This article examines the teaching of Dr. Jamal Badawi
in his leaflet called, Muhammad in the Bible. Dr. Badawi quotes the following
Qur'anic verse on his title page: Those who follow the Apostle, the unlettered
Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own Scriptures, in the
Torah and the Gospel (Qur'an 7:157, Yusuf Ali). He then seeks to
demonstrate that Muhammad is foretold in the Bible. Sections of
Dr. Badawi's material have been reproduced for academic review and are responded
to in order. The Bible translation used is the RSV or NIV, and the New Bible
Dictionary [1] is abbreviated to NBD. (sic) indicates that despite
appearances, the text given is exact.
Dr. Badawi begins his leaflet =>
Muhammad in the Bible. - by Dr. Jamal Badawi.
Abraham is widely regarded as the Patriarch of monotheism and the
common father of the Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Through his second
son, Isaac, came all the Israelite prophets including such towering
figures as Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus. May peace
and blessing be upon all of them. The advent of these great prophets
was the partial fulfilment of God's promises to bless the nations of
the earth through the descendants of Abraham Genesis 12:2-3. Such
fulfilment is wholeheartedly accepted by Muslims whose faith considers
the belief in and respect of all prophets an article of faith.
Blessings of Ishmael and Isaac.
Was the first born son of Abraham (Ishmael) and his descendants
included in God's covenant and promise? A few verses from the
Bible may help shed some light on this question:
Genesis 12:2-3 speaks of God's promise to Abraham and his
descendants before any child was born to him.
Genesis 17:4 reiterates God's promise after the birth of
Ishmael and before the birth of Isaac.
In Genesis ch. 21, Isaac is specifically blessed but Ishmael
was also specifically blessed and promised by God to become
"a great nation" especially in Genesis 21:13,18.
According to Deuteronomy 21:15-17 the traditional rights
and privileges of the first born son are not to be affected
by the social status of his mother (being a "free"
woman such as Sarah, Isaac's mother, or a "Bondwoman";
such as Hagar, Ishmael's mother), This is only consistent with
the moral and humanitarian principles of all revealed faiths.
The full legitimacy of Ishmael as Abraham's son and "seed"
and the full legitimacy of his mother, Hagar, as Abraham's wife
are clearly stated in Genesis 21:13 and 16:3.
After Jesus, the last Israelite messenger and prophet, it was
time that God's promise to bless Ishmael and his descendants
be fulfilled. Less than 600 years after Jesus, came the last
messenger of God, Muhammad, from the progeny of Abraham through
Ishmael. God's blessing of both of the main branches of Abraham's
family tree was now fulfilled.
Response: Jamal Badawi correctly refers
to Genesis 12:2-3 as the promise God gave to Abraham to bless all
nations through him: ... in you all the families of the earth
will be blessed. Dr. Badawi then asks, Was the first born of
Abraham (Ishmael) and his descendants included in God's covenant
and promise? Then Dr. Badawi refers to Genesis 17:4 to show that
God's blessing and covenant made with Abraham were passed to his
son Ishmael. Let us read these verses in context to judge whether
this interpretation is true:
Then Abram (Abraham) fell on his face; and God said to him, "Behold,
my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of
nations ... And I will establish my covenant between me and you and
your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant" ... And Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live in thy
sight!" God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a
son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant
with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make
him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father
of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But I will
establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at
this season next year." (Genesis 17:3-21, RSV)
Genesis 17 teaches that Ishmael is to be blessed and become a
great nation, but the covenant, through which God will bless
the world, is specifically taught to be passed to Isaac and not to
Ishmael. When Genesis 17 is read in context it says the exact
opposite of what Dr. Badawi is teaching.
Next, Dr. Badawi refers to Genesis 21 to imply that the blessing
given to Ishmael means he also received the covenant by which all
nations would be blessed. But this scripture does not say that
Ishmael received the covenant; it says that he is blessed to become a nation:
And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also,
because he is your offspring. Genesis 21:13. Thus, Genesis 21
does not say that Ishmael will mediate God's covenant of blessing
to the world.
