The Hidden Truth
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST GRACIUOS, THE MOST
MERCIFUL
“THAT PROPHET”
By
UMAR HASSAN
"THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE APOSTLE, THE UNLETTERED
PROPHET, WHOM THEY FIND MENTIONED IN THEIR OWN SCRIPTURES, IN THE TORAH AND THE
GOSPEL…"
Holy Qur’ân 7:157;
Trans.: Yusuf Ali
Praise is to Almighty Allah and Peace and Blessings of Almighty
Allah be upon all His Messengers.
Introduction
This article of mine is in connection with
my previous article ‘Reality’. As always, the main purpose of my article is to
educate my dear readers with more facts, realities rather to impose my ideas.
In this article of mine, wherever I quote any author of a Christian site, I
would be calling them as ‘Mr. Author’.
The
purpose of these articles is not to attack the Christians, but, to bring
forward the facts.
Indulgent
It is important to understand that it is not
a pre-condition of acceptance that a Prophet be foretold by an earlier Prophet. Moses
– peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – was a Prophet to Pharaoh even
though he was not prophesized by anyone before him. Abraham – peace and
blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – was Prophet to Nimrod, yet no
one prophesized his coming. Noah,
Regarding
Muhammad – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him –, we have records of early Jews and Christians, both
monks and rabbis, who witnessed that Muhammad – peace and blessings of Almighty
Allah be upon him – was the fulfillment of specific
Biblical prophecies. The following are some examples of these people.
The
first witness was Buhaira, the Christian monk, who recognized Muhammad’s –
peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – Prophethood when he was still young and told his uncle (Muhammad’s
– peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – uncle Abu Tâlib):
"…a
great fortune lies before your nephew, so take him home quickly."
The
second witness was Waraqah bin Nawfal, a Christian scholar who died soon after
a meeting with Muhammad – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him –. Waraqah attested that
Muhammad – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – was the Prophet of his time and received revelation
exactly like Moses and Jesus – peace and blessings of
Almighty Allah be upon them –.
The
Jews of Madeenah were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a prophet. The
third and fourth witnesses were their two famous Jewish rabbis, Abdullah bin
Salam and Mukhayriq.
The
fifth and sixth witnesses were also Yemeni Jewish rabbis, Wahab ibn Munabbih,
and Ka`b al-Ahbar (d. 656 CE). Ka`b found long passages of praise and the
description of the Prophet prophesized by Moses – peace and
blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – in the Bible.
The Qur’ân states (interpretation of the meaning):
"Is it not a sign to them that the
learned men of the Children of
In this article of mine, you will read the indeed prophecies about
Muhammad made by Moses and Jesus – peace
and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon them – in the Bible, and
you will also read the verdicts of learned Christian and Jew Scholars upon
these verses of Bible.
Beginning
It is said “All is well, that
ends well”. But, I say that the beginning is also very important, in order to
judge the approach of a runner to the final line. If the runner doesn’t have a
valid start, he will be thrown out of the race. So, ‘Beginning’ is equally important.
In the light of my article “That Prophet”, let us also start from
the beginning, because, it is only then, that the facts would be in safe, nice
hands.
Now, let us start from
Deuteronomy 17:15
"Thou shalt in any wise set
him king over thee whom the LORD thy God shall choose. One from among thy brethren
shalt thou set as king over thee; thou mayest not set a stranger over
thee, who is not thy brother." Deuteronomy
Christians quote this verse
to put their innocent impression upon others that ‘No NON ISRAELITE KING’ over
A Christian writer on a
Christian site (I would be calling them as ‘Mr. Author’) under the heading of
his topic “Who is the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:18” says:
Start quote --- “I
took a look at how the term 'brethren' (King James Version) is used throughout
Deuteronomy. I found that it is used about 20 times; at least 14 times it
means 'fellow Israelites' - members of the 12 tribes. Twice it is used to
ref. the Edomites, and once for Levitical brothers, once for literal brothers
(25:5), and twice for the verses in question:
Therefore, the overwhelming majority of times
the context is used for
referring to 'fellow Israelites'.” --- End
quote. (Emphasis mine)
Is “Overwhelming majority”
and “Context” the real acid with which we can test? No, simply no … Let me give
you an example to clarify.
