MUHAMMAD IN JEWISH SCRIPTURES (THE OLD TESTAMENT)

MUHAMMAD IN JEWISH SCRIPTURES (THE OLD TESTAMENT)

1) Muhammad (pbuh) prophesized in the book of Deuteronomy:
a) God Almighty speaks to Moses in Book of Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 18:

"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."

b) Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is like Moses (pbuh):

i) Both had a father and a mother.

ii) Both were married and had children.

iii) Both were accepted as Prophets by their people in their lifetime.

iv) Both besides being Prophets were also kings i.e. they could inflict capital punishment.

v) Both brought new laws and new regulations for their people.

vi) Both died a natural death.

c) Muhammad (pbuh) is from among the brethren of Moses (pbuh). Arabs are brethren of Jews. Abraham (pbuh) had two sons: Ishmail and Isaac. The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmail (pbuh) and the Jews are the descendants of Isaac (pbuh).

d) Words in the mouth:

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was unlettered and whatever revelations he received from God Almighty he repeated it verbatim.

Deuteronomy (18:18):
"I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."

2) Muhammad (pbuh) is prophesised in the book of Isaiah:
It is mentioned in the book of Isaiah chapter 29 verse 12:

"And the book is delivered to him that is not learned saying, ‘Read this, I pray thee’; and he saith, ‘I am not learned’.

"When Archangel Gabriel commanded Muhammad (pbuh) by saying ‘Iqra’, he replied "I am not learned".

3) Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is mentioned by name in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 verse 16:
"Hikko Mamittakim we kullo Muhammadim Zehdoodeh wa Zehrace Bayna Jerusalem."

"His mouth is most sweet: ye, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughter of Jerusalem."

All the prophecies mentioned in the Old Testament regarding Muhammad (pbuh) besides applying to the Jews also hold good for the Christians (H Q. 61:6).

Source:DZN-Comparitive Religion

To be Continued....

5th Dream in the Qur’an - DREAMS IN ISLAM

5th. Dream:

The Qur’an draws our attention to the fact that Allah Most High Himself can choose to communicate a command through a dream. Abraham sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam was commanded by Allah Most High in a dream to sacrifice his son, Ishmael sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Wicked people changed the Torah so that they could substitute the name of Isaac sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam for Ishmael sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam as the child to be sacrificed. (Cf. the present writer’s book entitled, ‘The Religion of Abraham and the State of Israel - A View from the Qur’an).

Here is the divine command which came in a dream:

“We gave him the good news of a gentle son.  And when he reached the age when he could work with him his father said to him: My son, I dreamt that I was sacrificing you.  Tell me what you think (i.e., tell me what is your response).  He replied: Father, do as you are bidden.  Allah willing, you shall find me one of those who are steadfast.

And when they had both surrendered themselves to Allah’s will and Abraham had laid down his son prostrate upon his face, We called out to him, saying: Abraham, you have fulfilled your vision.  Thus did We reward the righteous. That was indeed a trial, clear in itself.  We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice and bestowed on him (the praise) of later generations.  Peace be on Abraham!”

 (Qur’an: al-Saffat:-37:99-109)

                                      

The dreams of Prophets have more clarity and reality than the waking experiences of other human beings.  And so Abraham sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam  had absolutely no doubt that Allah  Most High had commanded him, through the medium of a dream, that he should sacrifice his only son, Ishmael.  For the purposes of our subject we should recognize in this trial of our father, Abraham, the possibility that Allah  Most High may choose to communicate with us through the medium of dreams and require of us that we act in a particular way.  

Unless we remain constantly alive to the possibility that a dream of ours may hold such a communication, and monitor our dreams with care, we may negligently bypass that communication and may suffer as a result.  The revolutionary Islamic forces in the world need to note this fact with great care.

Source: Dreams in Islam by Imran Hosein
To be continued ....

Dreams in Pagan Arabia - DREAMS IN ISLAM

Dreams in pagan Arabia

It would be helpful for us, if we are to place the phenomenon of true dreams in wide perspective, that we should recall that even pre-Islamic Arabia had its share of vitally important dreams which impacted even on national affairs.  Thus, for example, we know that the grandfather of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, ‘Abd al-Muttalib, succeeded in rediscovering the famous lost spring of Zam Zam in Makkah after he was informed in a dream of its exact location.  This is what Ibn Ishaq has to say on the subject:

“While Abd al-Muttalib was sleeping in the sacred enclosure he had a dream in which he was ordered to dig Zam Zam which (was shown to be in) a depression between two idols of the Quraish, Isaf Na’ila, at the slaughter-place of Quraish.”⁷

                                                                          

This event played no little role in making him the Patriarch of Makkah. And his status as Patriarch of Makkah helped pave the way for his grandson to win the esteem of all Makkah.

Then, of course, we know that the mother of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam had a number of dreams prior to his birth in which she saw, for example, that a light was streaming from her body and illumining the world to such an extent that she could see the castles of Busra in Syria.

And, sure enough, her dreams came true when Muhammad sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam was born and grew to become a veritable ‘light unto the worlds’.  Ibn Sa’ad has recorded some of those dreams as follows:

“We used to hear that when Aminah bint Wahb was pregnant with the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam she used to say: I did not feel as if I was pregnant and I experienced no heaviness as other women do, except that my periods stopped; but I had a vision when I was in a state between sleep and wakefulness that a visitor came in and said: Do you know that you are pregnant?  I felt as if I answered: No.  Then he said: You are bearing the chief of this nation and its Prophet; that was on Monday.  She (Aminah) said: This fact assured me of my pregnancy.  Then he allowed me a respite until the time of the delivery approached, and the same visitor came to me and said: Say, I place him under the protection of the One , to Whom people resort in important matters (critical situations) to guard themselves against those who envy.  She said: I repeated those words and I related the circumstances to the women of my family.” ⁸

We also learn from Ibn Ishaq of the ancient Arab King, Tubba, who was advised to loot the Ka’aba of treasures but who, instead, followed the advice of two rabbis who warned him of the danger of such conduct.  And so the King visited the Ka’aba, and went around it in veneration (tawaf), sacrificed animals, shaved his head etc.  Ibn Ishaq then informs us that Tubba eventually became the first to cover the Ka’aba with a ghilaf (covering) and that he was ordered to do so in a dream:

“It was revealed to him in a dream that he should cover the temple, so he covered it with woven palm branches; a later vision (i.e., dream) showed him that he must do better so he covered it with Yamani cloth; a third vision induced him to cloth it with fine striped Yamani cloth.  People say that Tubba was the first man to cover the temple in this way.”⁹

Source: Dreams in Islam by Imran Hosein
To be continued ....