Steed of Truth

Updated At: Mar 15, 2024

Is Muhammad in the Bible? Part 1

Most Muslims claim that Muhammad is prophecised in the bible. The reason for their argumentation is because the Quran claims that Muhammad is prophecised in the bible.

This verse suggests that the Jews and Christians have the torah and gospel during the time of Muhammad (7th century). There is no reason that the quran would have mentioned the torah and the gospel if it was corrupted at that moment in time. So we can assume atleast till the 7th century, the quran affirms the validity of the bible. That's interesting because we christians have the copies of the torah and the gospel before that time so we know what the torah and gospel contained during the 7th century. So right now the quran gives us an opportunity to investigate this claim. I will try my best to bring the best verses that muslims use to prove that muhammad is in the bible. This one of the main verses that muslims bring:

This is the infamous verse that Muslims use to try to validate Muhammad's prophethood.

The argument that muslims use is that; Moses was a political leader, a military leader, and a prophet. Muhammad and Moses were like each other in a sense that they both have so many similarities and therefore that prophecised prophet is Muhammad. There are multiple problems with this line of argumentation.

The reason why this verse is not applicable to Muhammad is because the verse itself says "from among you" or "from among the fellow Israelites". Moses was talking to the Israelites that the prophet would emerge from them. No Jew at that time would ever think that Moses was talking about a prophet from the arab region. It can not be talking about the Ishmaelites because they were not even present in the wilderness. The jews (12 tribes of Jacob) in this verse are preparing to go the promised land and Moses is speaking to them in the wilderness. So it is impossible that this verse would be talking about an Ishmaelite prophet. The verse is explicitly clear that the prophet will come from one of the 12 tribes of Jacob.

According to Muslim sources Muhammad never saw Allah face to face. The communication was through the angel gabriel so this verse can not be reffering to Muhammad since he never even knew the Lord face to face. Deuteronomy 18:20, disqualifies Muhammad as the prophet because Muhammad has spoken things that Allah has not commanded him to. According Muslim sources such as Al Tabri vol 6:111 Muhammad said "I have fabricated things against God and have imputed to Him words which he has not spoken". Muhammad is grieved that he has spoken things of which satan has cast onto his tongue. This creates a myriad of problems for muslims as this shows that Muhammad can not differentiate between the words of Allah and the words of Satan. If Moses was alive during that time, Muhammad would have been stoned to death for revealing false revelation.

Even the author of the book of Deuteronomy calls out Muhammad as a false prophet. Since Moses called God, a Father in Deuteronomy 32:6 - "Do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?". Therefore, Moses could not have prophecised about a prophet from arabia that believes that you can only have a master-servant relationship with allah and allah is not a father to anyone according to Surah 112:3-4 and Surah 17:111. The fact that Muhammad is not present in the bible proves that quran's claim in Surah 7:157 is false.Since God does not make any mistakes we can come to the conclusion that the quran is not a divine revelation from God.

If Deuteronomy is read in context, the book itself disqualifies Muhammad as the prophecised prophet. The apostles of Jesus believed that the prophet like Moses is Jesus because Jesus had a face to face relationship with the Father. Peter affirms that Jesus is the prophet like Moses (Acts 3:22). Stephen, addressing the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:37, also quotes Moses and applies the prophecy to Jesus Christ. Jesus could communicate with the Father in a special way but also Jesus performed signs and wonders in presence of Israel. Additionaly, in John 1:45, Philip (A disciple of Christ) said that, Jesus is the one that Moses and other prophets wrote about which confirms even more that this is not Muhammad.

Moses and Jesus were alike in that they both led God’s people out of captivity. With great power, Moses led the Israelites out of physical bondage and slavery in Egypt, and Jesus, with even greater power, led God’s elect out of spiritual bondage and slavery to sin. Moses stood before Pharaoh and said, “'Let my people go” (Exodus 5:1). Jesus came “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18). Romans 8:2 - “In Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death”

Not only was Moses an intercessor for God’s people but, like Jesus, he was willing to die for them. In Exodus 32:32 , Moses offers his life in exchange for sinners. Similarly, Jesus died for the world's sins according to 1 John 3:16 and several other verses present in the bible. Moses knew God face to face according to Exodus 33:11. Jesus also had a special relationship to God according to Matthew 11:27 - “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son”. Finally, When Moses stood in God’s presence, his face shone after talking with God and had to be covered with a veil. Likewise, when Jesus went up the mountain Jesus was transfigured and “His face shone like the sun” according to Matthew 17:2.

So is Muhammad the prophet like Moses or Jesus?