Points 4 and 5 of Dr. Badawi's argument seek to show that Ishmael
was the legal heir of Abraham, and thus would inherit the covenant
and promise. However, the covenant of God's blessing is not a simple
matter that follows the law of inheritance for earthly possessions.
Rather, it is always given by the sovereign choice of God and not
on the basis of position in a family. God is not responsible to
anyone and chooses as he wills: he has mercy upon whomever he wills,
and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills (Romans 9:18, RSV).
Abraham had at least six other sons along with Ishmael and Isaac.
Abraham's sons were blessed by God and many of them also became
nations along with the Israelites and the Ishmaelites (see Genesis 25).
But from among the sons of Abraham God chose Isaac to inherit the covenant.
Dr. Badawi continues his leaflet =>
Muhammad: The Prophet Like Unto Moses.
Long (sic) time after Abraham, God's promise to send the long-awaited
Messenger was repeated this time in Moses' words. In Deuteronomy 18:18,
Moses spoke of the prophet to be sent by God who is:
1) From among the Israelites, "brethren", a reference to their Ishmaelite
cousins as Ishmael was the other son of Abraham who was explicitly
promised to become a "great nation".
2) A prophet like unto Moses. There were hardly any two prophets
who were so much alike as Moses and Muhammad. Both were given
comprehensive law code of life, both encountered their enemies
and were victors in miraculous ways, both were accepted as
prophets/statesmen and both migrated following conspiracies to
assassinate them. Analogies between Moses and Jesus overlooks
not only the above similarities but other crucial ones as well
(eg. the natural birth, family life and death of Moses and
Muhammad but not of Jesus ...)
Response: Dr. Badawi is right to refer to
Deuteronomy 18:18 as a verse which predicts the coming of another prophet after
Moses. Here is the verse in context. The context describes the characteristics
of the prophet like Moses:
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire,
who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,
or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. ...
(instead) 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.
... But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not
commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods,
must be put to death." (Deuteronomy 18:10-20, NIV)
Is Muhammad the fulfilment of this prophecy?
Dr. Badawi claims that Muhammad is the
fulfilment for two reasons. Firstly, Muhammad was a descendent
of Ishmael and the Ishmaelites are the "brothers" who are mentioned in Deuteronomy
18:18. Secondly, Muhammad is like Moses and Deuteronomy 18:18 says that the prophet will
be like Moses.
There are five reasons why Dr. Badawi's identification of Muhammad as the
fulfilment of Deuteronomy 18:18 is incorrect.
Reason 1. Deuteronomy 18:11 says that the true prophet like Moses
will not be involved with the casting of spells. But Muhammad was accepted
casting spells.
'Auf b. Malik Ashja'i reported We practised incantation in the pre-Islamic
days and we said: Allah's Messenger, what is your opinion about it?
He said: Let me know your incantation and said: There is no harm
in the incantation which does not smack of polytheism.
(Muslim: book 26, number 5457, Siddiqui)
Reason 2. Deuteronomy 18:20 says that any prophet who presumes to speak
what God has not spoken to him is not a true prophet like Moses. Muhammad
admitted that he spoke words in God's name that God did not say:
I ascribed to Allah, what He had not said. (Ibn Sa'd, vol. 1, p. 237)
I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him
words which He has not spoken. (Al-Tabari, vol. 6, p. 111)
Reason 3. The title of Dr. Badawi's leaflet is, Muhammad in the Bible.
And as the title suggests, and the content of the leaflet shows,
Dr. Badawi is attempting to teach from the Bible. Now the Bible actually tells us
who the prophet of Deuteronomy 18:18 is.
(Jesus said:) If you believed Moses, you would believe me,
for he wrote of me. (John 5:46, RSV)
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers,
has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed,
and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let
him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked
that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of
life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of
this. ... Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance,
as did your leaders.
