Muhammad in World Scriptures, Vol. 1 (US Edition) - Maulana Abdul

436 Pages·2007·8.72 MB·English

Muhammad
in World Scriptures
Prophecies about the Holy Prophet Muhammad
in the scriptures of major world religions
by
Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi
Scholar of Hebrew, Sanskrit, and other ancient languages,
Writer and Researcher on Islam and Comparative Religion,
Missionary and Debator of Islam.
New U.S.A. Edition
Volume 1:
The Bible
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore Inc. U.S.A.
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.
First Urdu edition, 1936 (Part I), 1950 (Part II)
Second Urdu edition both parts in 1 volume, 1988
First English edition, 1940 (Part I), 1955 (Part II)
Second Enlarged 3-volume English edition,
1966 (vol. I), 1969 (vol. II), 1975 (vol. III)
New U.S.A. edition, Volume 1, 1999
© 1999 by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore, Inc.
1315 Kingsgate Road, Columbus, Ohio 43221 U.S.A.
All rights reserved throughout the world.
Copyrightnotice:NoreproductionofthisEdition,inwholeorpart,on
anymediumwhatsoever,isallowedwithouttheexpresspermission
of the Publisher, except that quotations from it may be incorpo-
rated in reviews and other publications, provided that the book,
author and Publisher are acknowledged. Warning is hereby given
that the Publisher will take the most serious action in case of any
violation of Copyright of this Edition in any part of the world.
TheAhmadiyyaAnjumanIsha‘atIslam(AhmadiyyaAssociationforthe
PropagationofIslam)wasfoundedat Lahore,Pakistan,in1914by the
prominent followers of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. It exists to
promotealiberal,tolerantandpeacefulpictureofIslam,asfoundinthe
Holy Quran and the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. It has
published a vast quantity of highly-regarded literature on Islam in
variouslanguages,andhasbranchesandmembersinseveralcountries.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:
ISBN: 0–913321–59 –1
Editorial Note
This is Volume 1 of the new U.S.A. Edition of the well-known research
work Muhammad in World Scriptures, in which the author brought to light
propheciesfromallmajorworldscripturesrelatingtothecomingofthegreat
Promised One that were fulfilled through the advent and life of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him).
This Volume consists of the material relating to prophecies found in the
Bible, and corresponds to the second volume of the last 3-volumed edition,
printed in Pakistan during the years 1966 to 1975.
Inproducingthe presentEdition,itwas absolutelyessentialtocarryout
asubstantialandthoroughrevision,correctionandrearrangementofthepre-
viousedition.Themainreasonwasthatthepreviouspublicationwasmarred
byfrequentmisprints,typesettingerrorsandmispositioningoftext,manyof
which caused serious confusion in thetext, and indeed in someplaces made
it impossible to follow the meaning. We, the Editors, briefly describe below
the necessary revision and correction work that we carried out.
Manyofthemisprintsreferredtoaboveoccurredwithinquotationsgiven
fromencyclopaedias,commentaries,dictionariesandsimilarreferenceworks.
It was therefore necessary to find these original sources for comparison and
checking. This was no easy task, and required much time and perseverance.
We painstakingly searched through the computerised indexes of University
libraries in England as well as the Library of the Ohio State University in
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A., which are available on the Internet. The vast
majority of the sources was located, the quotations were checked and
corrected, and full references added in the present edition. While searching
for these quotations, there were a few instances when we found some addi-
tionalextractsinsupportofthepointbeingarguedbytheauthor.Thesehave
been added to the present edition.
Checking references in the Bible and the Holy Quran was, of course, a
considerablyeasiertask,thoughtime-consumingnonetheless.Asregardsthe
quotationsfromtheBible,whichnaturallyformthebackboneofthisvolume,
the author had used the King James Version, known also as the Authorised
Version (AV). In view of the archaic language of this version, we decided to
replace it by the Revised Standard Version (RSV), which is much easier to
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vi MUHAMMAD IN WORLD SCRIPTURES
follow for modern readers. It was noticed, however, that the author in some
of hisowncomments wasreferringto particularwordsused inthe AV trans-
lationwhichhavebeenamendedintheRSVtranslation.Inanysuchcase,we
followedoneofthreeapproaches.(1)Ifthedifferenceisinconsequential,we
have also amended the words in the author’s own comments to conform to
the RSV. (2) In other cases, we have indicated within the quotation from the
RSV what the AV translation of certain words or phrases is. The AV trans-
lationhasbeeninsertedwithinsquarebracketsandprintedinitalics,prefixed
by the letters AV. (3) In the few cases in which the author’s argument was
heavilydependentontheAVtranslation,wehavenotamendedthequotation
to the RSV, but retained the AV translation and indicated in the footnote
reference that the AV is being used. Therefore, please note that in all quo-
tations from the Bible, the RSV translation has been used in this Edition
unless it is specifically indicated that the AV or some other translation is
used.
