Bible About Muhammad Essay Research Paper

"Say: ‘Do you see whether this message be from Allah (God Almighty), and

yet you reject it, and a witness from among the Children of Israel bore witness

of one like him.’ " (the Holy Quran 46:10) Mr. Chairman, Ladies and

Gentlemen, The subject of this evening’s talk – "What the Bible says about

Muhammad" will no doubt come as a surprise to many of you because the

speaker is a Muslim. How does it come about that a Muslim happens to be

expounding prophecies from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures? As a young man,

about 30 years ago, I attended a series of religious lectures by a Christian

theologian, a certain Rev. Hiten, at the "Theater Royal", Durban in

South Africa. Pope or Kissinger?: This Reverend gentleman was expounding

Biblical prophecies. He went on to prove that the Christian Bible foretold the

rise of Soviet Russia, and the Last Days. At one stage he went to the extent of

proving that his Holy Book did not leave even the Pope out of its predictions.

He expatiated vigorously in order to convince his audience that the Beast 666

mentioned in The Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, was the

Pope, who was the Vicar of Christ on earth. Christian scholars are ingenious and

indefatigable in their efforts to prove their case. Rev. Hiten’s lectures led me

to ask that if the Bible foretold so many things – not even excluding the

"Pope" and "Israel", – then surely it must have something to

say about the greatest benefactor of mankind, prophet Muhammad, may the peace of

Allah be upon him. As a youngster I set out to search for an answer. I met

priest after priest, attended lectures, and read everything that I could lay my

hands relating to the fields of Bible prophecies. Tonight I’m going to narrate

to you one of these interviews with a Dominee of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Lucky Thirteen : I was invited to the Transvaal (South Africa) to deliver a talk

on the occasion of the birthday of the prophet Muhammad. Knowing that in that

province of the Republic, the Afrikaans language is widely spoken, even by my

own people, I felt that I ought to acquire a smattering of this language so as

to feel a little "at home" with the people. I opened the telephone

directory and began phoning the Afrikaans-speaking Churches. I indicated my

purpose to the priests that I was interested in having a dialogue with them, but

they all refused my request with "plausible" excuses. No. 13 was my

lucky number. The thirteenth call brought me pleasure and relief. A Dominee Van

Heerden ("Dominee" is the Afrikaans equivalent of "priest")

agreed to meet me at his home on the Saturday afternoon that I was to leave for

Transvaal. He received me on his verandah with a friendly welcome. He said if I

did not mind, he would like his father-in- law from the Free State, a 70 year

old man, to join us in the discussion. I did not mind. The three of us settled

down in the Dominee’s library. Why Nothing? I posed the question: "What

does the Bible say about Muhammad?" Without hesitation he answered:

"Nothing!" I asked: "Why nothing? According to your

interpretation the Bible has so many things to say about the rise of Soviet

Russia and about the Last Days and even about the Pope of the Roman

Catholics?" He said: "Yes, but there was nothing about Muhammad!"

