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)
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