Suppose, I
am a teacher of a class which has a strength of 25. One day I come to the class and
addressing my students I say “John
is a good student. He is hard
working and brilliant student. He
was the toper in the class test. He
not only concentrates over his studies but also participates in games. He also won a gold medal in
sports. He also helps his
parents in the household.”
The next day I come and address the class saying “Mark is a good student. He is hard working and brilliant
student. He was the toper in
the class test. He not only
concentrates over his studies but also participates in games. He also won a gold medal in
sports.”
The third day I address the class saying “Michael is a good student. He is hard working and brilliant student. He was the toper in the class
test. He respects elders.”
The fourth day I address my class saying “He is a good student. He
is hard working and brilliant student. He
was the toper in the class test. He
not only concentrates over his studies but also participates in games. He also helps his parents in the
household.”
Now, my simple question to my
dear reader is that, after looking at so many Hes Can any one dare to tell me
that On the fourth day for W-H-O-M
I am using so much Hes? Is it
John? Mark? Michael? or WHO?
Can any one, in the
background of “context” dare
to give the reply? Does “overwhelming
majority” help? as said by this Mr. Author.
No, no one can tell for ‘whom’ I am using “He”
on the 4th day. Just like this, the “overwhelming majority” of the occurrence of the word ‘brethren’ does not
solve the question.
Interesting, as it may sound that, in the
context of Deuteronomy
"Brethren"
As Arabic and Hebrew are sister
languages, the word ‘brethren’ in English is known as ‘Akh’ in Arabic
and ‘Awkh’ () in
Hebrew. The correct definition of the word brethren, Akh, or Awkh is
1) Brother
a) brother of same parents
b) half-brother (same father)
c) relative, kinship, same
tribe
d) each to the other
(reciprocal relationship)
e) (fig.) of resemblance
The
reality is that, this word ‘brethren’ is very vast in its meaning, since you
can notice from the wide range of meaning, which this word has.
Ishmael; The First Born
As the Prophecy reads as follows: "I WILL RAISE THEM UP A PROPHET FROM AMONG THEIR
BRETHREN LIKE UNTO THEE......."
The emphasis is on the words- "From among their brethren." You
see, the Holy Bible speaks of Abraham as the "Friend of God". 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 and seed of Abraham, when the covenant was ratified
between God and Abraham. God grants Abraham 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 BRETHREN of the children of the other.
The children of Isaac are the Jews and the Children of Ishmael are the Arabs -
so they are BRETHREN to one another. The Bible affirms, 'AND HE
(ISHMAEL) SHALL DWELL IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL HIS BRETHREN.' (Genesis
16:12). 'AND HE (ISHMAEL) DIED IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL HIS BRETHREN.(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 BRETHREN'.(Deut.18:18). There
the prophecy distinctly mentions that the coming prophet who would be like
Moses, must arise NOT from the 'children of
After thinking
over the word ‘brethren’, a common sense minded person will agree to me, that,
being a ‘brethren’ is not the ‘ACID TEST’ for proving the eligible Prophet of
Deuteronomy 18:18. Since there are so many ‘Brethren’ prophets among the Israelites themselves i.e. Solomon,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Malachi, John the Baptist, Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon them –
and then
Muhammad – peace and blessings of
Almighty Allah be upon him – among the children of Ishmaelite (who is the elder brother of Isaac –
peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him –) is also their (Israelites)
‘Brethren’.
So, no one can decide, that who the
‘Eligible’ Prophet of Deuteronomy
ACID TESTS
In the following are the points, which are
the only “ACID TESTS” to determine
the ‘Eligible’ Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:18.
1st Acid Test
“Like Unto Thee”
"I will raise them up a
Prophet from among their brethren LIKE UNTO THEE,
and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I
shall command Him." Deuteronomy
This is a very important
verse and a lot have been said upon it from the Christendom side. They want to
disprove the Muslim point over this verse. Remember, there is no cure of envy
in the whole world. It is same as, if you wear yellow glasses, the whole
environment will be yellowish to you, and if, you wear bluish glasses, the
whole environment will be bluish to you. So, throw away the glasses of envy and
seek the truth.