But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through
all the prophets, saying that his Christ
would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your
sins may be wiped out, that times of
refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the
Christ, who has been appointed for you--even
Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for
God to restore everything, as he promised long ago
through his holy prophets. For Moses said, "The Lord your
God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells
you. Anyone who does not listen to him
will be completely cut off from among his people." (Acts 3:13-23, NIV)
These verses from the Bible indicate that Jesus is
the prophet that Moses spoke of. If Dr. Badawi genuinely wanted to show from
the Bible who the prophet is, then why did he not refer to
these Bible verses? They explain that prophet like Moses
is Jesus.
Reason 4. In Deuteronomy 18:18 God says:
I will raise up for them a prophet like
you (Moses) from among their brothers ... Deuteronomy 18:18, NIV
Dr. Badawi says that
the word brothers indicates that the prophet was to come
from the Ishmaelite tribe since the Ishmaelites were a
brother tribe of the Israelites.
This is both true and false. It is true
that the Ishmaelites were a brother
nation to the Israelites - but so too were the Edomites, Moabites,
Ammonites, and many others nations. So it is false to assume that the
word brothers automatically means Ishmaelites for it could apply
to any of these other brother nations. Who it applies to depends upon the
context. In the
Law of Moses the word brother normally refers to a brother
Israelite. When the word brother is meant
to apply to Israel's brother nations the context makes this clear, usually
by referring to which nation it means (see
Deuteronomy 3:4). But the context of Deuteronomy
18:18 does not refer to any of these other
nations. Therefore, from the context, the word brothers just has the normal
meaning of fellow Israelite. This means the prophet
like Moses is to be an Israelite.
Reason 5. In Deuteronomy 18:18 God says that he will raise up
for the Israelites a prophet like Moses. Dr. Badawi says that
Muhammad is more like Moses than Jesus is, and
therefore Muhammad is the prophet like Moses.
The error Dr. Badawi has made here is that he has chosen what
aspects to compare between Moses, Muhammad and Jesus rather than listening to
what God says must be compared. In Dr. Badawi's comparison he has
compared aspects like military activity, the nature of their birth and death,
and other aspects of their lives. He has also conveniently chosen not to
compare certain aspects which don't agree with his conclusion, eg. which
men were Jewish and which performed miracles? By
his selective choosing of which aspects to compare and which to ignore Dr.
Badawi can make Muhammad appear like Moses. This situation leaves us with
an important question, which aspects are essential to compare in order to know
if a prophet is like Moses?
God has graciously told us one aspect that must be compared if a prophet
is to be like Moses:
To the law (of Moses) and to the testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Isaiah 8:20
In this verse we see that for a prophet to be a genuine prophet of God
his prophecy must agree with the word that God gave to Moses. Therefore what
the prophet like Moses says must agree with what Moses said. This is the
crucial comparison that must be made. If a prophet contradicts what
Moses said then it doesn't matter how many other aspects of his life are
like Moses; he has failed the essential comparison, and so it not
like Moses.
So the question for us is, does Muhammad's prophecy (the Qur'an) agree
with what Moses said in the Law? The answer to this is no. Muhammad contradicts Moses at
many major points and so is not a prophet like Moses. Here is one major example -
the concept of justice.
In the Law of Moses the punishment for stealing is that the thief
must repay the property he stole plus an additional amount to compensate Leviticus 6:1-5,
Exodus 22:3-4. If the thief cannot repay then he is forced to work to repay his
debt Exodus 22:1. The maximum length of time that he can work is
six years, then he must be released Deuteronomy 15:12-14. This type of justice is property punishment
for a property crime.
In the Qur'an however a thief is to have his hand cut off Qur'an 5:38.
This type of justice is a permanent lifelong physical punishment for a property
crime and is a fundamentally different type of justice to that found
in the Law of Moses. Muhammad's prophecy (the Qur'an) does not agree
with the Law of Moses and therefore Muhammad is not
a prophet like Moses.
Dr. Badawi continues his leaflet =>
The Awaited Prophet Who Was To Come From Arabia.
Deuteronomy 33:1-2 combines references to Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.
It speaks of God (i.e. God's revelation) coming from Sinai, rising from
Seir (probably the village of Sa'ir near Jerusalem) and shining forth
from Paran. According to Genesis 21:21, the wilderness of Paran was
the place where Ishmael settled (i.e. Arabia, specifically Mecca).
