The place where he was sent as Allah’s Messenger

 a)              The Old Testament mentions the place where Ishmael (Peace be upon him) was brought up. In Genesis (21:19-20), we read: “And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad to drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.”

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) described Ishmael (Peace be upon him) as an archer. Once he came upon some men from the tribe of Aslam while they were throwing their arrows. He said to them: “O children of Ishmael! Go on throwing [your arrows], for your father was an archer.”[35]

 b)             In Isaiah (21:13), we read: “This is a message about Arabia.”[36]This is a reference to the place and the nation where a Messenger will appear carrying the Message from Allah to mankind.

 c)             Another clue indicating the place where the new religion will arise with its new mottoes uttered on mountain tops and shouted by people, is read in Isaiah (42:10-11): “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 (Sela)[37] sing, let them shout from the tops of the mountains.”

Singing here means glorifying Allah with a shout sent on the tops of mountains. This corresponds to the prayer call (Adhan) of Muslims. Both Sela and the places where Kedar[38] lived are locations in the Arabian Peninsula. All this indicates that the place of the new Message and the promised Messenger is Arabia.

 d)             In Deuteronomy (33:2), we read: “The Lord came from Sinai; and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran” Some of the commentators of the Torah who were converted to Islam think that this statement in the Torah refers to the places of the revelation of the Divine Guidance to the earth.

So, His coming from Sinai: Giving the Old Testament to Moses (Peace be upon him). His rising from Seir: His giving the Gospel to Jesus (Peace be upon him). Seir is a range of mountains that extends west to Araba Valley in Palestine. It is the land where Jesus (Peace be upon him) lived. His shining from Mount Paran: Sending down the Qur’an to Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Paran is the ancient name of Mecca, which Ishmael (Peace be upon him) inhabited.

 e)              We read in the Old Testament that David (Peace be upon him) sings of Allah’s Sacred House and expresses his longing for it; for there Allah’s rewards are multiplied.[39] We read in Psalms (84: 5-6) David’s words: “How happy are those whose strength comes from you, who are eager to make the pilgrimage to Mount Zion.[40] As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, it becomes a place of springs.”[41]

In King James Version, “a place of springs” is replaced by “a well”.

The valley of Baca is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and it is the place where the Sacred House stands. Allah  (SWT) says:  “The first House (of worship) appointed for people was that at Baca, full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings; in it are Signs manifest; [for example] the station of Abraham; whoever enters it attains security. Pilgrimage therto is a duty people owe to Allah –Those who can afford the journey; but if any denies Faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures.” (III: 96-97)

Allah (SWT) refers to the aridity of this valley when mentioning the supplication of Abraham (Peace be upon him): “O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring dwell in a valley without cultivation by thy Sacred House.”(XIV: 37)

It is well known that Allah (SWT) made the well of Zamzam gush in that dry valley when Hagar and her son Ishmael (Peace be upon him) dwelt in it.

The Christian Arabs were confused by the occurrence of ‘Baca’ in the text; therefore, they changed it in the Arabic version to sound like another Arabic word (buka’) meaning (crying). Thus the expression became: “passing through the Valley of buka’ (crying)”. There is no relation between the two words. Besides, the word Baca (in the English version) begins with a capital letter and cannot be translated, for it is a proper noun indicating a place. Not only this but they deleted the word standing for “pilgrimage” completely.

  f)              In the Zoroastrian Scriptures[42] there occur glad tidings indicating the place where the Message of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) would appear: “When the Zoroastrian people forsake their religion and become dissolute, a man will rise in Arabia whose followers will conquer Persia and subjugate the arrogant Persians. Instead of worshipping fire in their own temples, they will turn their faces in prayer towards the Ka’ba of Abraham, which will be cleaned of all idols.”[43]

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