The Glad Tidings of the Prophethood of Muḥammad ibn ‘Abdullāh

IN THE NAME OF ALLĀH, THE ENTIRELY MERCIFUL, THE ESPECIALLY MERCIFUL All Praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds. May blessings and peace be upon all the prophets and messengers. As for what follows:

This is a compilation of glad tidings and prophecies contained in the Old Testament that foretold the appearance of Muḥammad, son of ‘Abdullāh (Abdullah), from the descendants of Ismā‘īl (Ishmael), as a messenger and prophet to all mankind. Allāh, Exalted be He, speaks the truth in His book, the Qur’ān, when he says to the People of the Book (Jews and Christians): “Say, [O Muḥammad], ‘So Bring the Torah and recite it, if you should be truthful.’” [Āl ‘Imrān (Family of Imran), 3:93] And He said about the truthful scholars of the People of the Book in their knowledge and deeds: “Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [described] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were 5 upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him, and followed the light which was sent down with him — it is those who will be the successful.” [Al-A ‘rāf (The Heights), 7:157].

Moreover, Allāh, Exalted be He, said to His Prophet Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him): “And those who disbelieve say, ‘You are not a messenger.’ Say, [O Muḥammad]: [I have been sent]. ‘Sufficient is Allāh as Witness between me and you, and [the witness of] whoever has knowledge of the Scripture.’” [Ar-Ra‘d (The Thunder), 13:43]. In this verse, those who have ‘knowledge of the Scripture’ are the scholars of the Jews and Christians.

In describing the Christian scholars, Allāh, Exalted be He, Says (what means): “That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they have recognized of the truth. They say, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so register us among the witnesses.’” [Al-Mā’idah (The Table Spread), 5:82- 83].

He praised the wise scholars of the Children of Isrā’īl (Israel) who believed in Muḥammad ﷺpeace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) in addition to their own prophets, saying: “Those to whom We gave the Scripture before it – they are believers in it. And when it is recited to them, they say, ‘We have believed 6 in it; indeed, it is the truth from our Lord. Indeed, we were, [even] before it, Muslims [submitting to Allāh].’” [Al-Qasas (the story), 28:52-53].

In addition, Allāh has guided all to true religion, which has been perfected by removing misguidance, doubt, confusion, turmoil and concealment of truth. As Allāh, Exalted be He, Says (what means): “O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allāh a light and a clear Book. By which Allāh guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darkness into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.” [Al-Ma’idah (The Table Spread), 5:15-16] Allāh the Almighty also says: “O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger to make clear to you [the religion] after a period [of suspension] of the messengers, lest you say, ‘There came not to us any bringer of good tidings or a warner.’ But there has come to you a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And Allāh is over all things competent.” [Al- Mā’idah (The Table Spread), 5:19].

7 FOR ADDED BENEFIT:

Historical accounts have widely and continuously transmitted that the Jews were anticipating the emergence of a prophet in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, whose time had drawn near. They expected that this prophet would be from among them, i.e., from the Children of Israel.

Ibn Is·ḥāq reported on the acceptance of Islam by two Arab pagan tribes in Y athrib, which later became Al-Madīnah Al- Munawwarah (Medina). These tribes were the Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj, who said that the Jews were people of scripture, possessing knowledge that they (the Arabs) did not have. There was constant conflict and dispute between the Jews and these two tribes. Whenever the Jews had a disagreement with them, they would threaten them, saying that a Prophet whose time was at hand had emerged, and that they would follow him and exterminate them in the same way ‘Ād and Iram were destroyed. They said: We frequently heard this from them. Moreover, when Allāh sent His Messenger, we responded to him when he called us to Allāh the Almighty. We recognized what the Jews used to threaten, so we hastened to him before them, and believed in him while they disbelieved in him.