Indeed the King James Version of the Bible mentions the pilgrims
passing through the valley of Ba'ca (another name of Mecca) in
Psalms 84:4-6.
Isaiah 42:1-13 speaks of the beloved of God. His elect and
messenger who will bring down a law to be awaited in the isles
and who "shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set
judgement on earth". Verse 11 connects that awaited one with
the descendants of Ke'dar. Who is Ke'dar? According to Genesis 25:13,
Ke'dar was the second son of Ishmael, the ancestor of the
Prophet Muhammad.
Response: Dr. Badawi claims that Deuteronomy
33:1-2 predicts that revelation will come from Sinai, Jerusalem, and
Mecca. These verses say:
This is the blessing with which Moses
the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
He said, "The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned from Se'ir upon us;
he shone forth from Mount Paran" (Deuteronomy 33:1-2, RSV)
Firstly, these verses do not even mention revelation of any
sort at all. So the verse is not even speaking about revelation.
Secondly, Dr. Badawi has incorrectly identified two of the locations:
he says that Se'ir is near Jerusalem. It is not. Se'ir is in the
country of Edom (NBD) south of the Dead Sea while Jerusalem is to
the north of the Dead Sea. Then he claims that the Wilderness of
Paran is Mecca; again this is wrong. The Wilderness of Paran is
about 200km south west of the Dead Sea (NBD) and is approximately
1000km from Mecca!
Next, Dr. Badawi refers to Psalm 84 and says that the Baca Valley
is Mecca. The verse from Psalm 84 is:
Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose
heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
(Psalm 84:5-6, RSV)
These verses only tell how pilgrims travel through the
Baca Valley; they do not say that a Prophet will arise from there.
Therefore, even if the Baca Valley of Psalm 84 is the same as the
Bakkah of Mecca that does not prove that a Prophet will arise from
there. The Bible, however, uses valleys to describe our experience of
God. In Psalm 23 there is the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
in Joel 3:14 the Valley of Decision, and in Isaiah 22 the
Valley of Vision. The word
(Baca) is Hebrew for
weep(ing) (NBD). So the Valley of Baca is literally
translated the Valley of Weeping. In this Psalm it
symbolises the weeping and difficulties that pilgrims have to endure
when they travel across harsh terrain on their pilgrimage.
Then, Dr. Badawi claims that Isaiah 42:1-13, connects the awaited
one with the descendants of Ke'dar. Let us consider some of
these verses:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the
nations ... Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of
the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands
and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their
voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of
Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the
coastlands. (Isaiah 42:1-12, RSV)
It is true that they are connected, but so too are the people of
Sela. In fact, all people from the ends of the earth
are connected and will praise God when he brings his chosen Servant.
Isaiah 42 is not saying from which nation the Servant will come,
as Dr. Badawi claims; it just tells us that many nations will praise God when
his Servant does come.
The Bible actually tells us who the Servant of Isaiah 42 is:
And many followed him (Jesus), and he healed them all, and ordered
them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what was spoken
by the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, my servant whom I have
chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will
put my Spirit upon him" (Matthew 12:15-18, RSV).
In Isaiah 53 God foretells more about his Servant:
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ...
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:1-12, NIV)
There has only ever been Servant who was an offering for sin,
who bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
This Servant is Jesus who died on the cross to pay for our sins.
Jesus said of himself: For the Son of man also came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
(Mark 10:45, RSV) For Christ also died for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to
God. (1 Peter 3:18, RSV)
Dr. Badawi continues in his leaflet =>
Muhammad's Migration From Mecca To Medina: Prophesied In The Bible?
Habbakuk 3:3 speaks of God (God's help) coming from Te'man
(an Oasis north of Medina according to J. Hastings' Dictionary of
the Bible), and the holy one (coming) from Paran. That holy one
who under persecution migrated from Paran (Mecca) to be received
enthusiastically in Medina was none but prophet Muhammad.
