The Qur'an states that

1.

"Jesus, son of Mary said ... 'I am indeed the Messenger of God to you, confirming the Torah that is before me and giving good tidings of a messenger who shall come after me whose name shall be Ahmad.'" (Sura 61:6).

Do we find any record thereof in the Bible?

Ahmed is a form of the name Mohammed, both meaning "the praised one". In the Greek tongue, we are told, this would be "periklytos". Now we find in John's Gospel, Chapter 14:16:

"I will pray the Father and He will give you another "parakletos", (Counsellor or comforter) to be with you for ever."

On the strength of the Qur'anic text, Muslims claim this verse to be a forgery perpetrated by Christians who intended thereby to camouflage the predicted coming of Mohammed, which to Muslims is so obviously predicted in the above text. We must state, however, that all manuscript texts of this Gospel of John, which contain the word 'parakletos' and not 'periklytos', date back to hundreds of years before the coming of Mohammed. Furthermore, the very next verse relates to us that the 'parakletos'

"is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You (the disciples of Jesus) know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." (My emphasis).

It should therefore be quite obvious that any interpretation that puts Mohammed in the place of the Holy Spirit is not in keeping with the facts.

2.

"And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death and he said, 'The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Mount Seir upon them; he shone forth from Mount Paran he came from ten thousands of holy ones: with flaming fire at his right hand. Yea, he loved His people; all those consecrated to him were in his hand: so they followed in thy feet, receiving direction from thee, when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the congregation of Jacob. Thus the Lord became King in Jeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together." (Deuteronomy 33:1-5).

Muslims often take the second verse of this text and claim that when the Lord came from Sinai, he came through Moses; when he rose up from Seir, he came in Jesus; and when he shone forth from Mount Paran and came with ten thousands of saints, he came in Mohammed. This study does not allow for an exegesis of this Scripture, but it is quite clear from the context that this text refers to Yahweh and not to Moses or anyone else! The Islamic interpretation of this verse is absurd. Besides, it is based on the error that Mount Paran is somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula not far from Mecca. Any student of Biblical geography knows that the two mountains (Seir and Sinai) and the highlands of Paran are in the Sinai Peninsula, about 1,000 km away from Mecca.

3.

Another Scripture that Muslims regard as a prophecy pertaining to Mohammed, is in the Gospel according to John 1:19:

"And this is a record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who art thou?' And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, 'I am not the Christ.' And they asked him, 'What then? Art thou Elias?' And he said, 'I am not.' 'Art thou that prophet?' And he answered, 'No.' Then they said unto him, 'Who art thou?' ... He said, 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.'"

Although Muslims decidedly reject any other part of the same chapter, which in no uncertain terms proclaims the divinity of Christ, they deem it fit to assume that "that prophet" or, as it actually says in the original "the prophet", was the expected Mohammed. Israel at that time was expecting a prophet, "the" prophet from God in the situation they lived in. He is the one announced in Deuteronomy 18:15ff:

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren - him you shall heed - just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the Lord said to me, 'They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him." (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

That this "prophet" is Jesus is clearly stated in Acts 3:17-23:

"And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.'"

In the mind of the Jews, however, "the prophet" was not the Messiah:

"when they heard these words, some of the people said, 'This is really the prophet.' Others said, 'This is the Christ.'" (John 7:40)."

'Who do men say that the Son of man is?' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'And who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.'" (Matthew 16:13-16).

Apart from anything else, the Pharisees, being part of the Chosen People, could not expect any Gentile to be the prophet that was to come. (See Deuteronomy 18:15): "The Lord will raise for you a prophet ... from among you" i.e. the Jews)

Therefore the Prophet is, without a doubt, the Messiah.

4.

The most popular of all alleged prophecies about Mohammed, is found in the book of Deuteronomy 18:15-22:

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brethren - him you shall heed - just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see his great fire anymore, lest I die.' And the Lord said to me, 'They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' - When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the Word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.'" (My emphasis).

