An Evaluation of Muhammad(PBUH)

We have already set forth the Muslim belief that Muhammad is the last of the prophets, who brought forth the full and final revelation of God to humankind (see Chapter 4). The fact that the Qur’an declares itself to be God’s last word, superseding all other revelations and religions—indeed, the claim that Muhammad is a prophet of God, a belief held by one-fifth of the world’s population—commands our attention.

Muhammad’s Prophetic Claim

The Nature of a Prophet
In order to properly evaluate Muhammad’s claim to be a prophet of God, we need to review what is meant by a prophet.

 In Arabic there are two basic words used of God’s messengers. The term rasul means “one who is sent” (like the Greek apostolos), and the term nabi signifies “one who carries information and proclaims news from God” (this is similar to the Hebrew nabi)
By nature a prophet must be a mere human being, but one of impeccable (isma) character, meaning that he is either sinless or else completely free from all major sins.As to the mission of a prophet, the Qur’an is unequivocal: 16:36 says, “In every community We have raised up a messenger [to proclaim]: ‘Worship ye Allah and shun idolatry’ ” (see also 40:15).
While all prophets have preached the same basic message, that of submission to the divine will, nonetheless Muhammad’s message is considered distinctive in that it was the last and final word of God to humankind and it was put in perfect written form and preserved without error. Indeed, Muhammad considered himself “the Seal of the Prophets” (33:40). In a well-known hadith Muhammad states his uniqueness this way: “I have been given victory through the inspiring of awe at the distance of a month’s journey; I have been given permission to intercede; I have been sent to all mankind; and the prophets have been sealed with me.”
Of course, this unique claim to final revelation made it necessary for Muhammad to provide evidence that he superseded Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others as the prophet of God. Traditionally Islamic apologetics has provided several lines of reasoning for proving the superiority of Muhammad over the previous prophets. The chief of these proofs are: (1) that the Old and New Testaments both contain clear prophecies about him; (2) that the nature of Muhammad’s call to be a prophet is miraculous; (3) that the language and the teaching of the Qur’an are without parallel, and thus the Qur’an alone is sufficient proof of the truth of Muhammad’s claims; (4) that Muhammad’s miracles are a seal set by God Most High on his claims; (5) that his life and character prove him to have been the last and the greatest of prophets.

