The speech of Jesus about Periqlytos in the Bible and in the Qur'an

The speech of Jesus about Periqlytos in the Bible and in the Qur'an

Prepared by

Dr. Ahmad ibn `Uthman Al Mazid

And

Dr. Khalid ibn `Abdur-Rahman Al Shayi`

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds [i.e., people]. May Allah send peace and blessings upon His Prophet Muhammad and upon his brethren Prophets and Messengers.

This universe with all on it is running according to regulations and laws that are perceived by specialists in every field whether in the field of space and astronomy, medicine and biology, geology and oceanology, physics and chemistry, or in other fields of science.

All these laws around us indicate that there is a Lord for the universe who created and perfected them; He is Allah (may He be Glorified and Exalted).

Among these creatures, man has an advantage and excellence because Allah (Glory be to Him) honored him as He says in the Glorious Qur'an: "And indeed We have honored the Children of Adam, and We have carried them on land and sea, and have provided them with At-Taiyibat (lawful good things), and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preference."[Surat Al Isra': 70].

As a part of honoring humans, Allah (may He be Glorified and Exalted) explained to them how to worship Him only as one god who has no partner so that they worship Him alone and obey Him alone. This is explained by Allah's Saying in the Glorious Qur'an: "And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad peace be upon him) but We revealed to him (saying): Lâ ilâha illa Ana [none has the right to be worshipped but I (Allâh)], so worship Me (Alone and none else)." [Surat Al Anbiya': 25]. And His saying: "And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût (all false deities i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh)."" [Surat An-Nahl: 36].

Moreover, He explained to them everything they needed to lead an honorable life through their dealings and behavior which they must adopt during their life, the social relationships in between, behavior which they should have, and morals which they should adopt.

This explanation was clarified at the hands of a chosen group of people whom were chosen for this mission; they were Prophets and Messengers whom Allah supported by miracles and signs denoting their honor and truthfulness. He revealed to them sacred scriptures containing the words of Allah (Glory be to Him) that carried explanation, guidance, and happiness to all humanity in all times in this life and after death.

Those Messengers were: Adam, Enoch, Noah, Hud, Salih, Abraham, Lut, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Jethro, Moses, Aaron, Jonah, David, Solomon, Elias, Elisha, Zechariah, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the last Messenger was Muhammad (peace be upon them).

All these forty four Prophets were mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an. However, some Prophets were not mentioned as Allah (Glory be to Him) says in the Glorious Qur'an: "And Messengers We have mentioned to you before, and Messengers We have not mentioned to you, - and to Musa (Moses) Allah spoke directly. *

Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the Messengers. And Allah is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise." [Surat An-Nisa': 164 - 165].

All these Messengers had one specific mission which was guiding people to the Straight Way that will lead them to happiness and the reformation of their affairs in worldly life and provide security, peace, prosperity, and good life for them. Furthermore, it will lead them to the satisfaction of Allah (may He be Glorified and Exalted) and entering Paradise in the Hereafter after death.

Those Messengers showed respect and reverence to one another. They showed respect and reverence to a Prophet they were told about and his descriptions were revealed to some of them, whereas the name of such Prophet was mentioned to others.

For this, the Holy Scriptures revealed to Messengers contained a divine message to all Prophets that they must tell their nations about this Prophet and show the obligation of believing in him whether the informant Prophet himself will witness the coming of that Prophet or not. That was mentioned in the Ayah clearly: "And (remember) when Allâh took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying: "Take whatever I gave you from the Book and Hikmah (understanding of the Laws of Allâh), and afterwards there will come to you a Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) confirming what is with you; you must, then, believe in him and help him." (Allâh) said: "Do you agree (to it) and will you take up My Covenant (which I conclude with you)?" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness; and I am with you among the witnesses (for this)."" [Ali `Imran: 81].

This Qur'anic Ayah indicates that the mentioned Prophet was specified and known with his attributes and name; he is the best of creation and the last Prophet. The meaning of this Qur'anic Ayah was mentioned in the Holy Scriptures revealed to Prophets (peace be upon them).

The news about that Prophet were mentioned in the greatest revealed books before the Qur'an, which were the Torah and the Bible.

As for Jesus (peace be upon him) and his Holy Bible, their speech about the last Prophet, Muhammad, (peace be upon him) was more precise and clear because he was the nearest to him in duration as there was no sent prophet in the period in between.

Jesus (peace be upon him) had a clear expression recorded in the Glorious Qur'an which was: "And (remember) when `Eisa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah unto you confirming the Taurat [(Torah) which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." [Surat As-Saf: 6].

The news of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them) came many times on the tongue of Jesus (peace be upon him) and were recorded in the gospels.

Such as his speech in the Gospel according to John which reads: "But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he shall give testimony of me. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." [John: 16-25].

Commentators differed about the meaning of the word (Periqlytos) in Greek, some explained it with the consoler, lawyer, or the one who praises Allah frequently. It was also said that the origin of the word is Aramaic which means the rescuer. That word was very common among the believers at that time and it connected with the seal of Prophets.

It was said: It is a Greek word that means: Ahmad or Muhammad in Arabic. The original text of the bible that was written in old Aramaic mentioned the word "Muhammadah" and "Hamidah" which are parallel words to Muhammad and Ahmad in Arabic. Perhaps the last explanation of the word "Periqlytos" is the nearest to correctness.

The name "Ahmad" is the correct meaning of the word "Periqlytos" in Greek and not the word "Paraclete" as mentioned in some copies.

The Italian orientalist Carlo Alfoso (1872-1938) (Nallino), who got PH.D. In old Greek literature, was asked about the meaning of Periqlytos? He replied: He who has frequent praise.

[See the Prophethood of Muhammad from doubt to certainty, P. 282 - 283 of Fadil Salih As-Samirra'i].

Despite these linguistic differences, the important issue here is that people must respond to the message of the Lord of the worlds which He sent to all Prophets. The message which they delivered said: We have to dedicate our thanks and praise to Allah for He is our Lord, Creator, Provider of sustenance, and Disposer of our affairs. He is Allah, the Lord of the worlds, to whom we must direct worship, for He alone deserves worship and there is no partner with Him and we must worship Him in the way He commanded.

We invoke Allah to grant happiness and honorable life to all people in this world and in the next. Praise be to Allah, the lord of the worlds, and peace be upon His Prophets whom He chose.