As a student of truth, I am
prepare to accept the truth, if it comes from the other side, but if, the truth
comes from my side, then I want you to do the same. Now, being the seeker of
truth let us analyze this verse, but with great care.
As, this verse is
prophesizing about a coming person. Ask any Christian that who is prophesized
in this verse? Without
the slightest hesitation he will answer: "JESUS!" Now you ask him "Why Jesus? His name is
not mentioned here." He will reply: "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 - like unto thee, - LIKE YOU - like Moses, and Jesus is
like Moses. Now, ask your Christian fellows "In which way is Jesus like
Moses?" His reply will be
"In the
first place Moses was a JEW and Jesus was also a JEW; secondly,
Moses was known by God "face
to face," meaning God spoke to him directly and Jesus was also known by God "face to face,";
thirdly, Moses performed awesome miracles and Jesus also performed
awesome miracles - therefore Jesus is like
Moses and that is exactly what God had foretold Moses - " like unto
thee"."
After giving
such a confident reply, a Christian might be feeling the ‘Holy Ghost’ working
inside him. But, I give you an ‘Oscar’ winning dialogue:
"If these
are the only 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 –
peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon them – etc., because they were also
ALL "Jews" as well as known by God "face to face,". Why should we not apply
this prophecy to any one of these prophets, and why only to Jesus? Why should we make fish of one and
fowl of another???"
Now, wait for the Holy Ghost
to reply …
As far as Miracles are
concerned, they do not prove even Prophethood, or whether a man is true or
false. Jesus himself said:
"For there
shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect." Matthew 24:24 (Emphasis mine)
If false prophets and false Christs can perform miraculous feats, then
these wonders or miracles do not prove even the geniuses or otherwise, of a
prophet.
John the Baptist, according to Jesus, was the greatest of the Israelite
prophets. Greater than Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah and all, not excluding
himself – peace and blessings of Almighty
Allah be upon them –: in his own words:
"Verily I say unto you, among them
that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the
Baptist..." Matthew
1.
Not excluding Jesus – peace and
blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him –: because, was he not born of a woman – Mary – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon her –?
2.
The Baptist – peace and blessings
of Almighty Allah be upon him –, greater than "all", yet he performed not a single miracle!
Miracles are no standards of judging truth and falsehood.
So, you see, according to Bible, Miracles prove nothing, just
nothing.
Along with above claims, I have come across some Christians saying:
"One could just as well say Jesus was the promised
prophet because, like Moses but unlike Muhammad, he was saved from death as a
baby (Exodus 1:17, 2:2-10, Matthew 2:16), preached about sacrifice being the
way to get forgiveness of sins (Leviticus 4, Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 9:22)."
Now, let us tackle with these claims one by one.
Firstly; when Christians say that Jesus was saved in his childhood
just like Moses – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon them – and
quote Matthew 2:16 to prove Jesus’ –
peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – saving.
Kindly ask your Christian brothers to read Luke 2:6-40. Because,
the entire 2nd chapter of Luke does not give even a small hint about
the life of Jesus – peace and blessings
of Almighty Allah be upon him – being in danger. Not
even a small hint of such an important event recorded by Luke? Now, Christians
should kindly tell us that whom should we believe, Matthew
Secondly; as far as sacrifice for sins is concerned (Leviticus 4). If you read entire chapter 4 of Leviticus, you will come to know
that people who committed sin were commanded to sacrifice Animals for forgiveness from their sins and they had a method to
deal with the sacrificed animals. Was that method also adopted with Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him –?
The verses 12-14 of Hebrews 9 throws an impression upon the reader
that the sacrifices of animals done by Israelites at the time of Moses had only
outwardly impact, where as the sacrifice of Jesus – peace and blessings of
Almighty Allah be upon them – has cleaned our consciences. But, if you analyze the verses of Hebrew 9 under the light
of Leviticus 4, you will come across many important questions:
1. According to Leviticus 4,
sacrifices were offered to God.
Christians say that "GOD SACRIFICED His only son
to save us". The question is "to whom did God SACRIFICE Jesus – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – when God owns the whole universe?"