Indeed the incident of the migration of the prophet
and his persecuted followers is vividly described in
Isaiah 21:13-17. That section foretold as well about the
battle of Badr in which the few ill-armed faithful
miraculously defeated the "mighty" men of Ke'dar, who sought
to destroy Islam and intimidate their own folks who turned to Islam.
Response Again Dr. Badawi refers to
Paran being Mecca. We have already seen that Paran is 1000km from
Mecca. He also claims that, J. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible,
says that Teman is an oasis north of Medina. Hasting's dictionary
[2] does not! Look at a scanned copy from Hastings'
dictionary for yourself:
p. 897
Edom was an ancient country just south of the Dead Sea (NBD).
Teman was a major well known district in Edom; it is about 800km
from Medina! The details Jamal Badawi has referred to from Hasting's
dictionary are not those for Teman, but in fact those for Tema:
p. 897
Tema is the oasis town north of Medina, not Teman.
Dr. Badawi has taken the information of Tema and said that it
applies to Teman! This is poor scholarship and deceitful.
If Jamal Badawi wants to be taken seriously as an academic then he must
quote information correctly and not twist it. What makes
his misquote all the more serious is that in his next quote
from the Bible (Isaiah 21:13-17) the Tema of Arabia is mentioned
and so Dr. Badawi must have known that there was a difference
between Tema and Teman:
The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you
will lodge, O caravans of De'danites. To the thirsty bring
water, meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the l
and of Tema. For they have fled from the swords, from
the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle.
For thus the Lord said to me, "Within a year, according
to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar will come to
an end; and the remainder of the archers of the mighty men
of the sons of Kedar will be few; for the LORD, the God of Israel,
has spoken." (Isaiah 21:13-17, RSV)
Dr. Badawi claims that Isaiah 21:13-17 predicts the Battle of Badr
(one of Muhammad's battles). This is an extreme example of teaching
out of context for this Scripture clearly says, Within a year,
and this word of God came to Isaiah around 700 B.C. That is 1300
years before Muhammad.
Dr. Badawi continues in his leaflet =>
The Qur'an (Koran) Foretold In The Bible?
... Was it another coincidence that Isaiah ties between the
messenger connected with Ke'dar and a new song (a scripture in a
new language) to be sang unto the Lord (Isaiah 42:10-11).
More explicitly, prophesies Isaiah "For with stammering lips, and
another tongue, will he speak to this people" (Isaiah 28:11).
This latter verse correctly describes the "stammering lips"
of prophet Muhammad reflecting the state of tension and
concentration he went through at the time of revelation.
Another related point is that the Qur'an was revealed in
piece-meals over a span of twenty-three years. It is interesting
to compare this with Isaiah 28:10 which speaks of the same thing.
Response: Dr. Badawi teaches that
when Isaiah 42:10 says: Sing to the LORD a new song, it is
foretelling a scripture in a new language. This is a
ridiculous interpretation of this verse. Firstly, there no
mention of any scripture, new or old, in this verse, so how can
it foretell the coming of any scripture? Secondly, Dr. Badawi makes
the ridiculous claim that the word song means language.
The word song means song!
Next, Dr. Badawi teaches that Isaiah 28 foretells Muhammad's state
of tension and concentration. What is the context of Isaiah 28?
After the death of King Solomon, Israel engaged in civil war and the
kingdom of Israel was divided between north and south. Ephraim was
a major tribe of the northern kingdom. This kingdom began to worship
two golden calves 1 Kings 12:28. Moses had warned Israel that if
they turn to other gods then:
The LORD will bring a nation (army)
against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the
eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand,
a nation of stern countenance, who shall not regard the person
of the old or show favor to the young (Deuteronomy 28:49-50, RSV)
Isaiah 28 is God's reminder to faithless Ephraim (Northern Israel) that he is
now going to send this army whose language you do not understand
to punish Ephraim:
Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim ... The
proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden under
foot ... Nay, but by men of strange lips and with an alien
tongue the LORD will speak to this people ... that they may go,
and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (Isaiah 28:1-13, RSV)
This historical event happened in 722 B.C. when the Assyrian army
conquered Israel; it has nothing to do with Muhammad's state of
tension and concentration.