I asked again: "Why nothing? Surely this man Muhammad who had been

responsible for the bringing into being a world-wide community of millions of

believers who, on his authority, believe in: the miraculous birth of Jesus, that

Jesus is the Messiah, that he gave life to the dead by God’s permission, and

that he healed those born blind and the lepers by God’s permission. Surely this

book (the Bible) must have something to say about this great leader of men who

spoke so well of Jesus and his mother Mary?" The old man from the Free

State replied: "My son, I have been reading the Bible for the past 50

years, and if there was any mention of him, I would have known it." Not One

by Name! I inquired: "According to you, are there not hundreds of

prophecies regarding the coming of Jesus in the Old Testament." The Dominee

interjected: "Not hundreds, but thousands!" I said: "I am not

going to dispute the thousand and one prophecies in the Old Testament regarding

the coming of Jesus Christ, because the whole Muslim world has already accepted

him without the testimony of any Biblical prophecy. Muslims have accepted the de

facto Jesus on the authority of Muhammad alone, and there are in the world today

no less than 900,000,000 followers of Muhammad, who love, respect, and revere

Jesus Christ as a great Messenger of God without having the Christians to

convince them by means of Biblical dialectics. Out of the ‘thousands’ of

prophecies referred to, can you please give me just one single prophecy where

Jesus is mentioned by name? The term Messiah, translated as Christ, is not a

name but a title. Is there a single prophecy where it says that the name of the

Messiah will be Jesus, and that his mother’s name will be Mary, that his

supposed father will be Joseph the Carpenter; that he will be born in the reign

of Herod the King, etc? No! There are no such details! Then how can you conclude

that those ‘Thousand’ prophecies refer to Jesus, peace be upon him?" What

is Prophecy? The Dominee replies: "You see, prophecies are word pictures of

something that is going to happen in the future. When that thing actually comes

to pass, we see vividly in these prophecies the fulfillment of what had been

predicted in the past." I said: "What you actually do is that you

deduce, you reason, you put two and two together." He said:

"Yes." I said: "If this is what you have to do with a ‘thousand’

prophecies to justify your claim with regards to the genuineness of Jesus, why

should we not adopt the very same system for Muhammad?" The Dominee agreed

that it was a fair proposition, a reasonable way of dealing with the problem. I

asked him to open up Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 18, which he did. I read

from memory the verse in Afrikaans, because this was my purpose in having a

little practice with the language of the ruling race in South Africa. "N

Profeet sal ek vir hulle verwek uit die midde van hulle broers, soos jy is, en

ek sal my woorde in sy mond le, en hy sy sal aan hulle se alle wat ekhom beveel."

(Deut 18:18) The English translation reads as follows: "I will raise them

up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words

in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."

(Deut 18:18) Prophet Like Moses : Having recited the verse in Afrikaans, I

apologized for my uncertain pronunciation; the Dominee assured me that I was

doing fine. I inquired: "To whom does this prophecy refer?" Without

the slightest hesitation he answered: "Jesus!" I asked: "Why

Jesus? his name is not mentioned here" The Dominee replied: "Since

prophecies are word pictures of something that is going to happen in the future,

we find that the wordings of this verse adequately describe him. You see, the

most important words of this prophecy are ’soos jy is’, ‘like unto thee’, or

‘like you’ – like Moses; and Jesus is like Moses." I asked the Dominee:

"In which way is Jesus like Moses?" The answer was: "In the first

place Moses was a Jew and Jesus was also a Jew; secondly, Moses was a Prophet

and Jesus was also a Prophet – therefore Jesus is like Moses and that is exactly

what God had foretold Moses – ’soos jy is’." "Can you think of any

other similarities between Moses and Jesus?" I asked. The Dominee said that

he could not think of any. I replied: "If these are the only two criteria

for discovering a candidate for this prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18, then in that

case the criteria could fit any one of the following Biblical personages after

Moses:- Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Malachi, John the Baptist

etc., because they were also all Jews as well as Prophets. Why should we not

apply this prophecy to any one of these prophets, and why only to Jesus?"

The Dominee had no reply. I continued: "You see, my conclusions are that

Jesus is most unlike Moses, and if I am wrong I would like you to correct

me." Three Unlike : So staying, I reasoned with him: "In the first

place Jesus is not like Moses, because, according to you, Jesus is God, but

Moses is not God, is this true?" He said: "Yes." I said:

"Therefore Jesus is not like Moses!". "Secondly, according to

you, Jesus died for the sins of the world, but Moses did not have to die for the

sins of the world. Is this true?" He again said: "Yes." I said:

"Therefore Jesus is not like Moses!". "Thirdly, according to you,

Jesus went to Hell for three days, but Moses did not have to go there. Is this

true?" He answered meekly: "Y-e-s!" I concluded: "Therefore

Jesus is not like Moses!". "But Dominee,.." I continued:

"..these are not hard, solid facts, they are mere matters of belief over

which the little ones can stumble and fall. Let us discuss something very

simple, very easy that if the little ones are called in to hear the discussion,

would have no difficulty following it, shall we?" The Dominee was quiet

happy at the suggestion. Father and Mother "Moses had a father and a

mother. Muhammad also had a father and a mother. But Jesus had only a mother,

and no human father. Is this true?" He said: "Yes." I said:

"Daarom is Jesus nie soos Moses nie, maar Muhammad is soos Moses!"