The last part of this text needs much consideration: for Mohammed himself strongly indicates that he is the prophet referred to here (Suras 2:129,159; 3:81,164; 7:157).

The Islamic interpretation of the text in Deuteronomy, is as follows:

i.

Both Moses and Mohammed had to take flight at the hands of their enemies; each found a companion in his own father-in-law. Jethro had to solace his son-in-law, Moses, in the hour of his need (Exodus 18:14-26); but it was Mohammed, who comforted his companion in the cave.

ii.

Moses took shelter at Midian, which was later named Yathrib after his father-in-law, Jethro. Mohammed went to Yathrib, which later, after his flight, was renamed Medina. The flight of Moses proved beneficial to him under the direction of his father-in-law; whereas Mohammed's flight paved his way for the achievement of a series of glorious victories.

iii.

Moses was given a comprehensive code for his people; while Mohammed received a perfect code, complete in itself, for all people and for all times.

iv.

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you." Similarly, with the Muslims, the month and the year of the flight of Mohammed became the month and year of the beginning of Muslim era.

v.

Moses set his people free from the bondage of Pharaoh; Mohammed vanquished his enemies in a hand-to-hand fight and won their children to his faith.

vi.

The strivings of Moses entailed hardships and bloodshed; while those of Mohammed were directed at achieving religious emancipation

vii.

The Laws of Moses were aggressive, since he had wanted to secure Canaan, which fell to his successors; Mohammed had to carry on defensive wars and yet Arabia submitted to him in the end. and even Canaan came under the subjugation of his successors.

viii.

Moses sat to judge his people; Mohammed too, was a supreme judge of his people and even the Jews accepted him as such.

ix.

Moses preached for ten years at Midian; so did Mohammed in Medina .

x.

Moses was the law-giver, general and guide of his people; Mohammed too was a victorious general, a perfect guide for all people and a promulgator of an universal code, which was never to be abrogated.

xi.

A high tidal wave saved Moses from the Egyptians who were close upon him; but it was only a spiderweb which stood in good stead to Mohammed in a predicament.

xii.

When the companions of Moses saw the enemy, they cried out: "Surely we are being overtaken!" - to which Moses had to reply: "By no means, my Lord is with me. He will show me a way out." Mohammed's reply in a more precarious situation in the cave of Hira, was "Do not worry, surely Allah is with us." ("The Light" by al-Haj Sultan Hafiz Abdul, revised by Maulana Syed Zia-ud-Din Ahmad Gilani, pages 214-216).

We contend:

ii.

The Midian of the Bible is near Mount Sinai and not where Yethreb or, as it is known today, Medina, is situated;

vii.

We fail to grasp which aspects of Mohammed's warfare were defensive except, perhaps, in some instances. We do not know what the Muslims were defending in Spain or even in France, in India, northern Africa, Syria, Turkey and the Balkans. Did the writer really mean what he said when he used the word 'subjugation', which means "to put under a yoke"?

viii.

The Jews had little choice, but to accept Mohammed as Judge

ix.

Moses did not preach in Midian, for this is not a town. He was keeping sheep there. Besides, he did that for 40 years and not 10.

x.

We take the "universal code" to be the Qur'an. It is incorrect to state that no abrogations took place in it. We refer to Suras 16:101 and 2:106 and the entire theology behind "mansukh" and "nasikh" (Please read "Christians ask Muslims", pp. 11-15)

xi.

No tidal wave saved Moses from the Egyptians. The Jews went through an alley in the sea, the water standing like a wall on either side. After the Jews had gone through, the sea closed again, destroying the pursuing Egyptian army. (Exodus 14, Sura 2:50).

xii.

During the course of history many believers have acted similarly in situations of distress.

We should like to object to numbers i, ii, v, vi and xi, which do not bring out similarities, but rather contrasts.

Number iii is generally accepted in the Muslim world. But as Christians we challenge Muslims to substantiate the claim that the Qur'an is superior to the Bible. We should like to know precisely in which points it is better than the Bible or additions or extensions that improve the Qur'an in comparison with the Bible and - last but not least - which superior evidence to its truth is there and in what respect Mohammed was superior to Jesus.

