← Spirit of Islam 2014 FebruarySpirit of Islam 2014 February
THE BIBLE’S TESTIMONY
English · 3 min read
A Point to Consider
THE Prophet Moses is said to have lived in around the 13th or 14th century BCE, while the Prophet Muhammad was born in the 6th century CE. In other words, there is perhaps a gap of some 2000 years between the two. Several statements attributed to Moses are found in the Bible. The Bible says that once Moses addressed his people, saying:
original + quoteOriginal text with a quotation or mention inside it
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. THE BIBLE Deuteronomy 18: 15-22
These words of Moses are clearly a prediction. Here, he predicts that after him, a prophet like him would appear. The entire history after the Prophet Moses indicates that there was only one prophet like him —and that was Muhammad Ibn Abdullah.
Christians take this prophecy of Moses to apply to Jesus, although Jesus was in many respects in no way like Moses.
opposing viewA view stated in order to be argued against
Moses was born in the natural way, through a mother and a father, while Jesus was born in a supernatural way. Moses married a woman, while Jesus abstained from marriage and married life. Moses led his people, while Jesus did not get the opportunity to lead his community. Shariah laws were revealed to Moses but not to Jesus. Moses took his people out of the slavery at the hands of Pharaoh, while despite the advent of Jesus, the Jews remained under the Romans. Clear differences like these exist between Moses and Jesus. And so, accordingly, Jesus cannot be termed to be kind of prophet that Moses was.
This is such an obvious fact that many non-Muslim researchers themselves accept it. For instance, a Christian scholar, Rev, James L. Dow, has written a dictionary of the Bible. Rev. Dow writes:
original + quoteOriginal text with a quotation or mention inside it
The only man of history who can be compared even remotely to him [Moses] is Mahomet [Muhammad].
Rev. James L. Dow, Dictionary of the Bible, Harper Collins, Glasgow, 1992,
other sourceWords of another person or source
It is a historical fact that among all the prophets, the Prophet Muhammad is the only one who can be considered to be like Moses. In this way, the Bible’s statement quoted above applies to him, thus testifying to him. And what Rev. Dow says is the witness of a Christian scholar.
original + quoteOriginal text with a quotation or mention inside it
Strangely enough, the very same point is made in the Quran, in a verse revealed in the Makkan phase of the Prophet’s life. Thus, the Quran says:
original + quoteOriginal text with a quotation or mention inside it
We have sent a messenger who is a witness over you, just as We sent a messenger to Pharaoh before you. THE QURAN 73: 15
Qur'anQuotes the Qur'an
Here the Quran points to the same truth that is contained in the Bible. In this way, what the Quran relates here is a proof of the truth of prophethood.
original + quoteOriginal text with a quotation or mention inside it
Immeasurable Hope
Belief in God plays a great role in our lives in that it adds immeasurable hope to our struggle.