Will no doubt come as a surprise to many of you because the speaker is a Muslim. How does it come about that a Muslim happens to be expounding prophecies from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures? As a young man, about 30 years ago, I attended a series of religious lectures by a Christian theologian, a certain Rev. Hiten, at the "Theatre Royal", Durban.

Pope or Kissinger? This reverend gentleman was expounding Biblical prophecies. He went on to prove that the Christian Bible foretold the rise of Soviet Russia, and the Last Days. At one stage he went to the extent of proving that his Holy Book did not leave even the Pope out of its predictions. He expatiated vigorously in order to convince his audience that the "Beast 666" mentioned in the Book of Revelation - the last book of the New Testament - was the POPE, who was the Vicar of Christ on earth. It is not befitting for us Muslims to enter into this controversy between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. By the way, the latest Christian exposition of the "Beast 666" of the Christian Bible is Dr. Henry Kissinger^Note.2. Christian scholars are ingenious and indefatigable in their efforts to prove their case.
Rev. Hiten's lectures led me to ask that if the Bible foretold so many things - not even excluding the "Pope" and "Israel", - then surely it must have something to say about the greatest benefactor of mankind^Note.3 - the Holy prophet MUHAMMAD (may the peace of Allah be with him).
As a youngster I set out to search for an answer. I met priest after priest, attended lectures, and read everything that I could lay my hands relating to the field of Bible prophecies. Tonight I am going to narrate to you one of these interviews with a dominee^Note.4 of the Dutch Reformed Church.  

Lucky Thirteen? I was invited to the Transvaal^Note.5 to deliver a talk on the occasion of the Birthday celebration of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Knowing that in that Province of the Republic, the Afrikaans language is widely spoken, even by my own people, I felt that I ought to acquire a smattering of this language so as to feel a little "at home" with the people. I opened the telephone directory and began phoning the Afrikaans-speaking churches. I indicated my purpose to the priests that I was interested in having a dialogue with them, but they all refused my request with "plausible" excuses. No. 13 was my lucky number. The thirteenth call brought me pleasure and relief. A dominee Van Heerden agreed to meet me at his home on the Saturday afternoon that I was to leave for Transvaal.
He received me on his verandah with a friendly welcome. He said if I did not mind, he would like his father-in-law from the Free State (a 70-year-old man) to join us in the discussion. I did not mind. The three of us settled down in the dominee's library.  

• (1) the miraculous birth of Jesus,
• (2) that Jesus is the Messiah, ^Note.6
• (3) that he gave life to the dead by God's permission, and that he healed those born blind and the lepers by God's permission.

Surely this book (the Bible) must have something to say about this great Leader of men who spoke so well of Jesus and his mother Mary?"
The old man from the Free State replied. "My son, I have been reading the Bible for the past 50 years, and if there was any mention of him, I would have known it."  

Not one by Name I enquired: According to you, are there not hundreds of prophecies regarding the coming of Jesus in the Old Testament." The dominee interjected: "Not hundreds, but thousands!" I said, "I am not going to dispute the 'thousand and one' prophecies in the old Testament regarding the coming of Jesus Christ, because the whole Muslim-world has already accepted him without the testimony of any Biblical prophecy. We Muslims have accepted the de facto Jesus on the authority of Muhammad alone, and there are in the world to-day no less than 900,000,000 followers of Muhammad who love, respect and revere this great Messenger of God - JESUS CHRIST - without having the Christians to convince them by means of their Biblical dialectics. Out of the `thousands' of prophecies referred to, can you please give me just one single prophecy where Jesus is mentioned by name? The term `Messiah', translated as `Christ', is not a name but a title. Is there a single prophecy where it says that the name of the Messiah will be Jesus, and that his mother's name will be MARY, that his supposed father will be JOSEPH THE CARPENTER; that he will be born in the reign of HEROD THE KING, etc. etc.? No! There are no such details! Then how can you conclude that those `thousand' prophecies refer to Jesus?"

