Muhammad and the Bible
The belief that Muhammad was the "long awaited Prophet" prophesied by other prophets of Islam in the Bible is a fundamental part of Islamic theology that traces its roots to the text of the Quran. Quran 3:81, Quran 7:157, and Quran 48:29 are often cited in this context. Quran 61:6 says that Jesus himself brought good news about the close advent of Muhammad. Muslim historians and hagiographers maintained that the people of Medina accepted Islam because of their awareness of these prophecies, and because they saw Muhammad as fulfilling them. The messianic prophecy in Isaiah 42 about the "Chosen One of God" rising among the children of Qedar in mount Sela was cited by Muhammad's own companion Abd Allah ibn Amr.
Christians like John of Damascus and John Calvin argued that Muhammad was the Antichrist or a false prophet.
Muslim interpretation
Tanakh
Genesis 21
The "great nation" has been described by Muslim scholars as a reference to the Ummah. The well of water mentioned in Genesis 21:19 has been seen by them as a reference to the well of Zamzam in Mecca.Genesis 49
In, Jacob tells his sons that the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and to him shall be the obedience of the people.This prophecy is believed by some Muslim scholars to be the one referred to in Qur'an 3:81 and their argument is that the word Shiloh originally meant "he that is to be sent". The Latin Vulgate also translates the word to "He that is to be sent". Muslims believe this prophecy refers to Muhammad.
Deuteronomy 18:18
Quran 46:10 refers to this prophecy. Al-Samawal al-Maghribi, a Jewish mathematician who embraced Islam, pointed to it in his book Confutation of the Jews as a prophecy fulfilled by Muhammad. Samawal argued in his book that since the children of Esau are described in Deuteronomy 2:4-6 and Numbers 20:14 as the brethren of the children of Israel, the children of Ishmael can also be described the same way.Deuteronomy 33:2
Al-Samawal al-Maghribi referred to this verse also in his book as a prophecy of Muhammad. He said that Mount Sinai refers to Moses, Mount Seir "the Mount of Esau" refers to Jesus, and Mount Paran "the Mount of Ishmael" refers to Muhammad. Since then, many Muslim scholars have looked to Deuteronomy 33 as containing a prophetic prediction of Muhammad.Deuteronomy 33:2 is part of the poem known as the Blessing of Moses spanning Deuteronomy 33:1-29. Scholars consider that the poem serves as a Yahwistic declaration for the blessing of the future of Israel as a socially unified whole that will benefit and prosper through YHWH's beneficence. The poem relates YHWH's movement from the south from Mount Sinai, the mountain where He resides, to His entrance on the scene as a "formidable invading force."
Psalm 110
Some Muslim scholars cited this passage as a prophecy of Muhammad and his Ascension.Isaiah 21:7
This prophecy was cited by Muslims who argued that the rider on the ass is Jesus, and the rider on the camel is Muhammad.Isaiah 42
Muslim tradition holds that Isaiah 42 predicted the coming of a servant associated with Qedar, the second son of Ishmael, who went on to live his life in Arabia, and so interpret this passage as a prophecy of Muhammad. According to the Hadiths, Muslims like Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As have believed that Muhammad was the servant of Isaiah 42 during his very lifetime.In 1892, Isaiah 42:1-4 was first identified by Bernhard Duhm as one of the Servant songs in the Book of Isaiah, along with Is. 49:1-6; Is. 50:4-7; and Is. 52:13-53:12. The Old Testament identifies the servant of the Servant songs as the Israelite's in Is. 41:8-9; Is. 44:1; Is. 44:21; Is. 45:4; Is. 48:20 and Is. 49:3. John Barton and John Muddiman write that "The idea of a 'servant' played a small part in the earlier chapters, being used as a designation of the unworthy Eliakim in 22:20 and of the figure of David in 37:35, but it now comes to the fore as a description of major significance, the noun being used more than 20 times in chs. 40-55. Its first usage is obviously important in establishing the sense in which we are to understand it, and here it is clear that the community of Israel/Jacob is so described."