We found that many misprints and obscurities in the previous edition
couldberemovedbycheckingagainstthecorrespondingUrduversionofthe
contents of this book, when available, and this often cleared up a problem.
ThepublishedUrdueditionofthisbook(underthetitleMitha¯q-un-Nabiyyin)
isnotacompleteversionoftheEnglishbookbecausetheauthorhadexpan-
ded and revised the English work many years after publishing the Urdu
book.However,wedidhaveaccesstomanyUrduarticleslaterpublishedby
theauthorinthepaperPaighamSulhofLahore,whichcorrespondtocertain
expandedpartsoftheEnglishbook.Thusaconsiderablepart,thoughnotall,
oftheEnglishworkwasavailabletousintheoriginalUrduform.Whilethis
proved to be an invaluable source, the comparing of the English with the
Urdu, which we carried out, added much time and effort to our revision
work.
In dealing with the scriptural Hebrew and Greek words and expressions
occurring plentifully in this book, and also the references to other classical
languages, it must be acknowledged that the work of misprint correction,
revisionandtypesettingwouldhavebeenimpossiblebutforthefactthatthe
second-named of the Editors below (Selim Ahmed) is well-conversant with
these languages, possessing a degree in Hebrew from the prestigious
University College in the University of London. Besides checking and
correcting misprints in the transliterated expressions from these languages,
rendering the transliteration according to modern rules, and doing general
checking wherever these languages were involved, Selim Ahmed has also
typeset all the Hebrew and Greek passages that appear in this book.
The formatting, type-designing, proof-reading and typesetting of the
whole book has been done entirely by us, the two Editors. The task of
formatting was made more difficult due to two factors: (1) trying to incor-
EDITORIAL NOTE vii
porate Hebrew and Greek passages into footnotes, and (2) placing consecu-
tively occurring short footnotes along the same line, rather than each such
footnote on a separate line. As to the first problem, there were some cases
in which it was not practical to place the Hebrew or Greek text within the
footnote, so it has been put at the top of the following page.
The printing schedule of the book has not allowed us time to compile
an Index. However, we are planning to prepare an Index shortly and issue
it as a separate, free booklet. The Index will be included in future printings
of the book.
Asthefirst-namedEditorbelow,Iwishtostateforthehistoricalrecord,
and not as a personal statement, that I knew the author very closely (being
his maternal grandson, though physical relationship by itself confers no
merit), and I had the opportunity to discuss and study some aspects of this
book with him during his life. Therefore the revision and improvement
carried out in this edition can, in a sense, be considered to be authorised by
Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi. I had promised him about a year before his
death that I would arrange for the reprinting of this book, to which he was
looking forward. We thank Almighty Allah that, at long last, this promise
has now been fulfilled to the extent of the publication of the first half of the
work.
We now look forward to working on the preparation and publication of
Volume 2, which will consist of the prophecies about the Holy Prophet
Muhammad as found in the Zoroastrian, Buddhist and Hindu ancient reli-
gious writings, as well as in the mystic syllables and symbols of various
religions.
The Editors,
Zahid Aziz
Nottingham, England
Selim Ahmed
Slough, England
November 1998.
Dedication
To Muhammad the Holy Prophet
who has so much meaning to me.
Abdul Haq Vidyarthi.
viii
Preface to the Second Edition
The book in your hands was first published some twenty-six years ago, in
1940,asaninadequateliturgy.However,itwonimmediaterecognitionfrom
the Muslim world and was acclaimed as a great achievement. It was sub-
sequently rendered in Persian, and appeared in Din-o-Daanish, a magazine
of Tehran, Iran, and a comprehensive review on it appeared in an Arabic
paperAl-HilalofBaghdad.Manyyearsago,whenadeputationoftheUlama
of Al-Azhar University came to Lahore, a copy of it was presented to them.
They congratulated me on the wonderful researches I had made. Its popu-
larity and fame induced some unscrupulous publishers and writers to
reproduce it without my permission.
ThebookwascriticallyexaminedbyaJewishpaper,YishraelMessenger
ofHongKong,andtheChristianEpiphanyofCalcutta.Irefutedtheirflimsy
objectionsconvincingly.Besideswritingonthistopic,Ihavehadtheoppor-
tunity to debate and discuss with ministers of every religion. An exhaustive
discussion on the prophecy of “A Praised One, Camel Rider” mentioned in
theAtharvaVedatookplaceinDiwanHall,Delhi,inFebruary1944,andthe
learned Hindu Pandit who spoke from the opposite side could not deny the
prophecy, but unconvincingly tried to minimise its importance by dubbing
it as an interpolation in the Veda.