  Jesus Rejected by his People (4) "Moses and Muhammad were accepted as prophets by their people in their very lifetime. No doubt the Jews gave endless trouble to Moses and they murmured in the wilderness, but as a nation, they acknowledged that Moses was a Messenger of God sent to them. The Arabs too made Muhammad's life impossible. He suffered very badly at their hands. After 13 years of preaching in Mecca, he had to emigrate from the city of his birth. But before his demise, the Arab nation as a whole accepted him as the Messenger of Allah. But according to the Bible - 'HE (Jesus) CAME UNTO HIS OWN, BUT HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT.' (John 1:11). And even today, after two thousand years, his people - the Jews, as a whole, have rejected him. Is this true?" The dominee said: "Yes". I said: THEREFORE JESUS IS NOT LIKE MOSES, BUT MUHAMMAD IS LIKE MOSES."

  "Other-Wordly" Kingdom (5) "Moses and Muhammad were prophets as well as kings. By prophet I mean a man who receives Divine Revelation for the Guidance of Man and this Guidance he conveys to God's creatures as received without any addition or deletion. A king is a person who has the power of life and death over his people. It is immaterial whether the person wears a crown or not, or whether he was ever addressed as king or monarch: if the man has the prerogative of inflicting capital punishment - HE IS A KING. Moses possessed such a power. Do you remember the Israelite who was found picking up firewood on Sabbath Day, and Moses had him stoned to death? (Numbers 15:36). There are other crimes also mentioned in the Bible for which capital punishment was inflicted on the Jews at the behest of Moses. Muhammad too, had the power of life and death over his people. There are instances in the Bible of persons who were given gift of prophecy only, but they were not in a position to implement their directives. Some of these holy men of God who were helpless in the face of stubborn rejection of their message were the prophets Lot, Jonah, Daniel, Ezra, and John the Baptist. They could only deliver the message, but could not enforce the Law. The Holy Prophet Jesus unfortunately also belonged to this category. The Christian Gospel clearly confirms this: when Jesus was dragged before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, charged for sedition, Jesus made a convincing point in his defence to refute the false charge: JESUS ANSWERED, 'MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD': IF MY KINGDOM WERE OF THIS WORLD, THEN WOULD MY SERVANTS FIGHT, THAT I SHOULD NOT BE DELIVERED TO THE JEWS; BUT NOW IS MY KINGDOM NOT FROM HENCE", (John 18:36). This convinced Pilate (A pagan) that though Jesus might not be in full possession of his mental faculty, he did not strike him as being a danger to his rule, Jesus claimed a spiritual kingdom only; in other words he only claimed to be a prophet. Is this true?" The dominee answered: "Yes" I said: "Therefore Jesus is not like Moses but Muhammad is like Moses."

  Ishmael The First Born Since the dominee was helplessly agreeing with every point, I said, "Dominee, so far what I have done is to prove only one point out of the whole prophecy - that is proving the phrase 'LIKE UNTO THEE'- 'like you' - like Moses'. The prophecy is much more than this single phrase which reads as follows: "I WILL RAISE THEM UP A PROPHET FROM AMONG THEIR BRETHREN LIKE UNTO THEE...." The emphasis is on the words- "From among their brethren." Moses and his people, the Jews, are here addressed as a racial entity, and as such their `brethren.' would undoubtedly be the Arabs. You see, the Holy Bible speaks of Abraham as the Friend of God". Abraham had two wives - Sarah and Hagar. Hagar bore Abraham a son - HIS FIRST-BORN-' .... And Abram^Note.11 called HIS SON'S name, which Hagar bore, Ishmael.' (Genesis 16:15). 'And Abraham took Ishmael HIS SON.." (Genesis 17:23). 'And Ishmael HIS SON was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.' (Genesis 17:25). Up to the age of THIRTEEN ishmael was the ONLY son and seed of Abraham, when the covenant was ratified between God and Abraham. God grants Abraham another son through Sarah, named Isaac, who was very much the junior to his brother Ishmael.