Meaning: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like

Moses!" (By now the reader will realize that I was using the Afrikaans

language only for practice purposes. I shall discontinue its use in this

narration). Miraculous Birth "Moses and Muhammad were born in the normal,

natural course, i.e. the physical association of man and woman; but Jesus was

created by a special miracle. You will recall that we are told in the Gospel of

St. Matthew 1:18 "..before they came together, (Joseph the Carpenter and

Mary) she was found with child by the Holy Ghost." And St. Luke tells us

that when the good news of the birth of a holy son was announced to her, Mary

reasoned: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel

answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power

of the highest shall overshadow thee"(Luke 1:35). The Holy Quran confirms

the miraculous birth of Jesus, in nobler and sublimer terms. In answer to her

logical question: ‘O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched

me?’ The angel says in reply: ‘Even so, Allah createth what He willeth: when He

hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it ‘Be’, and it is’ (the Holy Quran, 3:47).

It is not necessary for God to plant a seed in man or animal. He merely wills it

and it comes into being. This is the Muslim conception of the of birth of Jesus.

(When I compared the Quran and the Biblical versions of the birth of Jesus to

the head of the Bible Society in our largest city, and when I inquired:

"Which version would you prefer to give your daughter, the Quranic version

or the Biblical version?" The man bowed his head and answered: "The

Quranic.")(see Christ in Islam for the author). In short, I said to the

Dominee: "Is it true that Jesus was born miraculously as against the

natural birth of Moses and Muhammad?" He replied proudly: "Yes!"

I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses. And

God says to Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy 18:18 ‘Like unto thee’, ‘Like You’,

like Moses and Muhammad is like Moses." Marriage Ties "Moses and

Muhammad married and had children, but Jesus remained a bachelor all his life.

Is this true?" The Dominee said: "Yes." I said: "Therefore

Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses." Jesus Rejected by his

People "Moses and Muhammad were accepted as prophets by their people in

their very lifetime. No doubt the Jews gave endless trouble to Moses and they

murmured in the wilderness, but as a nation, they acknowledged that Moses was a

Messenger of God sent to them. The Arabs too made Muhammad’s life impossible. He

suffered very badly at their hands. After 13 years of preaching in Mecca, he had

to emigrate from the city of his birth. But before his demise, the Arab nation

as a whole accepted him as the Messenger of Allah. But according to the Bible,

"He (Jesus) Came unto his own, but his own revived him not" (John

1:11). And even today, after two thousand years, his people, the Jews, as a

whole, have rejected him. Is this true?" The Dominee said: "Yes."

I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is like

Moses." "Other Worldly" Kingdom "Moses and Muhammad were

prophets as well as kings. A prophet means a man who receives Divine Revelation

for the Guidance of man and this Guidance he conveys to God’s creatures as

received without any addition or deletion. A king is a person who has the power

of life and death over his people. It is immaterial whether the person wears a

crown or not, or whether he was ever addressed as king or monarch: if the man

has the prerogative of inflicting capital punishment, he is a king. Moses

possessed such a power. Do you remember the Israelite who was found picking up

firewood on Sabbath Day, and Moses had him stoned to death? (Numbers 15:13).