2. God
is Just, and justice requires that nobody should be punished for the sins of
others, nor should some people be saved by punishing other people. Doesn’t the
claim that God sacrificed Jesus – peace
and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – to save us because He was Just, contradict the definition
of justice?
3. A
real sacrifice is when you can’t get back what you have offered, so what would be
the big deal about such a sacrifice if God could recover back the same
offering? (Hebrews
4. If
all the Christians are saved through Jesus and are going to Heaven no matter
what they do, then the teachings of Jesus are irrelevant and the definition of
good and bad are also rendered irrelevant. If this is not so, then do
Christians who believe in Jesus yet do not follow his teachings nor repent go
to Hell?
5. Why
does the Bible say that Jesus wanted to die on the cross, when, on the cross,
he was shouting "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" according
to Matthew 27:45 and Mark 15:33?
All these questions need logical answers.
Dear reader, Jesus is most unlike Moses – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon them –
"In the FIRST
place Jesus is not like Moses, because, according to Christendom -
'JESUS IS A GOD', but Moses is not God. "Therefore, Jesus is not like
Moses!
"SECONDLY, according to Christendom
- 'JESUS DIED FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD', but Moses did not have to die for
the sins of the world. "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses!"
"THIRDLY, according to Christendom
- 'JESUS WENT TO HELL FOR THREE DAYS', but Moses did not have to go there. "Therefore
Jesus is not like Moses!"
I can only give these references and escape away, but I wouldn’t
be doing justice then. Therefore I will be completely handling the situation. I
ask my dear readers especially Christian readers to think with a very cool mind
that, these are
not hard facts, solid facts; they are mere matters of belief over which the
little ones can stumble and fall.
Therefore, let us discuss something very simple, very easy that if your little ones
are called in to hear the discussion, would have no difficulty in following it,
shall we?
The Most Crucial Point
No New Laws
A very, very important, basic and most
crucial point which makes Prophet Moses –
peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – different from all the other
Israelite Prophets and similar to Prophet
Muhammad – peace and blessings of
Almighty Allah be upon him – is that both of them brought new
laws and new regulations for their people.
All the
Israelite Prophets, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Malachi,
John the Baptist, including Jesus – peace
and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon them – were the followers of Prophet
Moses – peace and blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him – and the comprehensive ceremonial
law, which he brought.
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 barbarism and ignorance. They married their step-mothers; they
buried their daughters alive; drunkenness, adultery, idolatry, and gambling
were the order of the day. Gibbon describe the Arabs before Islam in his "Decline
and Fall of the
'THE HUMAN BRUTE, ALMOST WITHOUT SENSE, IS POORLY
DISTINGUISHED FROM THE REST OF THE ANIMAL CREATION.'
There was
hardly anything to distinguish between the "man" and the "animal" of
the time; they were animals in human form.
From this
abject barbarism, Muhammad elevated them, in the words of Thomas Carlyle, "into
torch-bearers of light and learning".
'TO
THE ARAB NATION IT WAS AS A BIRTH FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT.
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 have come to abolish the law
and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill
them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an
iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all
is accomplished." Mathew 5:17-18 (Emphasis mine)
In other words
he had not come with any new laws or regulation he came only to fulfill the old
law. This is 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. Again "Yes." is the
answer. "Therefore, Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like
Moses."
Watertight
Arguments
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?" "Yes" is the
answer. Meaning: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses, but Muhammad is
like Moses!"
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 to be with a child of the Holy Spirit."
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, since I have no
husband? And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you..." (Luke 1:34-35). The Holy
Qur’ân confirms the miraculous birth of Jesus, in nobler and sublimer terms. In
answer to her logical question (interpretation of the meaning):
"
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 " Holy Qur’ân 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 birth of Jesus. In
short, Jesus was born miraculously as against the natural birth of Moses and
Muhammad. "Yes!" is the answer. "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 begat children, but Jesus remained a bachelor all his
life. Again "Yes." "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 Makkah, 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 to his own home, and his own people received
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? "Yes." "THEREFORE JESUS IS NOT LIKE MOSES, BUT
MUHUMMED 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 t