Dr. Badawi continues his leaflet =>
That Prophet - Paraclete - Muhammad.
... In the Gospel according to John (Chapters 14,15,16)
Jesus spoke of the "Paraclete" or comforter who will come
after him, who will be sent by (sic) Father as another
Paraclete, who will teach new things which the contemporaries
of Jesus could not bear. While the Paraclete is described
as the spirit of truth (whose meaning resemble Muhammad's
famous title Al-Amin, the trustworthy) he is identified in
one verse as the Holy Ghost (John 14:26). Such a designation
is however inconsistent with the profile of that Paraclete ...
It was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who was the
Paraclete, Comforter, helper.
Response: The Greek word
(paraclete) refers to someone who
acts as a counsellor, a helper, an intercessor, or a
representative for someone else. Jesus acted this way for
his disciples as he taught them about God and begged God to
be merciful to them. Jesus was the first Paraclete. However,
Jesus promised that after he had returned to heaven, God would
send another Paraclete to be with the disciples. Jesus said:
And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another
Counsellor (Paraclete), to be with you forever. (John 14:16, RSV).
Jesus then tells us that the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit:
These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you.
But the Counsellor (Paraclete), the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things.
(John 14:25-26, RSV).
This is very clear teaching; Jesus directly
identifies the Paraclete as the Holy Spirit. Therefore, since
Muhammad in not the Holy Spirit he is not the Paraclete. However,
against what Jesus clearly teaches Dr. Badawi claims that the promised
Paraclete is in fact Muhammad. To better understand who the second
Paraclete is, and why Jesus calls him the Holy Spirit, we must
consider what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit.
The Bible records how God gave his Holy Spirit to his
Prophets and other individuals to empower them to know
and do his will. However, God promised that a time would
come when all his people would have the Holy Spirit:
I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and
be careful to observe my ordinances (Ezekiel 36:27, RSV).
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will
pour out my spirit (Joel 2:28, RSV).
These two prophesies were
revealed hundreds of years before Jesus. The Prophet, John the
Baptist, said that Jesus was the man
who would fulfil God's promise and give the Holy Spirit to God's people:
And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove
from heaven, and it remained on him (Jesus). I myself did not know
him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me,
`He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he
who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'" (John 1:32-33, RSV)
Jesus promised that those who believed in him would receive
the Spirit after he had been glorified through death and resurrection:
Jesus stood up and proclaimed, "If any one is thirsty, let him come to
me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has
said, `Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"
Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him
were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39, RSV)
Jesus particularly told his Apostles that the Holy Spirit
would come and help them remember and know all his teaching,
so that they could be faithful witnesses:
These things I have spoken to you, while I am
still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom
the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said
to you. (John 14:25-26, RSV)
After his death and resurrection (see John 19ff), Jesus
told his Apostles that the time had come for them to receive
the Holy Spirit:
you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses
in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end
of the earth (Acts 1:8, RSV).
After Jesus said this, he ascended
into heaven and left his Apostles Acts 1:9. Then the Spirit
came, as Jesus promised, and the Apostles were all filled
with the Holy Spirit Acts 2:4, RSV.
The Spirit then taught the Apostles just as Jesus
had promised in John 14:25-26:
Now we (Apostles) have
received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is from God, that we might understand the gifts
bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not
taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit
(1 Corinthians 2:12-13 also Ephesians 3:4-6, RSV).
The Apostle Peter proclaims God's promise for us
today:
And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38, RSV).
Jesus calls the Paraclete the Holy Spirit because the
Paraclete is the Holy Spirit. God announced, through
his prophets, that he would give his Holy Spirit to his people.
Jesus came and fulfilled this promise. Jesus gave the Holy
Spirit to his Apostles, and as they preached the Gospel more
people received the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete in John 14,
15, 16, is the Holy Spirit, as Jesus clearly said and
not Muhammad.