Isaiah 54
The barren woman is seen as a reference to Mecca as it, unlike Jerusalem, never received a prophet. The children of the desolate woman are the children of Hagar, while the children of the married woman are the children of Sarah.Daniel 2
This vision has been interpreted by Muslims as a messianic prophecy fulfilled by Muhammad. The head of fine gold represents Babylon, the chest and arms of silver represents Media-Persia, the belly and thighs of brass represents Greece, the legs of iron represents Rome, the feet partly of iron & partly of clay represents the division of the Roman Empire into an ironic eastern part and a weakened western part. The stone refers to Muhammad and his advent which marked the beginning of the Muslim conquests that subsequently led to the end of both the Roman & the Sassanid Empires. Since the advent of Muhammad, the Muslim world is steadily expanding in a way similar to the way of the growing stone in the vision.Daniel 7
This vision has also been interpreted by Muslims as a messianic prophecy about Muhammad and his ascension to the Throne of God. The first beast represents Babylon. The second beast represents Persia-Media. The third beast represents Greece. The fourth beast represents Rome. The horns of the fourth beast represent the emperors of the Roman Empire. The ten horns refer to the ten Roman emperors who ran the 10 major persecutions. The 11th horn refers to Constantine I, the founder of the Nicene Christianity. Constantine I plucked out three Roman emperors before him, maintained authority for 3 times and half a time, and persecuted those who rejected the Nicene Creed. He broke the first commandment of the law "the Lord our God is one lord", and switched the Sabbath to Sunday.Habakkuk 3:3
The phrase "from the south" is seen as a reference to the Hejaz region which is located south of Israel. The phrase "from mount Paran" refers to the land of Ishmael according to Genesis 21:19-21. This prophecy corresponds with Deuteronomy 33:2 and Zechariah 9:14. The phrase "full of his praise" corresponds with Muhammad's name.Haggai 2:7
The word rendered "the Desire" is singular and is pronounced as Hemdāh. Christians have maintained from their early history that this word was a reference to the Messiah. Muslim scholars argue that it actually refers to Muhammad whose name is also from the same root. Some of them interpret the new temple in the prophecy as a reference to the Great Mosque of Mecca.Zechariah 4
Some Muslim scholars pointed out that the Two Anointed Ones mentioned in Zechariah 4 could be a reference to Jesus and Muhammad, suggesting that these two are the same two messianic figures mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ka’b al-Ahbar, a prominent 7th century Rabbi who embraced Islam and accompanied Caliph Umar during the capture of Jerusalem, interpreted the oil of the olive tree mentioned in the Quranic Verse of Light in the light of Zechariah 4 stating that it refers to Muhammad.Synoptic Gospels
Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen
Muslim scholars like Rahmatullah Kairanawi have discussed this parable in detail. Rahmatullah Kairanawi interpreted the landowner as a metaphor for God, the vineyard as a metaphor for God's Law, the wall around it refers to that which God prohibited in the Law, the wine-press is a metaphor for the pleasures that are permitted in the Law. The husbandmen who rented the vineyard refers to the Jews. The servants who were sent repeatedly to the tenants to collect the fruits are God's prophets. The son of the landowner is a metaphor for Jesus, who is considered by Muslims to be one of the highly esteemed prophets. The stone the builders rejected is seen as a metaphor for Muhammad. Rahmatullah quoted this phrase from the parable: "Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed" and argued that this description fits Muhammad who triumphed during his life-time over all his enemies and against all odds. Muslims have also quoted the following Hadith of Muhammad in this context:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
God's Apostle said, "My similitude in comparison with the other prophets before me, is that of a man who has built a house nicely and beautifully, except for a place of one brick in a corner. The people go about it and wonder at its beauty, but say: 'Would that this brick be put in its place!' So I am that brick, and I am the Seal of the Prophets."
