Bible Prophecies Fulfilled In Islam |
This is the question that is repeatedly asked:
>>“Let's not try to compare Mohammad to Jesus, for there is no ground
>>for comparison.”
Mohammad (PBUH) never compared Himself with Jesus. He never claimed that He was greater than Jesus. Mohammad, rather, extolled Jesus throughout the Qur'án. He even promised that Jesus, not Mohammad, will come back again at the time of the end to bring principles of righteousness and justice.
Mohammad can more or less be compared with Moses, who brought us the laws that are an eye for an eye, who married more than one wife --amongst whom one was habesha-- whose followers suffered severe persecutions at the hands of the Egyptians, who fled to the holy land, who went to war with the unbelievers, whose followers started to worship idols behind him, whose enemies --the Pharos of Egypt-- followed him and perished in the oceans of ignorance, whose followers became victorious at the end. That’s why God promised to the tribes of the Jews that He will “raise up” unto them a Prophet from their "brethren", meaning from the Arabs, who are actually brothers of the Jews from Abraham.
“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy *brethren*, like unto me [like unto Moses]; unto him [Mohammed] ye shall hearken;” --( Deuteronomy 18:15)
Some Christians may think that this prophecy was fulfilled by the appearance of Jesus; however, in the same chapter, God speaks to the tribes of Jews through Moses saying:
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their *brethren*, like unto thee [Moses], and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him [Mohammed].” --( Deuteronomy 18:18)
According to the Bible, whenever there is a prophecy regarding the *tribes* of Israel, God tells them "from within your *seed*" (Deuteronomy 1:8; 4:37; 10:15; 11:9; 28:46). However, in the aforementioned verses, God is clearly telling the tribes of Israel that a prophet will be raised *like unto Mosses* from their "*brethren*", that is to say, from the children of Ishmael (father of the Arabs) --(Genesis 16:12).
There is a prophesy about the place called Paran, which, today is the Arabian Peninsula. From Genesis, we learn that after Sarah and Hagar could no longer live together in Abraham's house, Hagar left to the place called Paran:
"And he [Ishmael] dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt." --(Genesis 21:21)
Also, the Bible says that Ishmael (father of the Arabs) shall dwell in the presence of all his bretheren, meaning the Jews (Genesis 16:11-12).
" And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction."
"And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his *brethren.*" -- (Genesis 16:11-12)
Becaues of that prophecy, in John 1:19-21 we read that, during the times of Jesus, the Israelites were expecting three personages: Christ, Elias, and that Prophet like unto Moses: the Jews having asked John the Baptist if he was Christ, he said no; "And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not, Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No."
This is what is prophesied about Paran:
"And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them." -- (Deuteronomy 33:2)
This is what took place:
The LORD came from Sinai [God Himself to Mosses]
and rose up from Seir [Jesus Christ]
he shined forth from mount Paran [Muhammad]
and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them [Bahá'u'lláh]
Here are few more prophecies about the Prophet Mohammed in the Old Testament:
"Indeed he will speak to this people through stammering lips and
a foreign tongue" --(Isaiah 28:11)
“And
the book is delivered to him saying; Read this I pray, thee, and he saith, I am
not learned” --(Isaiah 29:12)
“Read
in the name of thy Lord who created man" (Holy Quran 96:1) He replied; “Maa ana Beqaa ri’in (I am not learned).
"Thee Lord will go forth
like a warrior he will arouse his zeal like a man of war, He will arouse his zeal
like a man of war."--(Isaiah 11-14)
This is what was prophesied:
"And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." -- (Genesis 17:20)
This is that happened:
From the descendants of Ishmael Mohammad was born. Kedar being the second son of Ishmael, from whom Mohammad was descended, the Arabs are called Kedar’s or Kedarites (read Genesis 25:13-16)
The twelve princes mentioned are the twelve Imams, starting from Imam Ali, then Imam Hassan, Imam Husein and all the the other 9 imams of Islam. Moreover, the Muslims were the first nation builders. God made them "great nation" as He promised them. As the Western Europe sank into the Dark Ages, Islam molded primitive Arab tribes into an empire more vast than that of Rome at its peak, adorned its cities with flourishing architectures, universities and libraries, invented soap, algebra, zero, banking, Arabic numerals, and hundreds of modern conveniences, and (during its centuries stay in Spain) indirectly triggered Europe's Renaissance and the discovery of America. Moreover, it was Islam that introduced nationalism in the modern sense -a concept that, whatever its limitations, has spurred social and economic developments throughout the world. Muslims built great nations from central Asia to the waters of Mediterranean all united with one language (Arabic), one law (Sharia or Islamic law), and all under the umbrella of one religion (Islam). Only prejudice denies this fact. During their glorious years, they built the first universities, they discovered zero, Alchemy (renamed Chemistry), arithmetic, and many discoveries in medicine, architecture, and politics, while, at the same time, Europe was in Dark Ages persecuting scientists. Many words that start with "al" have an Arabic derivatives.
Furthermore, The twelve princes mentioned in Genesis are also mentioned in Revelation of St. John as twelve stars:
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:" -- (Revelation 12:1)
These twelve prices are not the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ for two reasons: One, the twelve disciples of Jesus were not from the line of Ishmael. Two, the revelation of John was written after the revelation of Jesus, which means it is a vision that should be fulfilled for the future.
It is highly recommended to read my other article on Superiority, Exclusivity, and Finality of Religion in order to understand completely the main cause of misunderstanding of Prophecies.
For further interpretation of the Revelation of John chapter 12, visit the following page:
http://www.ibiblio.org/Bahai/Texts/EN/SAQ/SAQ-12.html