But besides all this, the Biblical text itself, states clearly and distinctly, that the prophet would come from among you. This can only mean that the prophet had to be a Jew.

The argument that Muslims sometimes use, namely that the prophet had to come "from among their brethren" (i.e. the brother of Isaac was Ishmael, so he would come from the Ishmaelites) must be rejected, because "among you" could hardly refer to those outside the Covenant. However, since we are busy with a list of similarities between Moses and the prophet, let us consider another list:

a.

Moses and Christ were born in poverty (The Israelites being under subjugation to a foreign power). (Exodus 1:9-14).

b.

On both infants death was plotted. (Exodus 1:15-16,22, Matthew 2:13ff.).

c.

Both were rescued by divine intervention. (Exodus 2:2-10, Matthew 2:13ff.).

d.

Both were revealed by signs and wonders. (Exodus 7:10,19,20; chapters 8-12; 14:21-22; 17:6-7; Matthew 8:14ff; Luke 7:11; Matthew 14:13, etc.).

e.

Moses was prepared in the wilderness for forty years; Christ for forty days. (In Biblical symbolism forty stands for preparation). (Acts 7:23 with Exodus 7:7, Matthew 4:1 ff.).

f.

Both are called "faithful servant" in Scripture. (Hebrew 3:2-5).

g.

Moses liberated Israel from the bondage of their oppressors; Christ liberated believers from the bondage of sin (of which Egypt throughout the Bible is the type). (Exodus, Isaiah 53, John 8:32-36, Romans 6:18-22, 8:2, Galatians 5:1).

h.

The water was subject to the authority of both: (The Red Sea to Moses; the Sea of Galilee to Christ). (Exodus 14:21, 17:6, Matthew 14:22ff., John 6:16ff., Matthew 8:18).

i.

Moses spoke to God, "face to face"; so did Christ, on the Mount of Transfiguration. (Exodus 33:11, Matthew 17:3).

j.

After this experience, the face of Moses shone; and so did the whole appearance of Christ. (Exodus 34:29, Matthew 17:2).

k.

Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant (Testament); Christ of the New Covenant, or Testament. (Exodus 19 and 20, Hebrews 12:24).

l.

Both prophesied events that were fulfilled. (Deuteronomy 18:15-22, 28:15-29:67, Matthew 24).

m.

The Jews rebelled against both. (Exodus 5:21, 14:11-12, 17:2-4, Numbers 11:1-33, Luke 4:16-30, John 11:47-50, Matthew 26:50-56, 27:15-23 etc.).

n.

Both died because of sin - Moses for his own sin; Christ for the sin of the whole world. (Numbers 20:12, Deuteronomy 34:4-5, I Corinthians 15:3, John 1:29, 10:14-16, Isaiah 53, etc.).

o.

We have reason to believe that Moses rose again (Jude 9, Luke 9:30); Jesus Christ without doubt rose from the dead according to the Gospel. (Matthew 28:14, Luke 24:34, I Corinthians 15:4).

p.

The most important and anticipated event of the life of Moses happened after his death: the occupation of the Promised Land. And so it was with Christ: Christ, being the anti-type of Moses, secured new life for us by His death. (Romans 5:6-8, 8:34, I Corinthians 15:3,22, II Corinthians 5:15, I Thessalonians 5:9-10, etc.).

In conclusion, we may say that Moses produced water out of a rock and in the New Testament, we are told "That rock was Christ" and He said, "If any man thirst, let him come to me." (I Corinthians 10:4, John 7:37-38, 4:13-14).

There are other lesser "prophecies", which might be considered here, but we deem them too insignificant to be taken up. However, we should note that if a Muslim takes his stand upon the Bible because it contains prophecies regarding Mohammed and if he deems those prophecies to be proof of the truth of his claims, then by doing so he in effect confesses that the Bible exists free of corruption, otherwise he would be building on sand. (J. Christensen).

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