Muhammad & The Prophet Like Moses
(Deuteronomy 18:15-19) - Part 1
Question: Do the Jewish and Christian Scriptures contain prophecies about Muhammad?
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​Overview
The Quran (7:156-157) states that prophecies or descriptions of Muhammad can be found in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures and the words of Moses in Deuteronomy (18:15-19) are commonly cited to support this claim. It should be noted that the Quran does not specify where Muhammad is mentioned in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, which means that Muslims must speculate and search for these references themselves.
The Israelites are told by God and through Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 about the coming of a prophet who will resemble Moses. It is specified that this individual will emerge from the “brethren” of Israel, meaning from within the community or nation of Israel. Muhammad was a descendant of Ishmael according to Muslims and does not fit the 'Israelite' criteria outlined in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.​​
The error that Muslims make is to assume that “brethren” refers to non-Israelite communities closely linked with Israel through historic family ties. This would include groups like the Ishmaelites (a neighbouring community to Israel descended from Abraham). However, a contextual reading of Deuteronomy shows that “brethren” refers to Israelites. This is supported by considerations from the Gospel of John.​​
Deuteronomy 18 & 17​
The word “brethren” in Deuteronomy (18:1-2) is used to refer to Israel when God states that the Levites will not be given a land inheritance among “their brethren”. Instead, the Levites will be sustained by the gifts offered in sacrifice to the Lord as they minister as the anointed priests of Israel.​
Deuteronomy (17:14-15) also uses “brethren” to refer to Israel when God foretells that the Israelites will request an earthly king after settling in the Promised Land. God warns that kings must be selected from “thy brethren” and must not be “a stranger”. Significantly, God chose Saul (an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin) as Israel's first king. God therefore interpreted Deuteronomy 17:14-15 (and the phrase "thy brethren") as referring to Israelites.
The language of brethren/brothers to describe Israel is fitting when it is remembered that the Israelites derive their lineage from twelve brothers and were therefore a community or nation of brothers (this language is further strengthened when only one tribe within Israel is being addressed, such as the Levites in Deuteronomy 18). The context of Deuteronomy consequently shows that the prophet like Moses will be an Israelite like Moses, and this necessarily excludes Muhammad.​
The Gospel of John​
The Israelites during the lifetime of Jesus also believed that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 was referring to an Israelite. The following are three examples from the Gospel of John.​
First, when the Jewish Religious Leaders sent a delegation to John the Baptist to inquire about his identity and ministry, they asked John (an Israelite from the tribe of Levi) whether he was the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (John 1:19-28). That the Jewish Religious Leaders posed this question to John shows that they were expecting Deuteronomy 18:15-19 to be fulfilled by an Israelite living and ministering within Israel.
Second, after Jesus miraculously fed a Jewish crowd of five thousand by multiplying bread and fish, a miracle that resembled Moses miraculously feeding the Israelites in the desert through the provision of manna, the crowd began expressing their belief that Jesus (an Israelite from the tribe of Judah) must be the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (John 6:1-15). The opinion of the crowd concerning Jesus reveals their expectation that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 will be fulfilled by an Israelite living and ministering within Israel.
Third, while teaching in Jerusalem at a Jewish festival, some Jews were persuaded that Jesus was the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (John 7:37-43). This recognition of Jesus by the Jews attending the festival expresses their belief that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 will be fulfilled by an Israelite living and ministering within Israel.
These considerations show that the Gospel of John highlights the widespread belief among the Jews that an Israelite was being referred to in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. This is clear from the fact that the Jews during the lifetime of Jesus were looking inward and to their community for the fulfilment of Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Both the context of Deuteronomy as well as Jewish expectations expressed in the Gospel of John consequently show that the prophet like Moses will be an Israelite like Moses. This means that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 cannot be applied to Muhammad if Muslims are correct about Muhammad’s non-Israelite lineage.
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Bible Passages
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Deuteronomy 17:14-15 (KJV)
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(14) When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
(15) Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
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Deuteronomy 18:1-2 (KJV)
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(1) The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.
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(2) Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
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Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (KJV)
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(15) The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
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(16) According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
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(17) And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
(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.
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(19) 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.​
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John 1:19-28 (NIV)
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(19) Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. (20) He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
(21) They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
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He answered, “No.”
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(22) Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
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(23) John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
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(24) Now the Pharisees who had been sent (25) questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
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(26) “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. (27) He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
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(28) This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John 6:1-15 (NIV)
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(1) Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), (2) and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. (3) Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. (4) The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
(5) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (6) He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
(7) Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
(8) Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, (9) “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
(10) Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). (11) Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
(12) When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” (13) So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
(14) After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (15) Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
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John 7:37-43 (NIV)
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(37) On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. (38) Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (39) By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
(40) On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
(41) Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? (42) Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” (43) Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
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Quran Passages
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The Quran 7:156-157 (Abdul Haleem)
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(156) ... God said, “I bring My punishment on whoever I will, but My mercy encompasses all things. I shall ordain My mercy for those who are conscious of God and pay the prescribed alms; who believe in Our Revelations; (157) who follow the Messenger - the unlettered prophet they find described in the Torah that is with them, and in the Gospel - who commands them to do right and forbids them to do wrong, who makes good things lawful to them and bad things unlawful, and relieves them of their burdens, and the iron collars that were on them. So it is those who believe him, honour and help him, and who follow the light which has been sent down with him, who will succeed.”
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