Back in 1999, Abdul Waheed Khan of Karachi, Pakistan, introduced a exegesis of the Bible that he believes establishes the necessary pedigree of the Islamic prophet. He wrote the paper after hearing Norman Geisler in Denver Co, in 1996. Abdul Khan provides extracts from both the Old and New Testaments that he asserts refer to, and prove, that Muhammad is the final messenger of the God of Abraham. In this thread I am going to go over each of the 34 references and discuss the context
.e. language, history and intent of the writers]. Please join me as each point is addressed and refuted. Here is the first reference:
- Genesis 49: 10 The sceptre (the staff in the hand of a priest as a symbol of Imperial Authority) will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."
Explanation: (a) A chain of Israelite prophethood would cease when “he” (Muhammad P.B.U.H.) comes and other nations will follow him. It is he who will hold the sceptre in his hand from the pulpit.
**The scepter is indeed the symbol of royal authority, but let’s not forget, Muhammad was never crowned ‘king’ nor was he a ‘priest’ so no scepter of kingship or rod of priestly power passed from Judah to Muhammad. On the other hand, Jesus in king who leads all the holy angels and sits upon the throne of glory, which is both a heavenly throne and that of his ancestor David [Mt 19:28; 25:31; Lk 1:32]. Jesus then, is Lord and King who wields the Sceptre of Righteousness [Heb 1:8] and the High Priest who authors both mercy and grace in times of need [Heb 4:16]. Obviously, Jesus in Shiloh. But, let’s go a little further.
Mr. Khan seems to think that the chain of Isrealite prophets would cease once Muhammad took the sceptre from Judah, and that imperial authority passed to Islam. However, his own methodology of argumentation weakens when we look at his claim objectively. After all, many rulers have possessed both a sceptre and a rod, like the Roman Caesars. Many nations obeyed the edicts and laws of the Roman Emperor. So, if this passage points to Muhammad, it might as well describe Octavian Augustus or just about anyone else for that matter. In fact, one could easily argue that the passage in Gen 49:10 is a prophetic references to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and the subsequent rule of gentile powers like the Romans. That would *necessarily ***make today’s *Pope * or maybe Constantine our mysterious Shiloh!
More on the word ‘Shiloh’, then I’ll close this post. Shiloh is an obscure word, and the passage is open to interpretation, but not make believe eisegesis as Mr. Kahn would have us think. Jewish rabbis have noted that the numerical value of ‘Shiloh’ is the same as that of ‘Moshe’ [Ba’al HaTurim, i.e. Jacob ben Asher; d. 1343]. Rabbi Maim Vital notes in Sh’ar Peskuim that, 'a mystical relationship exists between Moses and the Messiah [Vayeh 20B]. Shiloh, then, is a prophet like Moses and the Meshiah ben David. The Shiloh is ‘extoled, enlightened and elevated immensely. He is greater than Abraham, Jacob and even Moses’ [Yishaya 52,13; cf. Gspl of Jhn 8:56,58]. Moses himself appeared and spoke to Jesus [Mt. 17:3,4; Lk 24:27,44]. Muhammad had no such endorsement, and it is Moses himself who will accuse those who reject Christ whose blood justifies those whom the law could not [Gspl of Jhn 5:45,46; Acts 13:39].
(b) This word " he " was written as " S ILOH n earlier Bibles. It is changed to “he”. "SILOH means peace, meaning Islam.
Here again we are confroted with Islamic apologetics that connect unconnected words and mix lexicons. Would anyone like to take a shot at comparing the Arabic word ‘salam’ [Siin-Lam-Miim] and the Hebrew word ‘shiloh’ [Shin-Yod-Lamed-He]. Hint: Islam is not ‘peace’ and and ‘shiloh’ is not ‘submission’.
(c) All Prophets were sent for a particular nation and for a particular area but was sent for the entire mankind of the world. ALLAH has called him Rahmatul lil Aalameen i.e. he is a blessing to the whole universe.
**Islam hold that over 100,000 prophets were sent to the world’s nations, yet hold Muhammad out to the *necessary ***with so many other prophets that came before him. Muslims need to tell us why. Also, if ‘Allah’ is the source of all blessings [Q. 2:157] who alone can deliver or deprive mankind of blessings [Q. 3:414] and who tries creation with blessings and misfortunes [Q. 7:168] then how is it that Muhammad is a ‘blessing to the whole universe’?Isn’t that the unique role and power of Allah?
I have retained all spelling errors found in the original, so that no allegation of misrepresentation is possible.
Question is - can it be done ?