to the extreme like the Christians, nor disparaging him like the Jews.
Footnotes:
[1] Jer
23:17,18,31
[2] Mic
3:11
[3] Isa
28:7
[4] Jer
23:11,14
[5] 1Ki
22:21,22
[6] Jer
5:31
[7] Jer
14:14
[8] Jer
23:16,26; Eze 13:2
[9] Jer
2:8
[10] Jer
14:14; Eze 22:28; Act 13:6
[11] Jer
23:13; Mic 3:5
[12] Jer
23:27
[13] Jer
23:14,15
[14] Eze
22:25
[15] Matthew
7:15-17 (King James Version)
[16] According
to ‘Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.’
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