There are other crimes also mentioned in the Bible for which capital punishment

was inflicted on the Jews at the behest of Moses. Muhammad too, had the power of

life and death over his people. There are instances in the Bible of persons who

were given gift of prophecy only, but they were not in a position to implement

their directives. Some of these holy men of God who were helpless in the face of

stubborn rejection of their message, were the prophets Lot, Jonah, Daniel, Ezra,

and John the Baptist. They could only deliver the message, but could not enforce

the Law. Prophet Jesus, peace be upon him, also belonged to this category. The

Christian Gospel clearly confirms this. When Jesus was dragged before the Roman

Governor, Pontius Pilate, charged for sedition, Jesus made a convincing point in

his defense to refute the false charge: Jesus answered: "My Kingdom is not

of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,

that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my Kingdom not from

hence" (John 18:36). This convinced Pilate (a pagan) that though Jesus

might not be in full possession of his mental faculty, he did not strike him as

being a danger to his rule. Jesus claimed a spiritual Kingdom only; in other

words he only claimed to be a prophet. Is this true?" The Dominee answered:

"Yes." I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is

like Moses." No New Laws "Moses and Muhammad brought new laws and new

regulations for their people. Moses not only gave the Ten Commandments to the

Israelites, but a very comprehensive ceremonial law for the guidance of his

people. Muhammad comes to a people steeped in ignorance. They married their

step-mothers and buried their daughters alive; drunkenness, idolatry, and

gambling were the order of the day. There was hardly anything to distinguish

between the ‘man’ and the ‘animal’ of the time. From this abject ignorance,

Muhammad elevated the Arabs, in the words of Thomas Carlysle, ‘Into

torch-bearers of light and learning. To the Arab nation it was as a birth from

darkness into light. Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd

people, roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world. See,

the unnoticed becomes world notable, the small has grown world-great. Within one

century afterwards Arabia was at Granada on one hand and at Delhi on the other.

Glancing in valor and splendor, and the light of Genius, Arabia shines over

section of the world..’. The fact is that Muhammad gave his people a Law and

Order they never had before. As regards Jesus, when the Jews felt suspicious of

him that he might be an impostor with designs to pervert their teachings. Jesus

took pains to assure them that he had not come with a new religion – no new laws

and no new regulations. I quote his own words: "Think not that I am come to

destroy the law of the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For

verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot of one title shall in

no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.’ (Mathew 5:17-18). In other

words he had not come with any new laws or regulation he came only to fulfill

the old law. This what he gave the Jews to understand unless he was speaking

with the tongue in his cheek trying to bluff the Jews into accepting him as a

man of God and by subterfuge trying to ram a new religion down their throats.

No! This Messenger of God would never resort to such foul means to subvert the

Religion of God. He himself fulfilled the laws. He observed the commandments of

Moses, and he respected the Sabbath. At no time did a single Jew point a finger

at him to say: ‘"Why don’t you fast’ or ‘why don’t you wash your hands

before you break bread’, which charges they always levied against his disciples,

but never against Jesus. This is because as a good Jew he honored the laws of

the prophets who preceded him. In short, he had created no new religion and had

brought no new law like Moses and Muhammad." "Isn’t this true?" I

asked the Dominee, and he answered: "Yes." I said: "Therefore,

Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses." How they Departed

"Both Moses and Muhammad died natural deaths, but according to

Christianity, Jesus was killed on the cross. Is this true?" The Dominee

said: "Yes." I averred: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but

Muhammad is like Moses." Heavenly Abode "Moses and Muhammad both lie

buried in earth, but according to you, Jesus is in heaven. Is this true? The

Dominee agreed. I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is

like Moses." Ishmael the First Born Since the Dominee was helplessly

agreeing with every point, I said: "Dominee, so far what I have done is to

prove only one point out of the whole prophecy – that is proving the phrase

‘Like unto thee’ – ‘Like You’, like Moses’. The Prophecy is much more than this

single phrase which reads as follows: ‘I will raise them up a prophet from among

their bretheren like unto thee..’ The emphasis is on the words "From among

their brethren." Moses and his people, the Jews, are here addressed as a

racial entity, as a whole, and as such their brethren would undoubtedly be the

Arabs. Abraham had two wives, Sarah and Hagar. Hagar bore Abraham a son, his

first born, ‘..and Abraham called his son’s name, which Hagar bare Ishmael.’