Dr. Badawi continues with his leaflet =>
Was The Shift Of Religious Leadership Prophesied?
Following the rejection of the last Israelite prophet,
Jesus, it was about time that God's promise to make Ishmael
a great nation be fulfilled (Genesis 21:13,18).
In Matthew 21:19-21, Jesus spoke of the fruitless fig
tree (A Biblical symbol of prophetic heritage) to be cleared
after being given a last chance of three years (the duration
of Jesus' ministry) to give fruit. In a later verse in the
same chapter, Jesus said "Therefore I say unto you, The
Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and
given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof"
(Matthew 21:43). That nation of Ishmael's descendants (
the rejected stone in Matthew 21:42) which was victorious
against all super-powers of its time as prophesied by
Jesus: "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be
broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind
him to powder" (Matthew 21:44).
Response: Dr. Badawi is right to
quote Matthew 21:43 to indicate that Jesus saw a Shift in
Religious Leadership. Dr. Badawi has failed, however, to refer
to the rest of the chapter to get this verse in context.
Jesus clearly indicates who he is shifting the religious leadership to:
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against
it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19, RSV).
When the hour came, he (Jesus) sat at table, and the apostles with him.
And he said to them ... "as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I
appoint for you" (Luke 22:14-29, RSV).
Jesus gave the religious leadership to Peter and his
other Apostles. These 12 Apostles signified the 12 tribes
of the new nation of Israel who were to witness for God.
Then, Dr. Badawi claims the rejected stone in
Matthew 21:42 is the nation of Ishmael's descendants
and the military conquests of Muhammad. Dr. Badawi offers no
evidence to support his opinion. He also ignores the fact
that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the stone:
... be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing
before you well. This is the stone which was rejected by
you builders, but which has become the head of the corner.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
(Acts 4:10-12, RSV)
Dr. Badawi concludes his leaflet =>
Out Of Context Coincidence?
Is it possible that the numerous prophesies cited
here are all individually and combined out of context misinterpretations? ...
Response: Yes, Jamal Badawi has taken
verses of the Bible out of context and misrepresented the Jewish
and Christian Scriptures. He has misquoted J. Hastings' dictionary,
and misled his readers in the identification of geographical locations.
These methods show that Dr. Badawi has no academic credibility. As a result,
he has failed to show that Muhammad is foretold in the Bible. Muhammad is
not foretold in the Bible as the Qur'an claims.
The evaluation of Jamal Badawi's leaflet has finished but you are invited
to read two related topics
What about Jesus? Jesus claimed that he was foretold:
He (Jesus) said to them, "This is what I told you while
I was still with you: Everything must
be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of
Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44
Is Jesus' claim true? Is he really foretold or is the evidence for Jesus
just like the evidence for Muhammad? The article entitled,
"The Message of the Prophets" examines some of the prophecies that Jesus fulfils.
You may like to examine the evidence for yourself and make up your own mind.
[1] J.D. Douglas and others (ed.), New Bible Dictionary (2nd edition;
Leicester: IVP, 1987)
[2] James Hastings (ed.), Dictionary of the Bible (Edinburgh:
T. & T. Clark, 1914) single volume edition. Hastings also
edited a five volume dictionary of the Bible (1902), however
there is no reference to an Oasis north of Medina in this edition.
Ibn Sa'd, Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir, (translator: S. Moinul Haq)
New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 2 volumes, no date.
The Holy Bible - New International Version(NIV), London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997
Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari, vol. 6, "Muhammad at Mecca"
(trans. W. Montgomery Watt & M.V. McDonald),
Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1988.
The author welcomes your response via email.
Christian-Muslim Discussion Papers 2004
Further Discussion Papers by Samuel Green
In this post I will be focusing on the witness of the Synoptic Gospels, particularly that of Luke, in order to show that Jesus is described as Lord in the sense of being YHWH God Almighty who humbled himself to become a human being. I will prove that when the
In Luke’s Gospel, the angel Gabriel comes to the blessed Virgin to announce that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Lord who will sit enthroned on David’s throne in order to rule as King forever:
“Now in the sixth month, the angel