  Arabs and Jews If Ishmael and Isaac are the sons of the same father Abraham, then they are brothers. And so the children of the one are the BRETHREN of the children of the other. The children of Isaac are the Jews and the children of Ishmael are the Arabs - so they are BRETHREN to one another. The Bible affirms, 'AND HE (ISHMAEL) SHALL DWELL IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL HIS BRETHREN.' (Genesis 25:18). The children of Isaac are the brethren of the Ishmaelites. In like manner Muhammad is from among the brethren of the Israelites because he was a descendant of Ishmael the son of Abraham. This is exactly as the prophecy has it - 'FROM AMONG THEIR BRETHREN'. (Deut. 18:18). There the prophecy distinctly mentions that the coming prophet who would be like Moses, must arise NOT from the 'children of Israel' or from 'among themselves', but from among their brethren. MUHAMMAD THEREFORE WAS FROM AMONG THEIR BRETHREN!

  Words in the Mouth The prophecy proceeds further: '.......AND I WILL PUT MY WORDS INTO HIS MOUTH......' What does it mean when it is said 'I will put my words in your mouth'? You see, when I asked you (the dominee) to open Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 18, at the beginning, and if I had asked you to read, and if you had read: would I be putting my words into your mouth? The dominee answered: "No. But, I continued: "If I were to teach you a language like Arabic about which you have no knowledge, and if I asked you to read or repeat after me what I utter i.e.
SAY: HE IS ALLAH THE ONE AND ONLY;
ALLAH, THE ETERNAL ABSOLUTE;
HE BEGETTETH NOT, NOR IS HE BEGOTTEN;
AND THERE IS NONE LIKE UNTO HIM. (Holy Qur'an 112:1-4)
Would I not be putting these unheard words of a foreign tongue which you utter, into your mouth? The dominee agreed that it was indeed so. In an identical manner, I said, the words of the Holy Qur'an, the Revelation vouchsafed by the Almighty God to Muhammad, were revealed.
History tells us that Muhammad was forty years of age. He was in a cave some three miles north of the City of Mecca. It was the 27th night of the Muslim month of Ramadaan. In the cave the Archangel Gabriel commands him in his mother tongue: which means READ! or PROCLAIM! or RECITE! Muhammad is terrified and in his bewilderment replies which means: I AM NOT LEARNED! The angel commands him a second time with the same result. For the third time the angel continues:
Now, Muhammad, grasps, that what was required of him was to repeat! to rehearse! And he repeats the words as they were put into his mouth:
"READ! IN THE NAME OF THY LORD AND CHERISHER, WHO CREATED --
CREATED MAN, FROM A (MERE) CLOT OF CONGEALED BLOOD:
READ! AND THY LORD IS MOST BOUNTIFUL, --
HE WHO TAUGHT (THE USE OF) THE PEN, --
TAUGHT MAN THAT WHICH HE KNEW NOT.

(Holy Qur'an 96:1-5)

These are the first five verses which were revealed to Muhammad which now occupy the beginning of the 96th chapter of the Holy Qur'an.

  The Faithful Witness Immediately the angel had departed, Muhammad rushed to his home. Terrified and sweating all over he asked his beloved wife Khadija to 'cover him up!' He lay down, and she watched by him. When he had regained his composure, he explained to her what he had seen and heard. She assured him of her faith in him and that Allah would not allow such a terrible thing to happen to him. Are these the confessions of an impostor? Would impostors confess that when an angel of the Lord confronts them with a Message from on High, they get fear-stricken, terrified, and sweating all over, run home to their wives? Any critic can see that his reactions and confessions are that of an honest, sincere man, the man of Truth - 'AL-AMIN' - THE Honest, the Upright, the Truthful.
During the next twenty-three years of his prophetic life, words were 'put into his mouth', and he uttered them. They made an indelible impression on his heart and mind: and as the volume of the Sacred Scripture (Holy Qur'an) grew, they were recorded on palm-leaf fibre, on skins and on the shoulder-blades of animals; and in the hearts of his devoted disciples. Before his demise these words were arranged in the order in which we find them to-day in the Holy Qur'an.
The words (revelation) were actually put into his mouth, exactly as foretold in the prophecy under discussion: 'AND I WILL PUT MY WORDS IN HIS MOUTH.' (Deut. 18:18)