Parable of the Mustard Seed
, among other Muslim writers, argued that this parable is referred to in Qur'an 48:29. Rahmatullah argued that the Muslim Ummah resembled the growing mustard seed in that it started from a single person in Mecca, yet it grew up rapidly and became larger than the other kingdoms of earth. It put forth its branches in the East and West and many nations lived within it.The kingdom of heaven has come near
Rahmatullah quotes Matthew 3:2 and Matthew 4:17 and says that both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ preached that "the kingdom of heaven has come near". Neither of them preached that the kingdom of heaven has arrived. He also quotes Matthew 6:9-13 which shows that Jesus taught his disciples to pray so that the kingdom of heaven comes. Rahmatullah argues that this shows that the seed of the kingdom of heaven wasn't planted in earth at that time.John 16
Many Muslims believe that the Paraclete in this passage from the Gospel of John is referring to Muhammad. The first recorded attempt to connect the Paraclete in John to Muhammad is recorded in Ibn Ishaq's Kitab al-Maghazi in the second half of the 8th century, and the passage of the Paraclete had a pre-Islamic history of being tied to leaders of heterodox Christian sects, such as the Montanists tying the Paraclete to the founder of the sect Montanus, and the Manichaeans doing so with Mani. Ibn Ishaq modifies the Johannine passage several times when translating it into Arabic in order to make it consistent with Islamic teachings on Muhammad, and so while the passage says that Jesus is responsible for sending the Paraclete, Ibn Ishaq rewrites this to say that God sent the Paraclete, and Ibn Ishaq also replaces all references of "the Father" with the Arabic term for "Lord" in order to accommodate for the Islamic teaching that God is no Father to anyone. A few Muslim commentators, such as David Benjamin Keldani, have argued the theory that the original Greek word used was periklytos, meaning famed, illustrious, or praiseworthy, rendered in Arabic as Ahmad, and that this was substituted by Christians with parakletos. However, there is not one Greek manuscript in existence with this reading, all Greek manuscripts read παράκλητος.In contrast to this, scholarship recognizes that the Paraclete, or Advocate, is mentioned five times throughout John's Gospel. The Advocate, called the "Spirit of Truth", is considered the Holy Spirit – a replacement for Jesus into the world after Jesus leaves, still dependent on Christ and sent by the Father at Jesus' demand. The Spirit is said to permanently remain with the disciples. John's Gospel says that the world cannot receive the Spirit though the Spirit can abide within the disciples. The Spirit will accuse the world of sin and glorify Jesus, and though it is "the spirit that gives life", the spirit does not add new revelations to those of Jesus. Jesus' promise to send the Advocate in the Gospel of John is later fulfilled in John 20:19-23 as Jesus bestows the Spirit upon his disciples.
8th century Christian commentary
In Łewond's version of the correspondence between the Byzantine emperor Leo III the Isaurian and the Umayyad caliph Umar II, the following is attributed to Leo:Gospel of Barnabas
The Gospel of Barnabas is not a part of the Bible, and is generally seen as a fabrication made during the Renaissance. It has at times been claimed to be at least partly apocryphal or part of an "original" Bible.The name of "Muhammad" is frequently mentioned verbatim in the Gospel of Barnabas, as in the following quote:
Christian interpretation
Daniel 7
The prophecy of the "Four kingdoms of Daniel" in Chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel has been interpreted by Christians as a prediction of Muhammad. The monk Eulogius of Córdoba argued that Muhammad was the Fourth Beast in the prophesy. Another medieval monk, Alvarus, argued that Muhammad was the "eleventh king" that emerged from the Fourth Beast. According to historian John Tolan,In Daniel's description of this beast, Alvarus sees the career of the Antichrist Muhammad and his disciples. This eleventh king who arises after the others, "diverse from the first," who subdues three kings, is it not Muhammad, who vanquished the Greeks, the Romans, and the Goths? "And he shall speak great words against the most High": did he not deny the divinity of Christ, thus, according to Saint John, showing himself to be an Antichrist? He "shall wear out the saints of the most High": is this not a prediction of the persecutions inflicted by the Muslims, in particular of the martyrdoms of Córdoba? He will "think to change times and laws": did he not introduce the Muslim calendar and the Koran? "