The Characteristics of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)

His illiteracy has already been mentioned. Other features of his personality and life affairs are:

a)                   We read in Isaiah (21:7) that he was a camel-rider, indicating that the Prophet described belongs to the desert, as was Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

b)                   In Psalms (72:10), we read: “The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.” The Yemeni kings have long ceased to exist and no Prophet ever appeared to whom the kings of Yemen yielded but Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

c)                   In Psalms (72:15), the Prophet is said to be blessed continuously: “Prayer also shall be made for him continuously.” Such is the case of Muhammad (Peace be upon him), who is blessed by Muslims several times a day in their Prayers.

d)                   He is also described as carrying a sword: “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh.” (Psalms 45:3) and as an archer: “thine arrows are sharp.” (Psalms 45:5)

e)                  In Matthew Gospel (21:42-43) he is described as the head of the corner rejected by the builders that turned to be the last Messenger. “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”

The Ummah (nation) of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is an illiterate nation that had no significance among peoples. It was amazing that the Messenger who would rise from it would become the head of the corner in the structure of Prophethood.

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “My similitude and that of the Prophets before me is that of a man who has built a house well and beautifully except for an adobe in one of the corners. People set out going around it and admiring it, saying: would that this adobe is not missing!” I am the adobe and I am the seal of Prophets.”[44]

This glad tidings said by Jesus (Peace be upon him) suggest that the Prophet described was not one of the Children of Israel and that prophecy would be taken away from the Children of Israel and given to another nation that would “bring forth the fruits thereof.” It turned out that the intended nation was the nation that was despised by people, the Ummah of Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the new Ummah which Allah made the best Ummah presented to mankind.

f)                     In Isaiah (21:13-17), we read: “This is a message about Arabia. You people of Dedan,[45] whose caravans camp in the barren country of Arabia, give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugees. People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot, from all the dangers of war. Then the Lord said to me, ‘In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end. The bowmen are the bravest men of Kedar, but few of them will be left. I, the Lord God of Israel have spoken.’”[46]

These glad tidings suggest that Allah tells Isaiah by inspiration that a revealed message will come from Arabia. That region of Arabia is the barren land where the caravans of the people of Dedan camp. Dedan is north to Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah as shown in the following old map appearing in Good News Bible.

 The inspiration received by Isaiah orders the people of Tema to offer food and drink to a refugee fleeing before swords. The occurrence of the order after informing of the revealed message in Arabia is a good clue indicating that the fleeing refugee is the receiver of that message whom Allah orders the people of Tema to support.

 “Give water to the thirsty people who come to you. You people of the land of Tema, give food to the refugee.” Tema is a region belonging to Medina district, where the people of Tema lived and then most of them moved to Yathrib (Medina). Arab historians, quoting the Jewish residents of the Arabian Peninsula, say that the first time Jews came to dwell in Hijaz (Arabia) was during the time of Moses (Peace be upon him) when he sent them in an expedition against the Amalekites in Tema. After conquering them and returning to Sham (in the wake of Moses’ death), they were prevented from entering Sham, for it was claimed that they had violated Moses’ Law by sparing the life of one of the sons of the Amalekites’ king. Thus they had to go back to Hijaz and settle in Tema.[47] Then most of them moved to Yathrib.[48] So, the Jewish people of Yathrib had been the people of Tema addressed in the Biblical text. Isaiah addressed the people of Tema in this chapter in the later half of the eighth century BC.

The information revealed to Isaiah says that the fleeing refugee would be accompanied by others: “people are fleeing to escape from swords.” Then the prophesy mentions the damage that would befall the glory of Kedar a year after that event, which indicates that the escape would be from them and that their penalty would be inflicted upon them because of that event. “Then the Lord said to me, ‘In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end. The bowmen are the bravest men of Kedar, but a few of them will be left.’”

These glad tidings correspond perfectly with Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his emigration. The Divine Revelation came down to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in Arabia, in the barren regions of Arabia (Mecca and Medina). He emigrated from Mecca, the residence of the children of Kedar (Quraish) who had chosen a tough youth from every tribal group to gather and assassinate Muhammad (Peace be upon him) on the night of this emigration. The youths came fully armed, but the Prophet emigrated (fleeing). The people of Quraish pursued him with their swords and bows as the prophecy states: “People are fleeing to escape from swords that are ready to kill them, from bows that are ready to shoot.”