  Un-lettered Prophet Muhammad's experience in the cave of Hira, later to be known as Jabal-un-Noor- The Mountain of Light, and his response to that first Revelation is the exact fulfilment of another Biblical prophecy. In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 12, we read: "AND THE BOOK" (al-Kitaab, al-Qura'an - the 'Reading', the 'Recitation') "IS DELIVERED TO HIM THAT IS NOT LEARNED," the unlettered prophet, (Holy Qur'an 7:158)
"SAYING, READ THIS, I PRAY THEE:" (the words "I pray thee", are not in the Hebrew manuscripts; compare with the Roman Catholics' "DOUAY VERSION" and also with the "Revised Standard Versions") "AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT LEARNED." ("I am not learned." is the exact translation of the words which words Muhammad uttered twice to the Holy Ghost - The Archangel Gabriel, when he was commanded ("READ1").
Let me quote the verse in full without a break as found in the "King James Version," or the "Authorised Version" as it is more popularly known: "AND THE BOOK IS DELIVERED TO HIM THAT IS NOT LEARNED, SAYING, READ THIS, I PRAY THEE: AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT LEARNED." (Isaiah 29:12).
It may be noted that there were no Arabic Bibles^Note.12 in existence in the 6th Century of the Christian Era when Muhammad lived and preached ! Besides, he was absolutely unlettered and unlearned. No human had ever taught him a word. His teacher was his Creator--

"HE DOES NOT SPEAK (AUGHT), OF (HIS OWN) DESIRE

IT IS NO LESS THAN INSPIRATION SENT DOWN TO HIM:

HE WAS TAUGHT BY ONE MIGHTY IN POWER,"  (Holy Qur'an 53:3-5)

Without any human learning, 'he put to shame the wisdom of the learned'.

  Grave Warning "See!" I told the dominee "How the prophecies fit Muhammad like a glove. We do not have to stretch prophecies to justify their fulfilment in Muhammad."
The tominee replied, "all your expositions sound very well, but they are of no real consequence, because we Christians have Jesus Christ the "incarnate" God, who has redeemed us from the Bondage of Sin!"
I asked, "not important?" God didn't think so! He went to a great deal of trouble to have His warnings recorded. God knew that there would be people like you who will flippantly, light-heartedly discount his words, so he followed up Deuteronomy 18: 18 with a dire warning: "AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS", (it is going to happen) "THAT WHOSOEVER WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO MY WORDS WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK IN MY NAME, I WILL REQUIRE IT OF HIM." (in the Catholic Bible the ending words are - "I will be the revenger" - I will take vengeance from him - I will take revenge!) "Does not this terrify you? God Almighty is threatening revenge! We shake in our pants if some hoodlum threatens us, yet you have no fear of God's warning?"
"Miracle of miracles! in the verse 19 of Deuteronomy chapter 18, we have a further fulfilment of the prophecy in Muhammad! Note the Words -' .... MY WORDS WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK IN MY NAME," In whose name is Muhammad speaking?" I opened the Holy Qur'an - Allama Yusuf Ali's translation, at chapter 114 -- 'Sura Nas', or Mankind - the last chapter and showed him the formula at the head of the chapter: "N THE NAME OF GOD, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL" And the heading of chapter 113: "IN THE NAME OF GOD, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL". And every chapter downwards 112,111,110..... was the same formula and the same meaning on every page, because the end SURAS (chapters) are short and take about a page each.
'And what did the prophecy demand?' ...... WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK IN MY NAME,' and in whose name does Muhammad speak? 'IN THE NAME OF GOD. MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL.' The Prophecy is being fulfiled in Muhammad to the letter!
"Every chapter of the Holy Qur'an except the 9th begin with the formula: IN THE NAME OF GOD, MOST GRACIOUS, MOST MERCIFUL.' The Muslim begins his every lawful act with the Holy formula. But the Christian begins: "in the name of the Father, son and holy ghost."
Concerning Deuteronomy chapter eighteen, I have given you more than 15 reasons as to how this prophecy refers to Muhammad and NOT to Jesus.

