Where Is Guidance? (3/3)

The resemblance between the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Moses (Peace be upon him), on the other hand, is remarkable, since:

1. Both of them came with a new law.

2. Both the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Moses (Peace be upon him) left their homelands to get away from their enemies. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) immigrated to Medina, and Moses (Peace be upon him) immigrated to Madian.

3. There is a resemblance between the names of both of the cities that Allah's Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Moses (Peace be upon him) fled to: Medina and Madian are remarkable similar in name.

4. Both the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and Moses (Peace be upon him) fought their enemies and were granted victory by Allah (Mighty & Majestic).

5. Allah (Mighty & Majestic) gave the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) the authority to judge between people by the Book of Allah (Mighty & Majestic)—the Holy Qur’an—just as Allah (Mighty & Majestic) gave Moses (Peace be upon him) the authority to judge between the people by His Wisdom (Noble & Sublime).   

That is why the rabbis (the scholars among the Jews) knew well that this awaited prophet, who would appear toward the end of time, would be from the descendents of Ishmael (Peace be upon him)—the Arabs.

Thus we are not surprised by the presence of Jews in Medina or by the fact that they moved there and were living right next door to the Arabs, since they knew of this awaited prophet who would be sent before the end of time, and the place he was expected to emerge, as referenced in their books: "He shone forth from Mount Paran," as we will explain by the Will of Allah Almighty.   

This is the secret behind the inhabitants of Medina accepting Islam before the migration of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) there, from all they had heard from the Jews of Medina about the expected emergence of this awaited prophet.    

Among the Jews were those who knew about the arrival of the awaited prophet, but they thought he would be sent from among the children of Israel, so when this awaited prophet was sent from the Arabs, and the people of Medina, who had been enemies of the Jews, followed him, the rage and malice of the Jews increased tremendously because this awaited prophet had emerged from the Arabs and not from them. So the people of Medina preceded the Jews in believing in him (Peace be upon him) after they had been the ones taunting them and claiming they would be victorious over the people of Medina when the prophet came, they followed him, and they fought by his side.    

Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) was one of those who came to the Arab lands to await the coming of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) since he knew where this awaited prophet would come from. He left his livelihood in the Persian and Roman empires for that reason—to follow the truth after searching so long for it.

2. It is stated in Deuteronomy 33: 2, "And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran…"

Seir in the Torah is the name of a mountain in Palestine.  

Mount Paran is in the mountains of the Holy City of Mecca to which Ishmael (Peace be upon him) migrated with his mother, Hagar.    

Confirming that Mount Paran is among the mountains of Mecca is this passage from the Torah, "And he (Ishmael) dwelt in the wilderness of Paran…" [Genesis 21: 21]    

In translation of the Samarian Torah, punlished in 1851, it states that Ishmael lived in the wilderness of Paran in the Hijaz. This confirms that Mount Paran is in the mountains of the Holy City of Mecca.   

This is further established by the full passage from their books. In Genesis 21: 14-21, it says,

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

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 drink.

And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran…

The "lad" here is Ishmael (Peace be upon him), and the "well" is the well of Zamzam.

Therefore, the wilderness of Paran is that which is at the Holy City of Mecca, and this is the undeniable truth.   

To return to our first point about Deuteronomy 33: 2,

The quote from the Book of Deuteronomy resembles the prophecy of Moses (Peace be upon him) about the coming of the morning, "The Lord came from Sinai."

It also resembles the prophecy of Jesus (Peace be upon him) about the breaking of morning, "And dawned on them from Seir."  

Likewise, it resembles the prophecy of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) concerning the rising of the sun and the shining of its light over the horizon, for he (Peace be upon him) is the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers, and there will be no prophet or messenger after him (Peace be upon him): "He shone forth from Mount Paran."

Similar to the passage we have quoted from Deuteronomy is a Verse from the Holy Qur’an. In the Words of Allah Almighty,

“By the fig, and the olive, * By Mount Sinai, * And by this city of security (Mecca)...” [Surah At-Tin 95: 1-3]

"The fig" and "the olive" refer to the place they grow, which is the land from which Jesus (Peace be upon him) appeared.

"Mount Sinai" refers to the place Moses (Peace be upon him) was called from.  

"This city of security" refers to the place Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was called from: the Holy City of Mecca, and before him, Ishmael (Peace be upon him).

3. Among the descriptions of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) in their books, in the words of the Torah, from Isaiah 29: 12, "And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned." Who is this unlearned prophet?

Without a doubt, it is the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), since as we know, he was unlearned; he could neither read nor write.    

Thus the illiteracy of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) is proof of his prophethood and the truth of his message (Peace be upon him). He is the unlearned teacher of all of mankind: learned and unlearned.    

He (Peace be upon him) is the one who taught all of humanity the true meaning of monotheism (tawhid) and the exclusive worship of Allah (Mighty & Majestic). He (Peace be upon him) is the one who brought this upstanding law and these noble directives.

4. Among the descriptions of the people to whom the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was sent, as in the words of the Torah, "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish (ignorant) nation." [Deuteronomy 23: 21]

Without a doubt, this description is definitely of the people of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), for they were not a nation; rather, they were disparate, warring tribes, without king, ruler, or chief. Additionally, they were ignorant of reading and writing, except for a few.    

With the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), however, they became brothers who loved each other and supported one another. They came to have a great nation—the Islamic nation—whose leader was the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The two greatest empires of the day, Persia and Rome, were subjugated to it, and it became advanced in many different fields of knowledge for its time, while still adhering to the guidance of their prophet, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and what he urged them to do.    

Some of the scholars of the Jews attempted, falsely, maliciously, and spitefully, to attribute this unlearnedness to the Greek civilization, but they failed in doing so, because the Greeks, hundreds of years before the appearance of Jesus (Peace be upon him), were advanced in science and art and they stayed with the rules of the Torah and the other books of the Old Testament, as they claim.