According to the Bible, God said to Moses (on whom be peace): 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. (The Holy Bible, New International Version, Deuteronomy ch 18, verse 18).
The Prophet described in the above verse must have the following three characteristics;
1) He will be like Moses 2) will come from the brothers of the Israelites, ie the Ishmaelites. 3) God will put His words in the mouth of that prophet and he will declare what God commanded him. Let us see which prophet God was speaking of.
I. The Prophet like Moses-> Some people feel that this prophecy refers to the prophet Jesus, (on whom be peace). But, although Jesus (on whom be peace) was truly a prophet of God, he is not the prophet spoken of here. He was born miraculously. On the other hand, Muhammad (peace be upon him) is more like Moses (on whom be peace); both were born in a natural way and both died natural deaths.
2. From among the Ishmaelites -> Abraham (on whom be peace) had two sons, Ishmael (on whom be peace) and Isaac (on whom be peace) (genesis, ch 21). Ishmael (on whom be peace) became the grandfather of the Arab nation, and Isaac became the grandfather of the Jewish nation. The prophet spoken of was to come not from among the Jews themselves, but from among their brothers, the Ishmaelites. Muhammad (peace be upon him) a descendant of Ishmael, is indeed that prophet.
3. God will put His words in his mouth- "Neither the content of the revelation, nor its form, were of Muhammad's devising. Both were given by the angel and Mohammad's task was only to repeat what he heard." (World Religions from Ancient History to the Present, by Geoffrey Parrinder, p. 472). God sent the angel Gabriel (on whom be peace) to teach Muhammad (peace be upon him) the exact words that he should repeat to the people. The words are therefore not his own; they did not come from his own thoughts, but were put into his mouth by the angel. These are written down in the Qur'an word for word exactly as they came from God. Now that we know thaat prophet we must listen to him, for, according to the Bible, God says: "I will punish anyone who refuses to obey him" (Good News Bible, Deut. 18:19).
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