Then Allah punished Quraish (the children of Kedar) a year or so after the Prophet’s emigration, when Quraish tribe lost its glory and greatness in Badr Battle wherein its men were badly defeated and many of them were killed: “Then the Lord said to me, ‘In exactly one year the greatness of the tribes of Kedar will be at an end. The bowmen are the bravest men of Kedar, but a few of them will be left.”

The prophesy assures that this information, the promise that the Divine Message would be sent down in Arabia, the Prophet’s coming with that Message, the events of his emigration and victory, are all divinely revealed; for: “The Lord God of Israel has spoken.”

What these glad tidings tell us must have been realized, because it was supposed to happen during an era when swords and arrows were the tools of war. Such an era of fighting with swords and arrows has passed.

·     Has any revelation ever come down in Arabia other than the Holy Qur’an?

·     Has there been a Prophet who emigrated from Mecca to Medina and was received by the people of Tema other than Muhammad (Peace be upon him)?

·     Did Quraish face defeat one year after emigration by other than Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in Badr Battle?

These glad tidings prove the truthfulness of the Message of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and it is a divine forerunner of his coming conveyed by one of the Prophets of the Children of Israel (i.e. Isaiah).[49] This text is still intact even today, in spite of the strong tendency of disbelieving Jews and Christian to distort and corrupt their scriptures.

g)                  In Psalms (45: 2-3) we read about the Prophet’s characteristics: “Grace is poured into thy lips; therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh.”

 h)             In Isaiah (42:1-2), we read about the Prophet (Peace be upon him): “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.  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.”

This corresponds to what the honorable Companion Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr (May Allah be pleased with him) quoted from the Old Testament at his time. ‘Ata Ibn Yasar asked him: “will you tell me about the description of the Prophet in Torah?” He said: “Yes. By Allah, he is described in the Torah with some of what is said about him in the Holy Qur’an: “O Prophet! Truly, we have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner, and a guard of the illiterate. You are my servant and Messenger. I have called you al-Mutawkkil (confident in Allah), not rude or tough or clamorous in the markets. You do not repel evil with evil, but forgive and pardon (others). Allah will not make you die before He has reformed the crooked people by making them say: There is no deity but Allah: a statement with which He will open blind eyes, deaf ears and wrapped hearts.”[50]

i)                   Some of the features of the religion the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would come with are described as follows:

             1- The call for prayer, as previously mentioned.

             2- Praying in a row, shoulder to shoulder. In the Book of Zephaniah (3:9-10), we read: “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent [shoulder].”

With Islam the language of worshipping Allah has become one language; the Qur’an is read during the prayer in Arabic exclusively, and the worshippers stand in a straight row shoulder to shoulder.

3-   The change of qibla: We read in John (4:20-21): A woman of Samaria said unto Jesus (Peace be upon him): “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said unto her: “Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship.”

This suggests that the qibla would change from the direction of Jerusalem, and that would be done through a Messenger, which actually happened through Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) according to Allah’s Ordinance in the Verse:  “Then turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque: where you are, turn your faces in that direction. The People of the Book know well that it is the truth from their Lord. Nor is Allah unmindful of what they do.”(II: 144)

4-     Guidance to the true religion in all details: In John (16:12-13), we read: Jesus (Peace be upon him) says: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that will he speak; and he shall show you things to come.”

Allah (SWT) says: “And we have sent down to you the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims.”(XVI: 89) Allah (SWT) also says: “Your companion does not say (aught) of (his own) desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him.”(LIII: 3-4)

5-     Some of the rites of the Prophet’s religion are mentioned in previous scriptures.

In Bhawishya Purana we read the description of the Prophet’s Companions:

“They will be circumcised, without a tail (on their heads), keeping beard, creating a revolution, announcing Adhan (call for prayer), and will be eating lawful things. They will eat all sorts of animals except swine. They will not seek purification from the holy shrubs, but will be purified though warfare. On account of their fighting the irreligious nation, they will be known as Musalmans. I shall be the originator of this religion of the meat–eating nation.”[51]

About Muhammad and his Companions, we quote the literal translation of a Persian text from the Zoroastrian scripture, Dasatir: “When such deeds the Persians will do, from among the Arabs a man will be born from among the followers of whom crown and throne and kingdom and religion of the Persians all shall be overthrown and dissoluted. And will be the arrogant people subjected. They will see instead of the house of idols and the temple of fire the house of worship of Abraham without any idol in it, the Qibla. And they will be a mercy for the worlds and then they will capture places of the temples of fire, Madain and Ctesiphon and of the surrounding places of it and Tus and Balkh and other places of eminence sacred and religious leader theirs will be a man eloquent and his message or what he will say will be well-connected.”[52]

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