(Genesis 16:15). ‘And Abraham took Ishmael his son..’ (Genesis 17:23). ‘And

Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of

his foreskin.’ (Genesis 17:25). Up to the age of thirteen Ishmael was the only

son of Abraham, then God grants him another son through Sarah, named Isaac, who

was very much the junior to his brother Ishmael. Arabs and Jews If Ishmael and

Isaac are the sons of the same father Abraham, then they are brothers. And so

the children of the one are the bretheren of the children of the other. The

children of Isaac are the Jews and the children of Ishmael are the Arabs – so

they are bretheren to one another. The Bible affirms: ‘And he (Ishmael) shall

dwell in the presence of all his bretheren.’ (Genesis 16:12). ‘And he (Ishmael)

died in the presence of all his bretheren." (Genesis 25:18). The children

of Isaac are the brethren of the Ishmaelites. In like manner Muhammad is from

among the brethren of the Israelites because he was a descendant of Ishmael the

son of Abraham. This exactly as the prophecy has it – "From among their

bretheren" (Deut.18:18). There the prophecy distinctly mentions that the

coming prophet who would be like Moses, must arise not from the Children of

Israel nor from among themselves, but from among their brethren. Muhammad

therefore was among their bretheren! Words in the Mouth The prophecy proceeds

further: ‘..And I will put my words into his mouth..’ What does it mean when it

is said ‘I will put my words in your mouth’? You see, when I asked you (the

Dominee) to open Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 18, at the beginning, and if I

had asked you to read, and if you had read, would I be putting my words into

your mouth? The Dominee answered: "No." But, I continued: "If I

were to teach you a language like Arabic, about which you have no knowledge, and

if I asked you to read or repeat after me what I utter i.e. "Say: ‘He is

Allah the One and Only; Allah, the eternal absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He

begotten; and there is none like unto Him.’ (the Holy Quran 112:1-4) (I read

them in Arabic). Would I not be putting these unheard words of a foreign tongue

which you utter, into your mouth?" The Dominee agreed that it was indeed

so. "In an identical manner", I said: "The words of the Holy

Quran, the Revelation vouchsafed by the Almighty God to Muhammad, were revealed.

History tells us that when Muhammad was forty years of age he was in a cave some

three miles north of the City of Mecca. In the cave the Archangel Gabriel

commands him in his mother tongue: ‘Eqra!’, which means ‘Read!’, or ‘Recite!’

Muhammad was terrified, and in his bewilderment replied that he was not

learned!. The angel commands him a second time with the same result. For the

third time the angel continues. Now Muhammad, grasps that what was required of

him was to repeat! to rehearse! And he repeats the words as they were put into

his mouth: ‘Read! In the Name of the Lord and Cherisher, Who Created. Created

man from a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Read! and thy Lord is the Most

Bountiful, He Who taught (the use of) the pen, taught man that which he new

not". (the Holy Quran 96:1-5). These are the first five verses which were

revealed to Muhammad, which now occupy the beginning of the 96th chapter of the

Holy Quran. The Faithful Witness When the angel departed, Muhammad rushed to his

home. Terrified and sweating all over he asked his wife Khadija to ‘cover-him

up!’ He lay down, and she watched by him. When he had regained his composure, he

explained to her what he had seen and heard. She assured him of her faith in him

and that Allah would not allow any terrible thing to happen to him. Are these

the confessions of an impostor? Would impostors confess that when an angel of

the Lord confronts them with a Message from on High, they get fear-stricken,

terrified, and sweating all over, run home to their wives? Any critic can see

that his reactions and confessions are that of an honest, sincere man. During

the next twenty three years of his life, words were ‘put into his mouth’, and he

uttered them. They made an indelible impression on his heart and mind; and as

the volume of the Sacred Scripture, the Holy Quran, grew, they were recorded on

palm-leaf libre, on skins; and in the hearts of his devoted disciples. Before

his demise these words were arranged according to his instructions in the order

in which we find them today in the Holy Quran. The words (revelation) were

actually put into his mouth, exactly as foretold in the prophecy under

discussion: "And I will put my words in his mouth." (Deut 18:18).

