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
and blessings 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
and blessings 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 and blessings be upon him, regarding the Quran. The Quran makes
the claim, Muhammad, peace and blessings 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 and
blessings 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:
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 and
blessings 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 and
blessings 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 obey34 my commandments. 35
14:16 Then36 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate37 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
(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 (Ì66* B D* W 1 565 it) have
ejstin (estin, “he is”) instead of e[stai (estai, “he will be”) here,
while other weighty witnesses ({Ì66c,75vid Í A D1 L Q Y Ë13 33vid Ï 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 Ì66 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.
