What do Muslims believe that the Bible says about Muhammad?

Mohammed in the Bible

Christians believe that the Bible does not saying anything about Mohammed. For example, some argue that because Christianity predates Islam by about 500 years all theories about Mohammed in the Christian Bible are mere conjectures.

Muslims believe differently. The following is an explanation from an Islamic perspective.

According to the Bible God said to Moses: "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 chapter 18, verse 18).

The prophet described in the above verse must have the following three characteristics: 1.) He will be like Moses. 2.) He will come from the brothers of the Israelites, i.e. the Ishmaelites. 3.) God will put His words in the mouth of that prophet and he will declare what God commanded him.

Here is the Islamic explanation of why this verse describes Mohammed:

1. The prophet like Moses

Christians feel that this prophecy refers to the Jesus. Muslims believe that although Jesus was truly a prophet of God, he is not the prophet spoken of here. He was born miraculously, and, finally, God raised him up miraculously. On the other hand, Muhammad is more like Moses; both were born in a natural way and both died natural deaths.

2. From among the Ishmaelites

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac (Genesis, chapter 21). Ishmael 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 is believed to be a descendant of Ishmael.

3. God will put His words in his mouth

"Neither the content of the revelation, nor its form, were of Mohammed's devising. Both were given by the angel, and Mohammed's task was only to repeat what he heard." (World Religions from Ancient History to the Present, by Geoffrey Parrinder, p. 472)

Muslims believe that God sent the angel Gabriel to teach Muhammad 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. Muslims believe these are written down in the Qur�an word for word exactly as they came from God.

Muhammed in Solomon

Song of Songs 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."

The underlined word was translated from the original Hebrew Bible that was in the Hebrew language, it is mentioned/pronounced Makhmaddim. This word is a reference to Muhammad for two reasons,

1. The word Makhmad (singular of Makhmaddim) is pronounced in Arabic as Muhammad
   
2. The word Makhmad means The praised one (i.e. the one worthy of praise) in Arabic and Hebrew; therefore this must be Muhammad!

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