The Jews had assumed that the prophet who would appear would be from among themselves – i.e., from the Children of Israel. Prophet Muḥammad, however, appeared from among the Arabs who were descendants of Ishmael and not from the Children of 8 Israel. Therefore, the Jews disbelieved in him out of sheer envy even after the truth had become clear to them. This is obstinacy towards Allāh, because Allāh does as He wills and chooses. The choice of messengers is not for people to decide; rather, it is for people to hear and obey Allāh in everything He commands. Allāh transferred prophethood from the Children of Israel to the descendants of Ishmael out of profound wisdom. This was because the Children of Israel disbelieved in the prophets and killed them, to the point that they tried to kill Al-Masīḥ (The Messiah), but Allāh raised him up to Himself. The Jewish people also killed Zakariyyā (Zechariah) (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) and killed the reformers. Therefore, Allāh transferred prophethood from them to the descendants of Ishmael, who then supported him and protected his religion to this day. Ibn Is·ḥāq said: The rabbis from the Jews, the monks from the Christians, and the soothsayers from the Arabs had all spoken about the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) before his mission and described that, when his time drew near. As for the rabbis from the Jews, and the monks from the Christians, their scriptures described the period of the coming prophet, and what he had been entrusted with by their prophets. As for the soothsayers from the Arabs, the devils among the jinn would bring them news from what they had overheard from the heavens, as they were not yet prevented from doing so by being pelted with shooting stars. The male and female soothsayer would continuously mention some of his 9 affairs. The Arabs did not pay much attention to this, until Allāh the Almighty sent him, and those matters they used to mention came to pass so they recognized him.

Ibn Is·ḥāq reported from Salamah ibn Salamah ibn Waqsh, from the people of Y athrib – and Salamah was one of the companions of Badr – who said: We had a Jewish neighbor among the Banū ‘Abdul-Ashhal. He said: One day he came out of his house and stood before the Banū ‘Abdul-Ashhal. Salamah said: I was the youngest person there, wearing a cloak of mine, lying in the courtyard of my family. The Jew mentioned the Resurrection, the raising of the dead, the Reckoning, the Scale, Paradise, and Hellfire. He said this to a people who were polytheists and worshippers of idols, who did not believe any resurrection would take place after death. They said to him: Woe to you, O so-and-so! Do you truly believe this will happen, that people will be raised after their death to a realm containing Paradise and Hell, where they will be recompensed for their deeds? He said: Y es, by Him who is sworn by! He would rather have the largest oven in the house heated up, that they would heat it up and put him inside it and have it sealed over him, if only he would be saved from that Hellfire tomorrow. They said to him: Woe to you, O so-and-so! What is the sign of that? He said: A prophet will be sent from the direction of these lands, and he pointed with his hand towards Mecca and Y emen. They asked: When do you expect to see him? He said: He looked at me, as I was the youngest of them, and said: If this young boy consumes his lifespan, he will see him. 10 Salamah said: By Allāh, not many days and nights had passed before Allāh sent Muḥammad as His Messenger, while that Jew was still alive among us. We believed in him (the Prophet), but the Jew disbelieved in him out of transgression and envy. He (Salamah) said: We said to him: Woe to you, O so-and-so! Were you not the one who told us about him what you told? He said: Y es, but this is not him.

