Alhamdulillah, another day spent rather well today. I learned a bit about the Bible; and was told something which I have heard only for the first time today, and it was very revealing to me. It seems that there are differences between the Catholic’s bible and the Protestant’s bible. The Protestant’s bible contained 39 books, which is 7 less than that of the Catholic’s. I would like to share a very revealing excerpt from the Bible. This verse is God’s words to Prophet Moses; it means that God is talking to Moses.
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” – Book of Deuteronomy, 18:18
The verse is clearly a prophecy about the advent of a prophet, a great prophet. So then, the question that would arise is: who is the said prophet? A Christian would quickly and naturally reply: Jesus. However, let us just look more closely at the biblical verse above. First of all, the Christians would claim that the Bible is the word of God. This means that the verse above is the word of God. So, if the verse above is the word of God, it means that the verse is completely true. And because God is All-knowing, He does not confuse or get confused. The verse above would be very precise and true. Now, if the Bible is not the word of God, then the verse above would be of no divine proportions, which would mean that we can count the whole Bible as invalid, as far as a holy book is concerned. It would imply that the verse above can be false. Therefore, if one claims that the verse above is incorrect, that would mean an implication that it is not the word of God, which entails to a fact that the Bible is not the word of God. That would mean that this whole discussion would then be unwarranted. Therefore, let us at least assume that the above verse is the word of God.
So, if the verse is a word of God, let us look through the words used by God in the prophecy. First of all, God said that He will send a “prophet”. Now then, a question that would be interesting to ask to the Christians is: is Jesus a prophet, or is he god? If according to the generally-known Christian dogma, Jesus is god. Therefore, the “prophet” mentioned in Deuteronomy [18:18] is not Jesus, for Jesus as understood by the Christians is god. There cannot be a god and a prophet in a single being; for a prophet is a messenger sent by God. If, say a Christian claims that Jesus is actually a prophet, then the concept of Jesus as a son of god becomes false. This entails to the invalidation of the concept of Trinity, the concept of original sin, and the belief that Jesus was crucified. Whichever it is, either Jesus is god or a prophet, it would prove a part of Christianity as invalid; which in turn proves that it is not a divine religion for God does not make mistakes.
Next, God mentioned in the verse that the prophet would be ‘like you’; meaning, like Moses for God is speaking to Moses in that verse. As mentioned earlier, if it is a word of God, then God would be very precise in the prophecy, word by word would have meaning and would point exactly as to who is being mentioned in the verse. So, who is this prophet who is somewhat like Moses? First of all, as a prophet, Moses was given the task of implementing the laws of God. Moses was given the commandment of implementing the laws of God, which included handing out punishments to those who did wrong. Jesus, on the other hand, was not given the task of handing out punishments and implementing the laws of God. Jesus was not given the task of governing. A detailed scrutiny into history would prove this correct. The fact is, Jesus was only given the task of following and confirming the truth of the religion taught by Moses before him, and to spread good news about the advent of The Seal of the Prophets. In Islam, this mission of Prophet Jesus is mentioned clearly in the following verse: “And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: ‘O Children of Israel! I am the apostle of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.’ But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, ‘this is evident sorcery!’” (Surah As-Saff, verse 6). So, the mission which was given to Jesus was not the same as the mission which was given to Moses. So, how can Jesus be the prophesized prophet who, as God mentioned, is like Moses?
Secondly, Moses got married when he was about 25 years old. Jesus, on the other hand, did not get married. This is again another fact showing that Jesus is not similar to Moses, and therefore cannot be the prophet who is mentioned in Deuteronomy [18:18]. Third, let us look at how the prophets died. Prophet Moses died of natural circumstances. Meaning, Moses did not die for being killed or because of any illness. Moses died naturally of old age. Jesus, on the other hand, did not die. God lifted Jesus into the heavens. Even if the Christians want to believe that Jesus did die, for the reasons of cleansing the original sin, then he died at the crucifix, killed. Again, Jesus is not the same as Moses in that sense. So, again, Jesus cannot be the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy [18:18].
After that, God mentioned in the verse that the prophet will come ‘from among their brothers’; which means, from among the brothers of the Jews, for Moses was a prophet sent to the Israels. Who then, are the brothers of the Jews? The answer: Arabs. Let’s move further back into history and look at Prophet Abraham, for it is from Prophet Abraham the lineages of the final prophets originate from. Prophet Abraham had two sons; Ishmael and Ishaq. Ishaq moved to Jurusalem and from there the lineage of the Jews came. His brother (again: brother), Ishmael moved to the Arabs and from there the holy linage of a holy Arab clan originate. So, when God mentioned that the prophet will come from ‘among their brothers’, God means that the prophet is not from their lineage. Jesus is a Jew, meaning he came from their lineage. So, again, the verse cannot be about Jesus.
Finally, the final part in Deuteronomy [18:18], God said that God will put His words in the prophet’s mouth, and that the prophet would speak everything that God commands him. This part of the verse means, rather clearly, that the prophet will not speak out of his own humanistic thinking. The prophet will speak according to God’s commands, and will follow God’s commands. This also means that whatever the prophet says becomes law, for whatever God commands is law. The prophet’s sayings and actions are then of the highest order in the authority of religion. Jesus, once again, does not fulfil this criteria for the mission of Jesus, as mentioned earlier, was not to implement and govern the law of God.
Therefore, God’s words in Deuteronomy [18:18] must refer to some other prophet. This prophet must be a great prophet, for it is prophesized in the Bible, and the prophecy goes back to the time of Moses. This prophet is then a prophet of great importance. This prophet must also be of a higher rank than Jesus, for Jesus is merely carrying the revelation which brings glad tidings of the coming of this prophet. So, if the Christians truly believe that the Bible is the word of God, then they must accept the fact that this great prophet who comes after Jesus is truly God’s Apostle, and that they must submit to his teachings.
Who is this great prophet? It is a question to which I believe the answer is inevitably evident. He is a prophet who is somewhat like Moses. He implements the law of God, and he governs. He got married at the age of 25. He died naturally of old age. He is an Arabic, a descendent of Prophet Ishmael. His words and actions becomes law of the religion he preaches. He is a man of the highest quality. He is none other than the most holy of all of God’s creations, the most truthful of all person, the most kind-hearted man in the world, the greatest leader in the history of mankind: he is Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam!
There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
Allah knows best.
All posts in this blog are my own personal views (unless explicitly mentioned otherwise) and are not to be associated with any organization or institution related to me.
2 comments
Click here for comments“Orang-orang (Yahudi dan Nasrani) yang telah Kami beri al-Kitab (Taurat dan Injil) mengenal Muhammad seperti mereka mengenal anak-anaknya sendiri. Dan sesungguhnya sebahagian di antara mereka menyembunyikan kebenaran, padahal mereka mengetahui.” (2:146)
Reply~Khadijah~
“Orang-orang (Yahudi dan Nasrani) yang telah Kami beri al-Kitab (Taurat dan Injil) mengenal Muhammad seperti mereka mengenal anak-anaknya sendiri. Dan sesungguhnya sebahagian di antara mereka menyembunyikan kebenaran, padahal mereka mengetahui.” (2:146)
Reply~Khadijah~