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"Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet whom they find written in the Torah and the Gospel with them. He enjoins upon them that which is right and forbids for them that which is evil. He makes lawful for them all things that are good and prohibits for them all that is foul and he relieves them from their burden and the fetters that they used to wear. Then those who believe in him, honor him, assist him, and follow the light which is sent down with him: they are the successful"
The noble Qur'an, Al-A'araf(7):157. "And when there came to them a messenger from Allah, Confirming what was with them, a party of the people of the book threw away the book of Allah behind their backs as if (it had been something) they did not know"
The Qur'an, Al-Bakarah(2): 101 "And because of their breaking of their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change the words from their places and they forget a portion thereof"
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maida(4): 13.
Before starting this topic, let me first clear up
a common misconception. Many Christians require of all Muslims
to either accept all of the Bible or to reject all of the Bible.
Therefore, they sometimes find a Muslim's attitude towards the
Bible bewildering. For this reason, I will explain how a Muslim
is commanded to deal with the Bible.
Muslims are told that Allah Almighty sent down an
"Injeel" upon Jesus (pbuh). The Qur'an then goes on
to describe how mankind later changed this "Injeel"
and altered it's original message to them. For this reason, Muhammad
(pbuh) told all Muslims to deal with the Bible with respect since
it started out as the true word of God. Muhammad (pbuh) told his
followers that if they were to reject the whole book, then they
might be rejecting words that remain the true word of God. He
told them that the Qur'an had been sent down to "bear witness
over" that which was changed by mankind in the Bible and
to return it to the original teachings of God through it's own
guardianship. We read this in the Qur'an: "And unto you (O Muhammad) have We revealed the Scripture (Qur'an) with the truth, confirming that which was before it of the Scripture, and a watcher/corrector over it. So judge between them by that which Allah has revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which has come unto you.."
The noble Qur'an, Al-Maidah(5):48.
The actual word used in this verse was the Arabic
word "Muhaimin" which means "Guardian/warden/overseer/watcher/protector."
For this reason, Muhammad (pbuh) commanded them to accept only
that which is verified by the Qur'an and to reject that which
contradicts the Qur'an.
Muslims have recorded that the "people of the
book" at the time of Muhammad (pbuh) had been expecting a
new prophet to be coming soon. There are many historical reports
to this effect. We are told that the Jews of Yathrib (Al-Madinah
Al-Munawarah) were constantly threatening it's Arab citizens with
his impending arrival and that they would follow him and slaughter
them in a similar manner as A'ad and Iram where slaughtered, and
this was one of the major reasons that the Arabs of Yathrib followed
Muhammad (pbuh) so quickly. To beat the Jews to him. There are
also other similar stories, such as the story of Salman Al-Farisi,
the story of the monk Bahira, and the story of Al-Najashi, the
king of Ethiopia among many others.
There are many predictions of the coming of Jesus
(pbuh) in the Old Testament. Many Christians have even told us
that the Bible has predicted much of what has occurred after the
time of Jesus (pbuh) including the Pope and Israel. Unlike the
Jews, Muslims do not contest the claimed prophesies of the coming
of Jesus (pbuh) since the Qur'an commands them to believe in him.
We have also seen in the verse which was presented at the very
beginning of this chapter how the Qur'an tells us that both the
Torah of Moses as well as the Injeel (Gospel) of Jesus
both contain prophesies of Muhammad However, if we ask the Christians
whether they can find any mention of Muhammad (pbuh) in the Bible,
their immediate response is an emphatic "No!" But if
the Bible has predicted all of these other things then we must
ask: why does it have absolutely nothing at all to say about the
man who single-handedly convinced many billions of people over
the ages to believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus (pbuh), his
message, the piety and chastity of his mother Mary (pbuh), the
miracles of Jesus (pbuh), and the fact that he was one of the
greatest messengers of God for all time?
There is not a single prophesy in the Old Testament
that mentions Jesus (pbuh) by name. Messiah, translated
"Christ" is not a name. It is a description, a title.
It means "the anointed one." Even "Jesus"
is not Jesus' true name. "Jesus" is a Latinized version
of the Hebrew name "Yeshua," which itself
is the shortened form of "Yehoshua" -
God Saves. When the Christians claim that a verse professes the
coming of Jesus (pbuh) what they have done is to compare the
description found in that verse to Jesus (pbuh) and if it
fits him then they say that it speaks of him. Using the Christian's
same system we claim that there is indeed not one, but more than
TEN verses in the Bible that speak of the coming of Muhammad (pbuh)
as God's last messenger, but that previous commentators have misunderstood
them (just as the Christians tell us that the Jews have done with
the Old Testament prophesies of Jesus, pbuh). The reader will
notice that in what is to follow the verses are explained very
simply, using the obvious meanings of the words themselves without
having to resort to forced abstract and metaphysical meanings
for these verses. These verses speak about major events,
locations, and milestones in Islamic history as well as the characteristics
of both Islam and Muhammad (pbuh). Now the prophesies: "Those unto whom We gave the Scripture recognize him (Muhammad) as they recognize their sons. But verily, a party of them conceal the truth while [well] they know it"
The noble Qur'an, al-Baqarah(2):146
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