Ibn Is·ḥāq also mentioned in the story of the conversion of Tha‘labah ibn Sa‘yah, Usayd ibn Sa‘yah, and Asad ibn ‘Ubayd – from the Jews of Banū Qurayzah in Y athrib, who were with them in their pre-Islamic days and later became their leaders in Islam – he said: There was a man from the Jews of Syria, called Ibn Al-Hayyaban, who came to us a few years before the advent of Islam and settled among us. By Allāh, we never saw a man who does not pray the five [Islamic] prayers better than him. He stayed with us, and whenever there was a drought, we would say to him: Go out, O Ibn Al-Hayyaban, and ask Allāh for rain for us. He would say: No, by Allāh, not until you give some charity in front of your exit. We would ask him: How much? He would say: A Sā‘of dates or two Mudds of barley. He said: So we would give it, then he would take us out to the outskirts of our lava plain (a rocky field) and ask Allāh for rain for us. By Allāh, he would hardly leave his seat before clouds passed over and we were watered. He did this more than once or twice or thrice. He said: Then his death approached while he was with us. When he realized he was dying, he said: O assembly of Jews, what do 11 you think brought me out of the land of wine and leavened bread (Syria) to the land of hardship and hunger? We said: You know best. He said: I came to this town anticipating the emergence of a prophet whose time has drawn near. This town is his place of emigration (he will emigrate to this town, Y athrib). I hoped he would be sent so I could follow him. His time has drawn near for you, so do not let others precede you to him, O assembly of Jews. For he will be sent with the command to fight (jihad), and take captive offspring and women of those who oppose him. Do not let that prevent you from him.

So when the Messenger of Allāh was sent and besieged the Jews of Banū Qurayzah, these young men who were young adults at the time, said: O Banū Qurayzah, by Allāh, this is the prophet that Ibn Al-Hayyaban spoke to you about. They (the other Jews) said: It is not him. They (the young men) said: Y es, by Allāh, it is indeed him, with his description. So they descended (from the fortress) and became Muslim, thereby preserving their blood, wealth, and families.

May Allāh send peace and blessings upon all the prophets and messengers.

The Prophet Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) informed us that he is the glad tiding of Jesus — and this is fulfilled, as we have read in the glad tidings. He further informed us that he is the supplication of his father Abraham; that is, Abraham supplicated Allāh to raise up among the Arabs a prophet whose call would be comprehensive for the Arabs and for others. Allāh answered his supplication and sent Muḥammad. The Prophet Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) referred to the Messiah’s glad tidings of him in his saying: “I am the supplication of my father Abraham, the glad tiding of Jesus, and the vision of my mother which she saw …” [Narrated by Aḥmad (4/128) and Ibn Ḥibbān (14/313) on the authority of al-‘Irbāḍ ibn Sāriyah al-Fazārī, may Allāh be pleased with him.] The glad tidings recorded in the four Gospels — that have been conveyed in this work — are the glad tidings referred to in the preceding Ḥadīth (“the glad tiding of Jesus”).

Whoever rejects Muḥammad is, in fact, even more severe in his rejection of the Messiah, because belief in them is interlocking: the truthful Christian, in his following of the Messiah, must believe in Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) and follow his law; otherwise he is in disobedience to them both and deserving of the Fire.

Moreover, whoever believes in Muḥammad must believe in the Messiah (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon them both); otherwise he is a disbeliever in Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), because belief in the Messiah and in all the prophets is commanded by Allāh in the Qur’ān. Whoever does not believe in the Messiah or in any other of the messengers is a disbeliever in the Qur’ān. Allāh said in the Qur’ān: {The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and so have the believers. All of them have believed in Allāh and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and we obey. Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.”} [Sūrat Al-Baqarah (the Cow), 2:285].

The meaning of {We make no distinction between any of His messengers} is: we do not believe in some of the messengers and disbelieve in others; rather we believe in them all. In sum: whoever believes in the two noble Messengers — the Messiah and Muḥammad (peace be upon them both) — has attained the honor of faith in them both; and whoever rejects either of them has rejected them all.

RABBIS, PASTORS, NUNS, AND ORDINARY PEOPLE REGARDING THE PROPHECIES FORETELLING MUḤAMMAD, AS CONTAINED IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

1. It is wondrous that I did not pay attention to these glad tidings throughout my entire life.

2. The glad tidings are very strong.

3. These glad tidings are most terrifying. I had no idea before about these glad tidings which establish the prophethood of Muḥammad by the Lord.

4. My head cannot bear the magnitude of astonishment. How many great and powerful glad tidings about Muḥammad, the Prophet of the religion of Islam, was in the depths of the Holy Book.

