Deuteronomy 18:18, does it refer to Muhammad or Jesus?

Deuteronomy 18:18, does it refer to Muhammad or Jesus?

Question:

Deuteronomy 18:18, Muslims say it refers to Muhammad (PBUH) and Christians say it refers to Jesus (PBUH), which one is true?

 Answer:

Deuteronomy 18:18

I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brothers, like you (Moses), and I will place my words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

Muslims say this verse refers to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

But some Jews interpret this verse somehow by sophistry. They say it is not about Muhammad (PBUH) according to the following reasons:

brother in English, appears 94 times in the last 4 books of the Torah, yet it never once describes the descendants of Ishmael, 53 times it describes kinsmen (Jews), 30 times it describes biological brothers, 8 times it describes tribesmen (12 Jewish tribes), 3 times it describes Edomites

The question is, if this description doesn’t refer to Muhammad (PBUH), who is this prophet? Jesus (PBUH)?

Let’s peruse the prophecy characteristics:

1. He will be like Moses (PBUH)
2. He will come from the brothers of the Israelites
3. God will put his words in the mouth of the prophet and he will declare what God commands him
4. He will speak in God’s name
5. If someone does not listen to these words, God will call him to account

Now we go in deep

1. He will be like Moses (PBUH)

• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) were born naturally, from human parents. But Jesus (PBUH) had only mother
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) lived most of their lives without parents. But Jesus (PBUH) lived with her mother
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) were married and had children. But Jesus (PBUH) didn’t marry and had no children
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) were given a comprehensive law and code of life. But Jesus (PBUH) just established the law of Moses (PBUH)
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) encountered their enemies and were victorious in miraculous ways. But Jesus (PBUH) never did
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) were accepted as prophets and statesmen by their people. But Jesus was rejected as the prophet
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) migrated following conspiracies to assassinate them. But Jesus (PBUH) never did
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) were king and prophet same time. But Jesus (PBUH) was not
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) had direct occasion of inspiration from God, Moses (PBUH) in Mt. Sinai and Muhammad (PBUH) in Me’raaj. But Jesus (PBUH) didn’t have
• None of them were mistaken as divine beings by their people. But Christians call Jesus (PBUH) “God”
• Muhammad and Moses (PBUT) both died and buried. But Jesus (PBUH) ascended to heaven

2. He will come from the brothers of the Israelites

Abraham (PBUH) had two sons from Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac (PBUH) (Genesis 21). Ishmael (PBUH) became the grandfather of the Arab nation, and Isaac (PBUH) became the grandfather of the Jewish nation. The prophet spoken of, was not to come from among the Jews themselves, but from their brothers, i.e. the Ishmaelite. Muhammad (PBUH) is from the descendant of Ishmael. Kedar also is his ancestor.

When Ishmael is brother of Isaac, so Ishmaelite (Arab nation) is brother of Israelite (Jewish nation).

If the word “their brothers” (Deuteronomy 18:18) refers to Israelite themselves, why God didn’t say “among you” or “among Israelites”?

Israelites had hundreds prophet, which one is this prophet?

When God sent to Israelites hundreds prophet, why He should say such a prophecy just about one of them?!

What about the rest of the prophecy? None of Israelites prophets were as similar as Muhammad to Moses (PBUH) while the prophecy say “he is like you (Moses)”

3. God will put his words in the mouth of the prophet and he will declare what God commands him

The word of God (the holy Quran) were truly put into Prophet Muhammad’s mouth. God sent Angel Gabriel to teach prophet Muhammad (PBUH) the exact words of God (the holy Quran) and asked him to dictate them to people as he heard them. He replied: “I cannot read”. So the Quran words did not come from his own thoughts, but were put into his mouth by the Angel. For second time, the Angel asked him to read; “I am not earned” he replied. Then the Angel revealed him the first passage of the Quran, five verses from chapter 96 “Al-Alaq”:

The Quran 96:1-5

In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

Read in the Name of your Lord who created; (1) created man from a clinging mass. (2) Read, and your Lord is the most generous, (3) who taught by the pen, (4) taught man what he did not know. (5)

During the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and under his supervision, these words were then memorized and written down by his companions.

A similar prophecy has been made by Jesus (PBUH):

John 16:13

But when he, the spirit of the truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

Also a prophecy by Isaiah; Isaiah 29:12

And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

4. He will speak in God’s name

The Quran is the only holy book starts with the statement: in the name of God. Indeed 113 chapters out of 114 begin with the phrase “In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful”. Even the chapter, which does not start with the exact statement, chapter 9, do have the word “Allah (God)” at the very first line.

Isaiah relates the messenger to Kedar who will sing a new song (a scripture in a new language), Isaiah 42:10-11.

In Isaiah 28:11, he says: “and another tongue, will he speak to this people”. Isaiah even explains that the revelation will be sent down in parts and complex rules: “For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.” (Isaiah 28:10)

The Quran was revealed in sections over a span of 23 years in different locations and occasions.

There are more prophecies from Isaiah which can be matched only with the prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

5. If someone does not listen to these words, God will call him to account

This, the very last statement, shows that God will send rules and laws that require people to obey them. No book can compete with the Quran in perfection of divine laws and rules.

Can Gospel be another candidate? By examining the Gospels we know that they do not pass the criteria of Deuteronomy 18:18. The Gospel do not bring new laws because Jesus (PBUH) did not come to do so but to revive the laws of Moses (PBUH). He was to establish the laws of Moses (Matthew 5:17). Although it did not work out because people rejected him. His mission was not to tell people what to do and what not to do, because people already knew those from the Old Testament. Jesus (PBUH) was simply reminding them the laws of Moses (PBUH).

Retrieved from the book “the spirit of truth. Bible, the Herald of Quran”

By Esmail Hemmati