Alsiraj Official Website
Prophecies in the Old and New Testament
regarding the advent of Prophet Muhammad
Examples of Good Tidings in the Old Testament
The Torah and all the Books of the Old Testament include texts which bear good tidings of the Seal of prophets, who will be sent late in time as a mercy to all the world. They also bear good tidings of the just, perfect and eternal Divine law sent down to him, as well as some aspects of his character and attributes, but the People of the Book distorted and changed his physical traits and also the texts as regards meaning or interpretation.
Jews unanimously agree that the Torah bears good tidings of a prophet who comes after Musa (Moses), but they differ as regards his identity. Most of them claim that someone will be sent from Bani Isra’il late in time, who will establish the kingdom of the Jews and give them supreme status, as will be dealt with below. They consider that all good tidings refer to him, and they called him the awaited Masih (Messiah) to lure the world into believing that he would be from amongst them, not from among their brethren Bani Isma’il as mentioned in the texts. The word Masih means to them he who is anointed; i.e rubbed with the holy oil of blessing, since they used to rub kings, prophets, clergymen and all other dignitaries with it during the ceremonies of assuming office.
There is no doubt that the texts bearing good tidings were clear in that someone from the offspring of Isma’il will be sent. These tidings sometimes even mentioned Muhammad, God’s blessing and peace be upon him, explicitly. But when some scholars of Bani Isra’il, during captivity and after it, attempted to collect the dispersed lost parts of the Torah and to put them in writing, they made the phrasing of the good tidings so ambiguous that the commoners would be misled into thinking that he was to be one of Bani Isra’il. After captivity, they differed concerning the tribe from which he would come. The Samarians said that he would be from the grandsons (Disciples) of Yusuf the Believer, and the Hebrews said that he would be from the offspring of Dawud (David) because he is the founder of the Kingdom.
Then came Al-Masih, son of Miriam, peace be upon him, calling for the way of Allah with wisdom and good admonition, and bearing good tidings of the Seal of prophets, who is ordered to strive for the sake of Allah and to implement legal penalties. They accused him of being untruthful and were about to kill him several times — but Allah protected him and saved him from their hands — although prophets bore good tidings of him too, starting with Musa down to Yahya (John), peace be upon them. The prophet who bore good news of him most was Dawud, peace be upon him, but they considered him untruthful, thinking that he was not the one of whom they were given good tidings.
Many researchers hold that, as a result of the oppression the Jews were exposed to, there appeared among them the belief of the Savior who would come to gather the dispersed Jews in Palestine and restore the glory of Isra’il — but the augury missed them. Therefore, when the False Masih comes to deceive people with his false allegations and with the capabilities by means of which Allah drives him into his fate, they would follow him and would be his soldiers as is mentioned in the authentic sayings of the Master of the Beneficent Righteous ones.
As for the Christians, they take all the good tidings in the Old Testament to refer to Al-Masih, son of Miriam, and claim that it is he alone who is the one intended in the Books of prophet hood. But the Jews refuse this and absolutely deny this interpretation.
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