Evaluation of Muslim Claim for Biblical Support

There is no doubt that Muhammad believed he was called of God. Likewise, his conviction that God gave him revelations through the angel Gabriel seemed unshaken. Of course, as all thinking people know, neither subjective experience nor sincerity of conviction is in itself a proof of the authenticity of that experience. Critics have responded to each one of the evidences offered to support the claim that Muhammad is the unique prophet of God. They have pointed out several things that any thinking Muslim or non-Muslim should take into consideration before coming to a conclusion on the matter.
In a very popular Muslim book, Muhammad in the Bible, Abdu ’l-Ahad Dawud argues that the Bible predicts the coming of the prophet Muhammad. He claims that “Muhammad is the real object of the Covenant and in him, and in him alone, are actually and literally fulfilled all the prophecies in the Old Testament.” Likewise, of the New Testament he insists that “it is absolutely impossible to get at the truth, the true religion, from these Gospels, unless they are read and examined from an Islamic and Unitarian point of view.” He then examines the New Testament, finding Muhammad, not Christ, to be the foretold prophet. Let’s examine the texts Dawud and other Muslims use to support these claims.
Deuteronomy 18:15–18. God promised Moses, “I will raise up for them [Israel] a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (v. 18). Muslims believe this prophecy is fulfilled in Muhammad, as the Qur’an claims when it refers to “the unlettered Prophet [Muhammad], Whom they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures), in the Law and the Gospels” (7:157).
However, this prophecy could not be a reference to Muhammad for several reasons.
First, it is clear that the term “brethren” means fellow Israelites. For the Jewish Levites were told in the same passage that “they shall have no inheritance among their brethren” (v. 2).
Second, since the term “brethren” refers to Israel, not to their Arab antagonists, why would God raise up for Israel a prophet from their enemies?
Third, elsewhere in this book the term “brethren” also means fellow Israelites, not foreigners. God told the Jews to chose a king “from among your brethren,” not a “foreigner” (Deut. 17:15). Israel never chose a non-Jewish king.
Fourth, Muhammad came from Ishmael, as even Muslims admit, and heirs to the Jewish throne came from Isaac. According to the Torah, when Abraham prayed, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” God answered emphatically, “My covenant I will establish with Isaac” (Gen. 17:21). Later God repeated, “In Isaac your seed shall be called” (Gen. 21:12).
Fifth, the Qur’an itself states that the prophetic line came through Isaac, not Ishmael: “And We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and We established the Prophethood and the Scripture among his seed” (29:27). The Muslim scholar Yusuf Ali adds the word “Abraham” and changes the meaning as follows: “We gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained Among his progeny Prophethood And Revelation.” By adding Abraham, the father of Ishmael, he can include Muhammad, a descendant of Ishmael, in the prophetic line! But Abraham’s name is not found in the Arabic text of the Qur’an, which Muslims consider to be perfectly preserved.
Sixth, according to the earliest authentic documents, Jesus, not Muhammad, completely fulfilled this verse, since he was from among his Jewish brethren (cf. Gal. 4:4). He also fulfilled Deuteronomy 18:18 perfectly: “He shall speak to them all that I [God] command Him.” Jesus said, “I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:28). And, “I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49). He called himself a “prophet” (Luke 13:33), and the people considered him a prophet (Matt. 21:11; Luke 7:16; 24:19; John 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). As the Son of God, Jesus was prophet (speaking to men for God), priest (Heb. 7–10, speaking to God for men), and king (reigning over men for God, Rev. 19–20).
Finally, there are other characteristics of the “Prophet” to come that fit only Jesus, not Muhammad. These include things like speaking with God “face to face” and performing “signs and wonders,” which in the Qur’an Muhammad admitted he did not do.
Deuteronomy 33:2. Many Islamic scholars believe that this verse predicts three separate visitations of God: one on “Sinai” to Moses, another to “Seir” through Jesus, and a third in “Paran” (Arabia) through Muhammad who came to Mecca with an army of “ten thousand.”
However, this contention can be easily answered by looking at a map of the area. Paran and Seir are near Egypt in the Sinai peninsula (cf. Gen. 14:6; Num. 10:12; 12:16–13:3; Deut. 1:1), not in Palestine where Jesus ministered. Nor was Paran near Mecca, but hundreds of miles away in southern Palestine in the northeastern Sinai.
Furthermore, this verse is speaking of the “Lord” coming, not Muhammad. And the Lord is coming with “ten thousand saints,” not ten thousand soldiers, as Muhammad did. There is no basis in this text for the Muslim contention that it is a prediction of Muhammad.
Finally, this prophecy is said to be one “with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death” (Deut. 33:1). If it were a prediction about Islam, which has been a constant enemy of Israel, it could scarcely have been a blessing to Israel. In fact, the chapter goes on to pronounce a blessing on each of the tribes of Israel by God, who “will thrust out the enemy” (v. 27).
Deuteronomy 34:10. This verse claims that “there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses” (KJV). Muslims argue that this proves that the predicted prophet could not be an Israelite but was Muhammad instead.
In response several things should be noted. First, the “since” means since Moses’ death up until the time this last chapter was written, probably by Joshua Even if Deuteronomy were written much later, as some critics believe, it still was composed many centuries before the time of Christ and, therefore, would not eliminate him.
Second, Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of this prediction of the prophet to come, not Muhammad (see comments above on Deut. 18:15–18).
Third, this could not refer to Muhammad, since the prophet to come was like Moses who did “all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent” (Deut. 34:11). Muhammad by his own confession did not perform signs and wonders like Moses and Jesus did (see 2:118; 3:183). Finally, the prophet to come was like Moses who spoke to God “face to face” (Deut. 34:10). Muhammad never even claimed to speak to God directly but got his revelations through an angel (see 25:32; 17:105). Jesus, on the other hand, like Moses, was a direct mediator (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:15) who communicated directly with God (cf. John 1:18; 12:49; 17). Thus, the prediction could not have referred to Muhammad, as many Muslims claim.
Habakkuk 3:3. The text declares that “God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise.” Some Muslim scholars believe this refers to the prophet Muhammad coming from Paran (Arabia), and use it in connection with a similar text in Deuteronomy 33:2.

Summary

Islam claims that Muhammad is the last of the prophets with the full and final revelation of God (in the Qur’an). Muslims offer several things in support of this claim, such as predictions by Muhammad in the Qur’an, the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, miracles performed by Muhammad, and his perfect moral character. However, as we have seen, the evidence for these falls far short of the claim to be supernatural either because there is no real evidence that the events actually happened or because there was nothing really supernatural about the events themselves.
Of course, a Muslim can continue to accept this by faith. But to insist that it is demonstrated by the evidence is another thing altogether. And the non-Muslim who agrees with the Socratic injunction that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (and it may be added, “the unexamined Faith is not worth believing”) will no doubt look elsewhere to find a faith founded on fact.