Twenty years or so of my life have since elapsed and during this period
the running stream of time drifted me towards the farthest corners of the
world.IhadtheoccasiontoexploretheBritishMuseumLibraryinLondon,
the Buddhist libraries of Madras and Colombo in Ceylon, and the libraries
of Hyderabad Deccan, San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York. I also
studied minutely the original scriptures. Last year I was convinced that it is
a subject of unlimited scope and can never be thoroughly exhausted. I have,
therefore,decidedtopublishmyresearch.Thefirsteditionconsistedofonly
300 pages, but now it has run into 1500 pages. I have, with all humility,
tried todrinkdeepat thesefountainsofknowledgeand tosearchouthidden
truths more valuable and beautiful than the costliest pearls.
In the end, I would request my readers to pray to the Almighty that He
may cherish inthe hearts ofthe seekers-after-truth fromall religions aswell
ix
x MUHAMMAD IN WORLD SCRIPTURES
as of brethren in Islam, the love of the “mercy to all the nations” (peace be
upon him).
Abdul Haq Vidyarthi
Lahore, Pakistan
4 December 1966
Preface to the First Edition
Muhammad in World Scriptures was first published in Urdu four years ago.
Being the first book of the kind, containing prophecies about the advent of
the Holy Prophet in the various world scriptures, giving those prophecies in
the original words of those scriptures, it had a warm reception at the hands
of the Urdu knowing public. This brought us a demand from many friends
that an English edition of the same should be brought out. The present
volume in English is due to that pressing demand.
For certain circumstances beyond my control, the translation could not
be done as it should have been. There are also misprints. With all these
shortcomings, it has one merit which should commend it to the reader’s
interest. It is a great and quite original research work. It is as such that I
present it to the reader, requesting him to pray at the same time that God
mayopentheheartsofthenon-MuslimstothegreatnessoftheHolyProphet
Muhammad.
I may also add that I shall feel grateful for any suggestions for the
improvement of the book.
Abdul Haq Vidyarthi
Lahore, India
9 October 1940
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
Two kinds of testimony to the Holy Prophet’s truth . . . . . 1
The testimony of the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Belief in the Holy Prophet alone ensures universal peace . . . . . . . 3
“The Lord of the worlds” — a Quranic conception only . . . . . . . 4
Testimony of God in the form of Divine support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Promised Prophet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The testimony of the People of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A strong evidence on the Finality of Prophethood . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A prophet after the Finality of Prophethood causes dissension . . . 9
A word to Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian and
Buddhist friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Some characteristics of the prophecies about the Holy Prophet . . 12
Some important conventions about prophecies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Part 1
Muhammad in Jewish Scriptures
(The Old Testament)
Chapter 1: The Early Prophets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1. Prophecies in the Book of Adam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Adam and the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Jesus Christ’s own testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2. The prophecy of Idris or Enoch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3. Noah’s prophecy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Noah’s flood as described in the Hindu scriptures . . . . . . . . 25
Noah and Manu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
This prophecy applies to the Holy Prophet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The common factors in all the Deluge stories . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Promised Ship and the world’s Rescuer . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
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xii MUHAMMAD IN WORLD SCRIPTURES
Does this ship signify Vedic Dharma? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The ship stands for the Holy Quran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Prophecy fulfilled in the Prophet Muhammad . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 2: Abraham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Brahma of Hindus is the same as Abraham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Sweet water and salt water — temperaments of the sons . . . . . . 34
The world’s unique spiritual Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 3: Jacob and Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Christian attempt to apply prophecy to Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Fabricated lineage of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Discomfiture of the compilers of the Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Mistake of the compilers of Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The prophecy does not apply to Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
The prophecy relates to Muhammad (peace be on him) . . . . . . . 48
Further proof of the Holy Prophet’s likeness to Joseph . . . . . . . . 48
How the prophecy was fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet 50
Chapter 4: Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
A Prophet in the likeness of Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Jesus was not in the likeness of Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Refutation of Christian claim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
The prophecy applies to none but the Holy Prophet . . . . . . . . . . 57
‘That Prophet’ expected after Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
How the Holy Prophet was like Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
That Prophet will be more exalted than Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
The arrival of Moses in Midian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
The origin of Madina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Moses is an Arabic word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
The Holy Prophet himself claims to be like Moses . . . . . . . . . . 68
The last prophecy of Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
1. Coming of the Lord from Mount Sinai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2. “The Lord … rose up from Seir” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3. “The Lord … shined forth from Mount Paran” . . . . . . . . 70
4. Paran is the name of a Makkan hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5. “He came with ten thousands of saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6. The original text in the Hebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74