We read in the Gospel of John that in the time of Jesus, the Jews were expecting the advent of three prophets. Firstly Elias, secondly Christ as , thirdly a prophet of such universal fame that in his case no other specification was thought necessary. Further, he prophesied about his second advent in the last days when true faith would disappear from the earth Luke For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Jesus as pointed out in the parable of the vineyard that after him shall come the Lord of vineyard and added:. Thus Jesus as has made it clear that the Prophet who was to come after him was not to be of the Israelites, but from another nation — their brethren, the Ishmaelites. Secondly, he was the prophet who came with a new law — the law of the Quran. None of Israelite prophets including Jesus of Nazareth as , with the exception of Moses as , brought a new law or dispensation; not did any of them claim to have been like unto Moses as.
On the other hand, it has been expressly written about Hazrat Muhammad saw in the Holy Quran that he was the prophet like unto Moses as. Coming from Sinai refers to the appearance of Moses as and rising up from Seir alludes that of Jesus as. The prophet who shone forth from Mount Paran could be no other than the Holy Prophet saw of Arabia, as Paran is the ancient name of the part of Arabia where the children of Ishmael as , the ancestors of Hazrat Muhammad saw , settled.
The Arabic form of the word Paran is Faran or Pharan. Westenfielt, Leipzig, , Vol. The word Faran seems to be the Arabic Farran. It means two refugees. It appears that the place took the name from Hager and Ishmael as , who came there as refugees. Benisch call it in his translation of Pentateuch the desert of Paran. Hence, the prophecy has been wonderfully fulfilled in the person of Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companions of Dedanim.
The inhabitants of the Land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him they fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn swords and from the bent bow, from the grievousness of war.
For thus hath the Lord said unto me, within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; And the residue of number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.
Muhammad was a conquering military leader. After his death, Muslims were left without spiritual and political leadership. Jesus was a humble King who spoke not of an earthly kingdom, but of an eternal kingdom in heaven. He did not use a military campaign to spread this kingdom, but gave His own life that everyone could be reunited with God forever. Is Muhammad in the Bible? Bonner When Sam met his friend Ahmed for coffee one Saturday, Ahmed surprised him with a Muslim belief Sam had never before encountered.
I have never heard this before. Common Questions. Admin CP. Matthew The biblical kingdom of God has temporal and spiritual aspects, present and future implications. Long before the rise of Islamic power, Christ announced the presence of the kingdom, saying, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" Matthew In Mark , Christ told His disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God present with power.
Did they see Muhammad and the "kingdom" of Islam? Certainly not. Mark Muslims maintain that the gospel of Jesus is the record of God's Word given through Jesus. Only occasionally can we find Jesus' gospel buried in the midst of man's words and opinion. One of the preserved lines of Jesus' gospel, they say is in Mark , where Jesus supposedly prophesied of Muhammad, "There cometh after Me he that is mightier than I. The context clearly shows this to be true see also Matthew ; Luke ; and John It will not do to say that Christ was already in the world, and that therefore He could not be said to come after John.
Christ began to preach only after John had been cast into prison and beheaded see Mark ; also compare Matthew , 17 , thus ending the forerunner's ministry. John Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. This is supposed by some Muslims to be a declaration that Jerusalem would no longer be the Holy City and the "Qiblah" focus of prayers , but that its place would be taken by another city, which, the Muslims say, must be Mecca.
Yet in verses , Christ Himself explained the meaning of His own words, saying that true and acceptable worship does not depend upon the place where it is offered by upon the state of the worshipper's heart. Hence, He does away with the possibility of there ever afterward being a need for any "Qiblah" on earth. John , 17, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
If Muhammad is not a prophet, who is? It is understandable, really, that so many Christians have been defensive and have reacted negatively to Islam. That kind of group-ego, fear-based response is part of human nature. However, it is absurd for us to continue to see Muhammad as a heretical Christian or false prophet given that Islam has lasted for nearly 1, years, has supported monumental cultural, spiritual, artistic, political, moral, and intellectual achievements, and has a tremendous and vibrant global following.
There is no better candidate than Muhammad, no one in fact that comes even close, in terms of fulfilling Jesus's promise of the Spirit of Truth who would bring forth a new revelation from God. I do not have space in this article to explore the many Qur'anic verses directly addressed to Christians, but if we were to receive them our religion would be transformed for the better and would come into balance with Judaism and Islam.
Jesus knew it would be difficult for us to accept his guidance from another source. But he did not want our fear of the apparent otherness of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an to separate us from the Way, the Truth, and the Life; that is, the Word of God. This is why he spoke to the disciples reassuringly about the Spirit of Truth, saying, "he will glorify me"; and, for the same reason, he emphasized the unity of his teaching with the revelations to come, twice repeating the promise, "he will take what is mine and declare it to you" John , NRSV.
Based on the promises of Jesus, Christians can encounter the Qur'an without fear, knowing that it is a revelation which glorifies Jesus and, in a spiritual sense, is from him. What we have in the Gospel of John is a biblical portal between Christianity and Islam.
If we choose to walk through it in faith we will discover that our religions issue from the same divine source; we will discover that we are siblings in faith, meant to bear witness to the truth side by side John and collaborate in manifesting God's will on Earth as it is in Heaven. I invite Christians everywhere to look carefully at our scriptures, search our souls, consider our history, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in answering this question: "Has the time come for Christians to see Muhammad as Spirit of Truth?
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