Unlettered Prophet Muhammad’s experience in the Cave of Hira, and his response

to that first Revelation is the exact fulfillment of another Biblical Prophecy.

In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 12, we read: ‘And the Book is delivered

to him that is not learned’ (Isaiah 29:12). ‘The Unlettered prophet’ (the Holy

Quran 7:158). And the Biblical verse continues: ‘Saying, read this, I pray

thee:’ ‘And he saith, I am not learned.’. ‘I am not learned.’ is the exact

translation of the Arabic words which Muhammad uttered twice to the Holy Spirit,

the Archangel Gabriel, when he was commanded: ‘Read!’). Let me quote the verse

in full without a break as found in the King James Version, or the Authorised

Version as it is more popularly know: ‘And the Book is delivered to him that is

no learned, saying: ‘Read this I pray thee’. And he saith: ‘I am not learned.’ ‘

(Isaiah 29:12). Important note : It may be noted that there were no Arabic

Bibles in existence in the 6th century of the Christian Era when Muhammad lived

and preached. Besides, he was absolutely unlettered and unlearned. He never knew

how to read and write Arabic, his own language, let alone knowing a completely

different one. ‘He does not speak (aught) of (his own) desire: It is no less

than inspiration sent down to him. He was taught by One Mighty in Power’ (the

Holy Quran 53:3-5). Without any human learning, ‘he put to shame the wisdom of

the learned’. Grave Warning "See!" I told the Dominee, "how the

prophecies fit Muhammad like a glove. We do not have to stretch prophecies to

justify their fulfillment in Muhammad." The Dominee replied, "All your

expositions sound very well, but they are of no real consequence, because we

Christians have Jesus Christ the incarnate God, who has redeemed us from the

Bondage of Sin!" I asked: "Not important? God didn’t think so! He had

His warnings recorded in the scriptures. God knew that there would be people

like you who will light-heartedly discount His words, so He followed up

Deuteronomy 18:18 with a dare warning: ‘And it shall come to pass (it is going

to happen), that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak

in My Name, I will require if of him.’ (In the Catholic Bible the ending words

are ‘I will be the revenger’, ‘I will take revenge!’). "Does not this

terrify you? God Almighty is threatening revenge! We shake in our pants if some

hoodlum threatens us, yet you have no fear of God’s warning?" Miracle of

Miracles! in the verse 19 of Deuteronomy chapter 18, we have a further

fulfillment of the prophecy in Muhammad! Note the words ‘..My words which he

shall speak in My Name’. In whose name is Muhammad speaking?" I opened

Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Holy Quran, at chapter 114, Surat An-Nas, or The

Chapter of Mankind, the last chapter of the Quran, and showed him the formula at

the head of the chapter, and the meaning: ‘In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,

Most Merciful’. And the heading of chapter 113, and the meaning: ‘In the Name of

Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful’. And every chapter downwards 112, 111,

110,..was the same formula and the same meaning on every page, because the end

surahs (chapters) are short and take about a page each. And what did the

prophecy demand? ‘..Which he shall speak in My Name’; and in whose name does

Muhammad speak? In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. The Prophecy

is being fulfilled in Muhammad to the letter; every chapter of the Holy Quran

except the 9th begin with the formula: ‘In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,

Most Merciful’. The Muslim begins his every lawful act with the Holy formula.

But the Christian begins: ‘In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.’