  Baptist Contradicts Jesus In New Testament times, we find that the Jews were still expecting the fulfilment of the prophecy of 'ONE LIKE MOSES'; refer John 1:19-25. When Jesus claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, the Jews began to enquire as to where was Elias? The Jews had a paralled prophecy that before the coming of the Messiah, Elias must come first in his second coming. Jesus confirms this Jewish belief:
"....... ELIAS TRULY SHALL FIRST COME, AND RESTORE ALL THINGS. BUT I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT ELIAS IS COME ALREADY, AND THEY KNEW HIM NOT.... THEN THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTOOD THAT HE SPAKE UNTO THEM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST." (Matthew 17: 11- 13)
According to the New Testament the Jews were not the ones to swallow the words of any would-be Messiah. In their investigations they underwent intense difficulties in order to find their true Messiah. And this the Gospel of John confirms: "AND THIS IS THE RECORD OF JOHN," (the Baptist) "WHEN THE JEWS SENT PRIESTS AND LEVITES FROM JERUSALEM TO ASK HIM, WHO ART THOU? AND HE CONFESSED AND DENIED NOT; BUT CONFESSED, I AM NOT THE CHRIST." (This was only natural because there can't be two Messiahs^Note.14 at the same time. If Jesus was the Christ then John couldn't be the Christ! "AND THEY ASKED HIM, WHAT THEN" ART THOU ELIAS? AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT" (Here John the Baptist contradicts Jesus! Jesus says that John is "Elias" and John denies that he is not what Jesus ascribes him to be. One of the TWO (Jesus or John). God forbid! is definitely not speaking the TRUTH! On the testimony of Jesus himself, John the Baptist was the greatest of the Israelite prophets: "VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, AMONG THEM THAT ARE BORN OF WOMEN THERE HAS NOT RISEN A GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST; ....(Matthew 11:11).
We Muslims know John the Baptist as Hazrut YAHYAA Alai-his-salaam (peace be upon him). We revere him as a true prophet of God. The Holy Prophet Jesus known to us as Hazrut ISAA Alai-his-salaam (peace be upon him), is also esteemed as one of the mightiest messenger of the Almighty. How can we Muslims impute lies to either of them? We leave this problem between Jesus and John for the Christians to solve, for their "sacred scriptures" abound in discrepancies which they have been glossing over as the "dark sayings of Jesus" ^Note.15 We Muslims are really interested in the last question posed to John the Baptist by the Jewish elite --- "ART THOU THAT PROPHET? AND HE ANSWERED, NO." (John 1:21).

• · Art thou the Christ? ·
• Art thou Elias? ·
• Art thou that prophet?

But the learned men of Christendom somehow only see two questions implied here. To make doubly clear that the Jews definitely had T-H-R-E-E separate prophecies in their minds when they were interrogating John the Baptist, let us read the remonstrance of the Jews in the verses following-
"AND THEY ASKED HIM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, WHEY BAPTIZEST THOU THEN, IF THOU BE

• NOT THAT CHRIST,
• NOR ELIAS,
• NEITHER THAT PROPHET?" (John 1:25)

The Jews were waiting for the fulfilment of THREE distinct prophecies: One, the coming of CHRIST. Two, the coming of Elias, and Three, the coming of THAT PROPHET.

