Shibli Zaman
Ata bin Yasar reported:
I met Abdullah bin `Amr bin al-`Aas and asked him, "
Tell me about the description of the Messenger of Allah which is mentioned in Torah." He replied, Yes. By Allah, he is mentioned Torah with his qualities found in the Quran as follows,
O Prophet! We have sent you as a witness, and a giver of glad tidings, And a warner, and guardian of the illiterates. You are My slave and My Messenger. I have named you al-Mutawakkil (meaning Allahs dependent). You are neither discourteous, harsh, nor a noise-maker in the markets; You do not do evil to those Who do evil to you, but you deal With them with forgiveness and kindness. Allah will not let him die till he makes upright the crooked people by making them say: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, with which will be opened blind eyes, deaf ears and enveloped hearts." [The Authenticated Collection of al-Bukhari, 3:335]
Anyone familiar with the Old Testament should recognize this immediately. A chapter of uncanny resemblance to this exists in the Book of Isaiah. However, the mystery rests in the fact that there is no evidence that the Book of Isaiah was accessible to the Arabs in the late 7th century A.D. How then was this kind of detail known?
What is the "Torah"?
"In Jewish tradition the word Torah, which literally means teaching, is often used to describe the entire gamut of Jewish religious learning. When so used, Torah refers not only to the five books of Moses, but also to the Prophets, Holy Writings, Talmud, and Midrash -- In fact all religious writings from earliest times to the present." [This is the Torah, Alfred J. Kolatch]
The word "
Tawrah" in the Arabic language is used for the Old Testament and all Jewish scriptures. "
Zaboor" is used for the "Psalms" (from the root "
Zibrah" or "
Zimrah" in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic) within the Old Testament. This is how it has been understood by the Jewish nation historically and this is how it was understood by the Arabs and early Muslims. This prophecy recorded by al-Bukhari is in 42:1-7 and scattered elsewhere in Isaiah. I will break down 1-7 verse by verse in order to lucidate who this is quite clearly speaking about.
Isaiah 42:1-11, Bukhari 3:335 - The Shocking Comparison
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Isaiah 42
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Bukhari
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Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." [Isaiah 42:1] |
"You are My servant and My messenger. I have named you al Mutawakkil (meaning the one who depends on Allah)" [Bukhari 3:335]
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"He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street." [Isaiah 42:2]
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"You are neither discourteous, harsh Nor a noise-maker in the markets.." [Bukhari 3:335]
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"A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth." [Isaiah 42:3]
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"And you do not do evil to those Who do evil to you, but you deal With them with forgiveness and kindness." [Bukhari 3:335]
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"He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law." [Isaiah 42:4]
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"I have named you Al-Mutawakkil (meaning Allahs dependent)....Allah will not let him die till he makes upright the crooked people by making them say: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, " [Bukhari 3:335]
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"Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;" [Isaiah 42:5-6]
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"I have named you Al-Mutawakkil (meaning Allahs dependent)....Allah will not let him die till he makes upright the crooked people by making them say: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, " [Bukhari 3:335]
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"To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." [Isaiah 42:7]
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"With which will be opened blind eyes And deaf ears and enveloped hearts." [Bukhari 3:335]
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"Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains." [Isaiah 42:10-11]
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Who is Kedar?
[Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, H.W.F. Gesenius, page 724]
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Kedar" is obviously a reference to the Arabs as Gesenius states, "
The Rabbins call all Arabians universally by this name; whence
Leshon Qedar Rabbin. used of the Arabic language." So now we must look in history and see which man who claimed to have a message of God preached monotheism as espoused by the previous Israelite prophets to the Arabs in the Arabic language, the Leshon Qedar? Did Jesus preach to the Arabs? Obviously not. Then who did? We are left with only one single figure in history who led the desert Arabs to spread across a majority of the known world within a span of 50-70 years.
Was Jesus Sent to the Gentiles?
Now regarding whether Jesus could have possibly been the "light of the Gentiles" mentioned in Isaiah 42, let us review Matthew 15:22-27:
"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the childrens bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table." [Matthew 15:22-27]
Thus, Jesus plainly says he is not a Messenger for the Gentiles and his message is not a final one for all of mankind. Glad tidings to the Gentiles? That you are all dogs? This is an obvious incompatibility with Isaiah 42.
Due to this obvious insurmountability of this point, the following verses can never apply to Jesus.
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him:
He shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles." [Isaiah 42:1]
"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant to the people,
for a light of the Gentiles;" [Isaiah 42:6]
Then one is left to ask who this individual is who would be a light for the Gentile (non-Israelite) world. Who is this Kedarite Arab who would preach to the Arabs in the Arabic Language, the Leshon Qedar? Which personality in history are such things attributed to? None of than the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the successor to Christ and the Seal of the Prophets.