Concerning Deuteronomy chapter eighteen, I have given you more than 15 reasons

as to how this prophecy refers to Muhammad and not to Jesus. Baptist Contradicts

Jesus In New Testament times, we find that the Jews were still expecting the

fulfillment of the prophecy of One like Moses, refer John 1:19-25. When Jesus

claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, the Jews began to esquire as to where was

Elias? The Jews had a parallel prophecy that before the coming of the Messiah,

Elias must come first in his second coming. Jesus confirms this Jewish belief:

"Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you,

that Elias is come already, and they knew him not,.. then the Disciples

understood that he spoke unto them of John the Baptist." (Mathew 17:11-13).

According to the New Testament the Jews were not the ones to swallow the words

of any would-be Messiah. In their investigations they underwent intense

difficulties in order to find their true Messiah. And this the Gospel of John

confirms: "And this is the record of John (the Baptist), 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’ " (This was only

natural because there can’t be two Messiahs at the same time. If Jesus was the

Christ then John couldn’t be the Christ!) "And they asked him: ‘What then?

Art thou Elias?’ And he saith: ‘I am not’ " Here John the Baptist

contradicts Jesus! Jesus says that John is Elias and John denies that he is what

Jesus ascribes him to be. One of the two (Jesus or John), God forbid!, is

definitely not speaking the truth! On the testimony of Jesus himself, John the

Baptist was the greatest of the Israelite prophets: "Verily I say unto you,

among them that are born of women, there has not risen a greater than John the

Baptist" (Matthew 11:11). We Muslims know John the Baptist as Yahya. We

revere him as a true prophet of Allah. The Holy Prophet Jesus known to us as

Eesa, is also esteemed as one of the mightiest messenger of the Almighty. How

can we Muslims impute lies to either of them? We leave this problem between

Jesus and John for the Christians to solve, for their "Sacred Scriptures

abound in discrepancies which they have been glossing over as the ‘dark sayings

of Jesus’ " (See the Times Magazine December 30th, 1974, article How true

is the Bible?). We Muslims are really interested in the last questions posed to

John the Baptist by the Jewish elite – Art thou that prophet? And he answered,

"No."(John 1:21). Three Questions! Please note that three different

and distinct questions were posed to John the Baptist, and to which he gave

three emphatic No’s as answers. To recapitulate: "Art thou the

Christ?" "Art thou Elias ?" "Art thou that Prophet?"

But the learned men of Christendom somehow only see two questions implied here.

To make doubly clear that the Jews definitely had three separate prophecies in

their minds when they were interrogating John the Baptist. Let us read the

remonstrance of the Jews in the verses following: "And they asked him, and

said unto him: ‘Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ.. nor

Elias.. neither that Prophet ?’ " (John 1:25). The Jews were waiting for

the fulfillment of three distinct prophecies: a. the coming of Christ. b. the

coming of Elias, and c. the coming of that Prophet. "That Prophet" If

we look up any Bible which has a concordance or cross-references, then we will

find in the marginal note where the words the Prophet, or that Prophet occur in

John 1:25, that these words refer to the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18.

And that that Prophet – the Prophet like Moses – "Like unto thee", we

have proved through overwhelming evidence that he was Muhammad and not Jesus!

Muslims are not denying that Jesus was the Messiah, which word is translated as

Christ. We are not contesting the Thousand and One Prophecies which the

Christians claim abound in the Old Testament foretelling the coming of the

Messiah. What we say is that Deuteronomy 18:18 does not refer to Jesus Christ

but it is an explicit prophecy about the prophet Muhammad!." The Dominee,

very politely parted with me by saying that it was a very interesting discussion

and he would like me very much to come one day and address his congregation on

the subject. A decade and half has passed since then but I am still awaiting

that privilege. I believe the Dominee was sincere when he made the offer, but

prejudices die hard, and who would like to loose his sheep? The Acid Test To the

Lambs of Christ I say, why not apply that acid test which the Master himself

wanted you to apply to any would be claimant to prophethood? He had said:

"By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes from the thorns,

of figs from the thistles? Every good tree will bear good fruit and every evil

tree will bear evil fruit… By their fruits ye shall know them". (Mathew

7:16-20). Why are you afraid to apply this test to the teachings of Muhammad?

