Muhammad in the Bible
Could he be the
"Paraklytos"?
By: Yusuf Estes (Former
Christian Preacher)
More than fourteen centuries have passed since the prophet of
Arabia made claim to being the last and final 'messenger and slave'
of Allah. Yet the intensity of discussion amongst scholars from all
religions seems to have increased over the years and gained in
velocity in the last few years more so than ever before.
Who was this man?, What do his followers believe about him?, How
can others understand their undying devotion to his mission?, What
do the scholars tell us about this man, Muhammad, peace be upon
him, and his 'message' to the world?
For more than fourteen centuries scholars from Judaism,
Christianity and Islam have been discussing whether or not the
prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, could have indeed, been a true
prophet from Almighty God.
Was he the long awaited 'Messiah' the Jews have been waiting for so
many centuries?
Was he the one prophesied in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah,
calling in the wilderness?
Was he 'That Prophet' mentioned in the New Testament Gospel of
John?
We would like to share some of the findings of these scholars from
their own sources and invite the reader to consider these
evidences.
The most recent claim of revelation coming from the God of Abraham,
Moses, David and Jesus, peace be upon them, is the claim of
Muhammad, peace be upon him, regarding the Quran. The Quran makes
the claim, Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the 'slave and
messenger' of Almighty God.
But more importantly pertaining to our subject at hand, the Quran
makes the claim that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is mentioned by
name in the previous revelations (meaning the Bible). Can this
claim be substantiated?
Let us begin by examining the statement in the Quran contained in
the 61st chapter (As-Saff [the ranks]), verse 6:
{وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ
يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقاً
لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّراً بِرَسُولٍ
يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ}
Transliteration: Wa 'Idh Qāla `Īsaá Abnu Maryama Yā Banī
'Isrā'īla 'Innī Rasūlu Allāhi 'Ilaykum Muşaddiqāan Limā Bayna
Yadayya Mina At-Tawrāati Wa Mubashshirāan Birasūlin Ya'tī Min Ba`dī
Asmuhu 'Aĥmadu
Translation: And when Jesus said; "O Children of Israel! I am the
apostle of God (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came)
before me, and giving glad tidings of an apostle to come after me,
whose name shall be Ahmad." [Holy Quran 61:6].
Please take notice of the name mentioned, 'Ahmad'. This is one of
the most common of several names given to the prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him, by his own people.
Now let us turn to the Old Testament (Torah of the Jews) and notice
the book called Songs of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 16:
His mouth is very sweet;
he is totally desirable. 33
This is my beloved!
This is my companion, O maidens of Jerusalem!
Check the footnote (33) to discover what the word was BEFORE it was
translated as "totally desirable" and in some versions of the
translations we find, "altogether lovely."
(makhmaddim, "desirable") is the plural form of the noun (makhmad,
"desire, desirable thing, precious object"; (see below note
#33)
It is asserted that this word "Makhmaddim" is in reality the word
"Akhmad" or "AHmad". The reason for the emphasis on the "kh" sound
is to prounouce the very hard "H" sound of the two types of "h" in
the Semetic languages.
There is a word used in a passage of the New Testament of the
Bible, located in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 16, that
many Muslim scholars refer to as pointing to the prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him. Let us review it and then observe what
non-Muslim scholars comment about it.
14:15 "If you love me, you will obey 34 my commandments. 35
14:16 Then 36 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
Advocate 37 to be with you forever-
14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,38 because
it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he
resides39 with you and will be40 in you.
Old Testament Song of Solomon 5:16
note 33tn
The term (makhmaddim, "desirable") is the plural form of the noun
dm^j=m^ (makhmad, "desire, desirable thing, precious object"; HALOT
570 s.v. 1; BDB 326 s.v.). Like the plural ("sweetness") in the
preceding parallel line, this use of the plural is probably an
example of the plural of intensity: "very desirable."
34tn Or "will keep."
35sn Jesus' statement If you love me, you will obey my commandments
provides the transition between the promises of answered prayer
which Jesus makes to his disciples in vv. 13-14 and the promise of
the Holy Spirit which is introduced in v. 16. Obedience is the
proof of genuine love.
36tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as "Then" to reflect the
implied sequence in the discourse.
37tn Or "Helper" or "Counselor"; Grk "Paraclete," from the Greek
word paravklhto" (paraklhto"). Finding an appropriate English
translation for paravklhto" is a very difficult task. No single
English word has exactly the same range of meaning as the Greek
word. "Comforter," used by some of the older English versions,
appears to be as old as Wycliffe. But today it suggests a quilt or
a sympathetic mourner at a funeral. "Counselor" is adequate, but
too broad, in contexts like "marriage counselor" or "camp
counselor." "Helper" or "Assistant" could also be used, but could
suggest a subordinate rank. "Advocate," the word chosen for this
translation, has more forensic overtones than the Greek word does,
although in John 16:5-11 a forensic context is certainly present.
Because an "advocate" is someone who "advocates" or supports a
position or viewpoint and since this is what the Paraclete will do
for the preaching of the disciples, it was selected in spite of the
drawbacks.
38tn Or "cannot receive."
39tn Or "he remains."
40tc Some early and important witnesses (ج66* B D* W 1 565 it) have
ejstin (estin, "he is") instead of e[stai (estai, "he will be")
here, while other weighty witnesses ({ج66c,75vid ح A D1 L Q Y ث13
33vid د as well as several versions and fathers}), read the future
tense. When one considers transcriptional evidence, ejstin is the
more difficult reading and better explains the rise of the future
tense reading, but it must be noted that both ج66 and D were
corrected from the present tense to the future. If ejstin were the
original reading, one would expect a few manuscripts to be
corrected to read the present when they originally read the future,
but that is not the case.
When one considers what the author would have written, the future
is on much stronger ground. The immediate context (both in 14:16
and in the chapter as a whole) points to the future, and the
theology of the book regards the advent of the Spirit as a
decidedly future event (see, e.g., 7:39 and 16:7). The present
tense could have arisen from an error of sight on the part of some
scribes or more likely from an error of thought as scribes
reflected upon the present role of the Spirit. Although a decision
is difficult, the future tense is most likely authentic. For
further discussion on this textual problem, see James M. Hamilton,
Jr., "He Is with You and He Will Be in You" (Ph.D. diss., The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003), 213-20.
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