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Biblical Prophecy on Muhammad (pbuh) # 2
God's promise to Abraham
by Maulana Muhammad Idris Kandhlavi
The Old Testament Genesis 17 : 20 , God answers Hagar thus : "And as for Ishmael I have heard thee : Behold I have blessed him, I will make him fruitful. and will multiply him exceedingly : twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation."
There is yet another promise made in verse 8 of the same Chapter addressed to Abraham :"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan , for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God" .And earlier it was communicated to Hagar, "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael , because thy Lord hath heard thy affliction And he will be a wild man : his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him ; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren (Genesis 17 : 11- 12). Further it is said , "That God blessed his son Isaac" (Genesis 25 :11), in addition to promise about Ishmael and his children.
In all these verses God promised Abraham to bless his seed in Ishmael and Isaac and thus it came to a pass that after Ishmael and Isaac for thousands of years prophets arose from the house of Isaac, form the Isaac to Jesus. When the time to fulfill the chief part of the promise arrived the promised Prophet emerged from the house of Ishmael , the fulfillment of Abraham's prayer : and the sun rose from Sinai and Seir and shone on Paran : "This is the bounty of Allah ,which he giveth unto whom He willeth. Allah is of infinite bounty" (Holy Qur'an 62 :4).
In Genesis Chapter 21, it appears that Abraham along with Hagar and Ishmael moved down to Hijaz the Valley of Paran - the present Mecca, and returned alone. But after Sara's death returned to Hagar in the Valley of Paran , and by that time Ishmael had grown up to manhood where they jointly raised the foundation of "Kaabah"- The first house of God on earth.
And when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the house (Abraham prayed ) : Our Lord ! Accept from us (this service), Lo! Thou, only art the Hearer , the knower. Our Lord! And make us submissive unto thee and of our seed a nation submissive unto thee, and show us our ways of worship and relent toward us. Lo! Thou , only Thou art the Relenting, the Merciful (Holy Qur'an 11 : 127 - 128 )
The reader is requested to note whose seed is meant in the above verses (both of the Bible and the Qur'an). Obviously , it is the seed of Ishmael (pbuh), that settled down in the valley of Paran. and on the vicinity of Mecca. and for this progeny of their Abraham together with Ishmael (pbuh) first prayed as above and their second prayer was as follows :
O Lord ! raise up from amongst them (i.e., the seed of Hagar and Ishmael ) and apostle of their own, who shall recite unto them thy revelations, and shall instruct in the Scripture and in wisdom and shall make them grow. Lo! Thou art the Mighty, Wise. (Holy Qur'an 2 : 129 )
God pointedly makes a mention of the granting of this prayer, of Abraham just as He did of the supplication itself : "He it is Who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own , to recite unto them Thy revelations, and to make them grow and to teach them the Scripture and Wisdom, though heretofore they were in error manifest "(Holy Qur'an 62 :2).
The Gist
The reader should note that none else among the seed of Ishmael (pbuh) was more blessed and fruitful than Muhammad (pbuh), and inherited the land of Canaan, an none else had the uppermost hand, and possessed the keys of the treasures of the world!
And the twelve chief's were the twelve successors, as the prophet said : "Islam will revolve around the twelve successors, and they will all be from the Qureish"
The glaring point in the above event is that the All-knowing and All-Wise God blessed the seed of Isaac (pbuh) in priority to the seed of Ishmael (pbuh) , because in the long chain of prophets, the last of the prophets, Muhammad (pbuh) was to be born of the children of Ishmael. And if the promise about Ishmael (pbuh) had been fulfilled prior to that about Isaac (pbuh), prophethood from the seed of Isaac would have ceased. because no further prophet could be sent after the last and the final one.
And, whereas amongst the children of Isaac, a great number of prophets were to appear, the Israelites were reminded of this blessing : "... . . . . . how He placed among you prophets (Holy Qur'an 5 : 20). And the prayer which Abraham made for Ismail was this : "And raise up in their midst a messenger from among them (Holy Qur'an 2 : 129) This clearly shows that Abraham prayed for one such prophet from amongst the Ishmaelites, after whom on other prophet may be required. It may be noted that Abraham prayed for a messenger in a singular form, rather that plural.
In a Hadith or Prophet tradition by Abul Aliya, we read that when Abraham (pbuh) prayed for the advent of One prophet from among the progeny of Ishmael he was told that his prayer was granted, this prophet would be the last of all, in the next period after cessation. Similarly, it is reported by Suddi and Qatadah also (Tafsir Ibn Kasir or Ibn Kasir's commentary on Qur'an ) , and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is reported to have said that " I am the fulfillment of the prayer of my father Abraham". and because of this grace on the entire Muslim nation, through this prayer of Abraham, it is incumbent on Muslims to bless Abraham and his seed in all the five daily payers , in thanks giving in these words :" O Lord , send in peace on Muhammad and on the seed of Muhammad ,as thou last blessed Abraham and the seed of Abraham.
One may say that the exclusive selection of Abraham from among all the prophets for such blessings is a proof of the granting of his prayer : "O My Lord! bestow wisdom on me and join me with the righteous ; and grant me honourable mention on the truthful tongue among those to come" (Holy Qur'an 26 : 83 - 84). And for this God granted Abraham both wisdom and righteousness and included him amongst the pious. And by this obligation of invoking peace (Salato Salam) in the following words : "as thou sent peace on Abraham and the seed of Abraham" .his remembrance was made perpetual among the posterity whom he named- "the Muslims"; and this will endure till the end of time by the grace of God, as such : "O Lord! send peace upon Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad ; as thou sent peace upon Abraham and the progeny of Abraham ;verily thou art the Ever-praised , the Possessor of all Glory and Dignity"
Moreover, since Abraham (pbuh) was promised blessings as well so the phrase "bless him" , has been added to the second portion of the prayer:
O Lord! bestow thy blessings upon Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, as thou bestowed blessings upon Abraham and the progeny of Abraham ; verily ,thou art the Ever-praised, the Possessor of all Glory and Dignity .
It may not seem strange that the :"twelve chiefs", interpreted to mean the twelve Successors to the Holy Prophet point to the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh) i.e., that there would be no prophet to come after him but vicegerency and representation will continue . That is the reason why a promise and a prophecy in the Qur'an about successors is made but not of the coming of prophet or apostles, in my measure :
"Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will m of a surety grant them inheritance in the Land as granted to those before them" (Holy Qur'an 24 : 55 )
And thje Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is reported to have said: "That the Caliphate Succession on the pattern of prophethood will last of thirty years after me". And he added that among the Israelites the state craft depended on the prophets who succeeded one after the other, but since there is no prophet after me. there would be Caliphs-successors" (source -AL-Bukahri)
source : Prophecies of the Prophet by Islamic Research institute .Pakistan
(ICRA)