You will find in the Last Testament of God, the Holy Quran, the true fulfillment

of the teachings of Moses and Jesus which will bring to the world the much

needed peace and happiness. George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying: "If a

man like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would

succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and

happiness." The weekly news magazine Time dated July 15, 1974, carried a

selection of opinions by various historians, writers, military men, businessmen

an others on the subject: "Who were History’s Great Leaders?" Some

said that it was Hitler; others said Gandhi, Buddha, Lincoln and the like. But

Jules Masserman, a United States psychoanalyst, put the standards straight by

giving the correct criteria wherewith to judge. He said: "Leaders must

fulfill three functions: Provide for the well-being of the led, Provide a social

organization in which people feel relatively secure, and Provide them with one

set of beliefs." With the above three criteria he searches history and

analyses Hitler, Pasteur, Gaesar, Moses, Confucius and the lot, and ultimately

concludes: "People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first sense.

People like Ghandi and Confucius, on one hand, and Alexander, Caesar, and Hitler

on the other, are leaders in the second, and perhaps the third sense. Jesus and

Buddha belong in the third category alone. Perhaps the greatest leader of all

times was Muhammad, who combined all three functions. To a lesser degree, Moses

did the same." According to the objective standards set by the professor of

the Chicago University, Jesus and Buddha are nowhere in the picture of the

"Great Leaders of Mankind", but by a queer coincidence groups Moses

and Muhammad together, thus adding further weight to the argument that Jesus is

not like Moses, but Muhammad is like Moses. Deut 18:18 "Like unto

thee", like Moses! In conclusion, I end with a quotation of a Christian

Reverend the commentator of the Bible, followed by that of his Master: "The

ultimate criterion of a true prophet is the moral character of his

teaching." (Prof. Dummelow). "By their fruits ye shall know

them." (Jesus Christ) A concluding suggestion : come let us reason

together! "Say: ‘O People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us

and you: that we worship none but Allah (God); that we associate no partners

with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, lords and patrons other than

Allah (God)’. If then they turn back, say: ‘Bear witness that we (at least) are

Muslims (Bowing to God’s Will).’ " (the Holy Quran 3:64) People of the Book

is the respectful title given to the Jews and the Christians in the Holy Quran.

The Muslims are here commanded to invite, O People of the Book!, O Learned

People!, O People who claim to be the recipients of Divine Revelation, of a Holy

Scripture; let us gather together onto a common platform, "that we worship

none but Allah (God)", because none but God is worthy of worship, not

because "The Lord thy God is a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the

fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate

Me." (Exodus 20:25). But because He is our Lord and Cherisher, our

Sustainer and Evolver, worthy of all praise, prayer and devotion. In the

abstract the Jews and the Christians would agree to all the three propositions

contained in this Quranic verse. In practice they fail. Apart from doctrinal

lapses from the unity of the One True God, Allah, may He be praised, there is

the question of a consecrated Priesthood (among the Jews it was hereditary

also), as if a mere human being – Cohen or Pope, or Priest, or Brahuman, – could

claim superiority apart from his learning and the purity of his life, or could

stand between man and God in some special sense. Islam does not recognize

priesthood!. The Creed of Islam is given to us here in a nutshell from Holy

Quran: "Say ye: ‘We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and

to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes (of the Children of Israel),

And that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their

Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah

(in Islam).’ " (the Holy Quran 2:136). The Muslim position is clear. The

Muslim does not claim to have a religion peculiar to himself. Islam is not a

sect or an ethnic religion. In its view all religion is one, for the Truth is

one: "It was the same religion preached by all the earlier prophets."

(the Holy Quran 42:13). It was the truth taught by all the inspired Books. In

essence it amounts to a consciousness of the Will and Plan of God and a joyful

submission to that Will and Plan. If anyone wants a religion other than that, he

is false to his own nature, as he is false to God’s Will and Plan. Such a one

cannot expect guidance, for he has deliberately renounced guidance.