  "That Porphet" If we look up any bible which has a concordance or cross-references, then we will find in the marginal note where the words "the prophet", or "that prophet" occur in John 1:25, that these words refer to the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18. And that 'that prophet' - 'the prophet like Moses' - "LIKE UNTO THEE", we have proved through overwhelming evidence that he was MUHAMMAD and not Jesus!
We Muslims are not denying that Jesus was the "Messiah", which word is translated as "Christ".^Note.16 We are not contesting the "thousand and one prophecies" which the Christians claim abound in the Old Testament foretelling the coming of the Messiah. What we say is that Deuteronomy 18:18 does NOT REFER TO Jesus Christ but it is an explicit prophecy about the Holy Prophet MUHAMMAD!"
The dominee, very politely parted with me by saying that it was a very interesting discussion and he would like me very much to come one day and address his congregation on the subject. A decade and half has passed since then but I am still awaiting that privilege.
I believe the dominee was sincere when he made the offer, but prejudices die hard and who would like to loose his sheep?

  The Acid Test To the lambs of Christ I say, why not apply that acid test which the Master himself wanted you to apply to any would-be claimant to prophethood? he had said: "BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. DO MEN GATHER GRAPES FROM THE THORNS, OR FIGS FROM THE THISTLES? EVERY GOOD TREE WILL BEAR GOOD FRUIT AND EVERY EVIL TREE WILL BEAR EVIL FRUIT ... BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. (MATTHEW 7:16-20). Why are you afraid to apply this test to the teachings of Muhammad? You will find in the Last Testament of God - the Holy Qur'an - the true fulfilment of the teachings of Moses and Jesus which will bring to the world the much-needed peace and happiness. "IF A MAN LIKE MUHAMMAD WERE TO ASSUME THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE MODERN WORLD, HE WOULD SUCCEED IN SOLVING ITS PROBLEMS THAT WOULD BRING IT THE MUCH NEEDED PEACE AND HAPPINESS." (George Bernard Shaw)

  The Greatest! The Weekly Newsmagazine "TIME" dated July 15, 1974, carried a selection of opinions by various historians, writers, military men, businessmen and others on the subject: "Who Were History's Great Leaders?" Some said that it was Hitler; other said - Gandhi, Buddha, Lincoln and the like. But Jules Masserman, a United States psychoanalyst put the standards straight by giving the correct criteria wherewith to judge. he said: "LEADERS MUST FULFIL THREE FUNCTIONS:-

• Provide for the well-being of the led,
• Provide a social organization in which people feel relatively secure, and
• Provide them with one set of beliefs.

With the above three criteria he searches history and analyses - Hitler, Pasteur, Caesar, Moses, Confucius and the lot, and ultimately concludes:-
"PEOPLE LIKE PASTEUR AND SALK ARE LEADERS IN THE FIRST SENSE. PEOPLE LIKE GANDHI AND CONFUCIUS, ON ONE HAND, AND ALEXANDER, CAESAR AND HITLER ON THE OTHER, ARE LEADERS IN THE SECOND AND PERHAPS THE THIRD SENSE. JESUS AND BUDDHA BELONG IN THE THIRD CATEGORY ALONE. PERHAPS THE GREATEST LEADER OF ALL TIMES WAS MOHAMMAD, WHO COMBINED ALL THREE FUNCTIONS. To a lesser degree, MOSES DID THE SAME."
According to the objective standards set by the Professor of the Chicago University, whom I believe to be Jewish, - JESUS and BUDDHA are nowhere in the picture of the "Great Leaders of Mankind", but by a queer coincidence groups Moses and Muhammad together thus adding further weight to the argument that JESUS is not like MOSES, but MUHAMMAD is like MOSES: Deut. 18:18 "LIKE UNTO THEE" - Like MOSES!
In conclusion, I end with a quotation of a Christian Reverend the commentator of the Bible, followed by that of his Master:
"THE ULTIMATE CRITERION OF A TRUE PROPHET IS THE MORAL CHARACTER OF HIS TEACHINGS." (Prof. Dummelow.)
"BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM." (Jesus Christ)