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The one Jesus foretold

Prophecies of the prophet after Jesus

Jesus said, 'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now' (John 16:12), and promised one who would guide into all truth. Moses foretold a prophet like himself. Muslims believe these point to Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Christians rightly accept Jesus because the Hebrew prophets foretold the Messiah. Muslims apply the same principle one step further: the Torah and Gospel also foretell a final prophet, and the Quran says of him that the People of the Book “find him written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel” (7:157). Read the passages below and weigh them honestly.

QuranQuran 61:6
And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “O Children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allāh to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad.” But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, “This is obvious magic.”

A prophet like Moses, from the brethren of Israel

BibleDeuteronomy 18:18-19
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. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
  • 'From among their brethren' - the brethren of the Israelites (descendants of Isaac) are the Ishmaelites (descendants of Ishmael, Genesis 16:12, 25:18). Muhammad is a descendant of Ishmael.
  • 'Like unto thee (Moses)' - Moses and Muhammad were both born naturally, married, had children, led their people, received a law, fought their enemies, ruled as statesmen, and died natural deaths. Jesus - per Christian belief - was born of a virgin, never married, brought no new law, was rejected by his people and was crucified. He is not 'like Moses' in these respects.
  • 'I will put my words in his mouth' - the Quran was revealed word for word to an unlettered prophet who recited exactly what he received: 'Say...' appears over 300 times. The Quran itself says of him: 'Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed' (53:3-4).
  • 'Speak in my name' - every chapter of the Quran but one begins: 'In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'
  • John 1:19-21 shows the Jews were still awaiting three figures: the Christ, Elijah, and 'that Prophet'. John the Baptist denied being any of them. 'That Prophet' was a figure distinct from the Christ.

The Comforter / Advocate who will guide into all truth

BibleJohn 16:7-13
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment... Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
  • The Comforter (Greek parakletos - 'advocate, one who pleads') comes only after Jesus departs. Yet the Holy Spirit was already present before and during Jesus' ministry (Luke 1:41, 2:25-26, John 20:22), so this cannot simply be the Holy Spirit.
  • 'He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak' - the Quran describes Muhammad in identical terms: 'Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed' (53:3-4).
  • 'He will guide you into all truth' and 'abide with you for ever' (John 14:16) - a complete and final message, preserved unchanged. The Quran: 'This day I have perfected for you your religion' (5:3).
  • 'He shall glorify me' (John 16:14) - the Quran honours Jesus more than any book outside the Gospels, clearing him and his mother of every slander.
  • Jesus says 'another Comforter' (John 14:16) - another of the same kind as himself: a human messenger.
  • The Quran records Jesus giving 'good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Aḥmad' (61:6). Ahmad and Muhammad both mean 'the praised one' - the meaning of the Greek periklytos, which differs from parakletos by only a few letters.

The servant from Kedar (Arabia), in whom God delights

BibleIsaiah 42:1-12
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles... He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law... Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth... Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord.
  • Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13), the ancestor of the Arabs of the Hijaz - the region of Mecca and Medina.
  • 'The isles shall wait for his law' - Jesus brought no new law (Matthew 5:17); Muhammad brought a complete law (Shariah) followed today by nearly two billion people.
  • 'A new song... his praise from the end of the earth' - a new scripture in a new language, Arabic, with God's praise proclaimed five times daily from every land.
  • 'He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth' - Muhammad lived to see his mission triumph throughout Arabia. Jesus, in the Christian account, was rejected and killed.
  • Matthew 12:18 applies the opening verse to Jesus, but the chapter as a whole - Kedar, a new law, the wilderness, victory in this life - describes the Arabian prophet.

The book given to one who is not learned

BibleIsaiah 29:12
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
  • The first revelation to Muhammad in the cave of Hira: the angel Gabriel said 'Read!' (Iqra). He replied: 'I am not a reader.' This happened three times before the first verses were revealed (Quran 96:1-5). The account is recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari.
  • Muhammad is called 'the unlettered prophet' in the Quran (7:157-158).

The Holy One from Mount Paran

BibleDeuteronomy 33:2 and Habakkuk 3:3
The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints. / God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
  • Three locations, three revelations: Sinai (Moses and the Torah), Seir in Palestine (Jesus and the Gospel), and Paran (Muhammad and the Quran).
  • Genesis 21:21 places Ishmael's settlement in 'the wilderness of Paran' - the mountains of Arabia around Mecca.
  • 'He came with ten thousands of saints' - Muhammad entered Mecca peacefully in 630 CE with ten thousand companions, forgiving the city that had persecuted him.
  • 'The earth was full of his praise' - the name Muhammad literally means 'the one who is praised'.

The kingdom given to another nation

BibleMatthew 21:42-43
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner... Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
  • Jesus foretold that God's kingdom would pass from the Children of Israel to another nation. The descendants of Ishmael - the rejected son, sent into the desert - became that nation.
  • The Prophet Muhammad said: 'My likeness and the likeness of the prophets before me is that of a man who built a house, perfect and beautiful, except for the place of one brick. People went around it admiring it, saying: If only this brick were put in place! I am that brick, and I am the seal of the prophets' (Bukhari and Muslim).

God's promise to Ishmael

BibleGenesis 17:20 and Genesis 21:13, 18
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. / And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. / Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
  • God promised Abraham to bless Ishmael and make from him 'a great nation'. No nation descended from Ishmael became great until Muhammad united the Arabs under the worship of the One God.
  • Genesis 22:2 calls Isaac Abraham's 'only son' - yet Ishmael was born 14 years before Isaac (Genesis 16:16, 21:5). Muslims hold that the son of the sacrifice was Ishmael, the only son at the time of the trial.
  • Mecca (Bakkah) is named in Psalm 84:6 as a 'valley of Baca' that pilgrims pass through, and the Quran uses the same name: 'Indeed, the first House [of worship] established for mankind was that at Bakkah [i.e., Makkah]' (3:96).

'Altogether lovely' - Muhammadim

BibleSong of Solomon 5:16
His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
  • In the Hebrew text, the phrase translated 'altogether lovely' is 'Machamaddim' (מַחֲמַדִּים) - the root M-H-M-D, the same root as the name Muhammad, with the plural 'im' of respect (as in Elohim).
  • Muslims present this not as a sole proof but as one more thread in a consistent pattern across the Scriptures.

Who was Muhammad?

Born in Mecca in 570 CE, a descendant of Abraham through Ishmael, Muhammad (peace be upon him) was known before prophethood as al-Amin, the Trustworthy. At forty he received the first revelation of the Quran, and for twenty-three years he called the idol-worshipping Arabs to the One God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. He was persecuted, exiled, and finally victorious - entering Mecca with ten thousand followers and forgiving his former enemies. He abolished idolatry, infanticide, and racism (“an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab... except by piety”), established rights for women, orphans and the poor, and died in 632 CE having delivered a complete, preserved scripture. He claimed no divinity, performed no act of worship toward himself, and insisted: “I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God” (Quran 18:110).

Jesus said: “Worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Matthew 4:10. That is Islam: submitting to the One God alone, exactly as Jesus did. Take a moment to see how simple the next step is.

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