5. The glad tidings are numerous.

6. What more do we need than these glad tidings as proof that Muḥammad is in truth the prophet of the Lord, sent in the final ages? 7. After these glad tidings, I find a great change in my view of him, and that he is an ideal person.

8. My entire faith has transformed, and it has made me a wholly different person.

9. Muḥammad was not a liar.

10. Had Muḥammad been a liar, his religion would have faded away entirely since its inception.

11. Muḥammad was never a mere claimant to prophethood, as some allege.

12. These glad tidings established Muḥammad as a prophet, even before his birth.

13. The Lord truly sent Muḥammad to be the prophet of the end of times.

14. The Holy Book leaves us with no choices but to believe in Muḥammad without the slightest doubt.

15. If I were to think of denying Muḥammad’s prophethood, I would be unjust to our own Holy Book.

16. These glad tidings are the true miracles that proves the prophethood of Muḥammad.

17. If we chose to go astray, only then would we ignore those glad tidings which unequivocally confirm that Muḥammad is the Prophet sent by the Lord.

18. Muḥammad was supported by the Lord.

19. Muḥammad possesses a supportive power by Allāh. 20. The sheer volume and clarity of these glad tidings demonstrate that Muḥammad was not merely a prophet, but he was indeed a man supported by the Lord, who led a great nation, and a firm and enduring message.

21. The hatred toward Muḥammad was cleared by the Lord, who led me to a reading of these glad tidings.

22. How much I used to detest Muḥammad and his prophethood — but these glad tidings have proven for me that Muḥammad is a true, righteous man.

23. My hatred of Muḥammad made me view him as the basest of men, but my view of him will completely change after my reading these glad tidings.

24. These glad tidings make plain that there are no doubts about his prophethood.

25. These glad tidings leave the soul no room for denial and rejection of Muḥammad as a person, a prophet, and a messenger from the Lord.

26. The truthfulness of this Prophet accords with the Holy Book itself; we cannot give the lie to the Holy Book, otherwise we would not be true believers.

27. Whoever describes Muḥammad as being insane is backward; a man heralded by such beautiful glad tidings is far above being characterized by such baseline traits.

28. These glad tidings have made my eyes open to the fact that Muḥammad is the greatest person known to mankind. 29. Had Muḥammad’s claims been false and had the Lord not mentioned these glad tidings in the Holy Book, his prophetic mission would not have achieved such success among mankind, nor would he have become the most famous and widely mentioned man on earth.

30. What the Holy Book says about Muḥammad makes of him a truthful prophet sent by the Lord to all nations, to be in fact the last of all the Prophets.

31. These glad tidings, which I have found mentioned in the Holy Book, prove that the Lord chose Muḥammad to be the last of the prophets and the messengers, and the prophet of all nations.

32. What is wondrous is that I never noticed these glad tidings throughout my entire life, Jewish law denies the prophethood of this man, incites strongly against him, and gives the lie to the truth of his prophethood! This is the most contradictory matter, and it appears to me that the defect lies in our Jewish religious law, and not in Muḥammad and his religion.

33. These claims and these glad tidings confirm that what our Jewish religious law says about hatred and aversion toward Muḥammad and the religion of Islam is devoid of truth, because the Holy Book itself establishes [the truth of] them. 34. I can find no justification for the animoristy held by the holy churches toward the Prophet Muḥammad, whom the Lord himself foretold in the Holy Book and prophesied about/foretold of since ancient times.

The book is completed, may Allāh make it beneficial.

For whoever desires further reading and benefit, and they are published on the internet:

1. Is the Messiah a Lord? 2. The Three Fundamental Principles Upon Which the Religion of Islam is Based.

3. Who Deserves to be Worshipped? 4. Eleven facts about Jesus 5. The Amazing Prophecies of Muḥammad in the Bible