EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored ninety-two books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
The orthodox Islamic position on the Quran is that it is “uncreated” and “it was written from the beginning in golden rays on a gigantic tablet in the highest heavens.” (Morris 1916) The objective of this claim is to place the Quran above all else, even making it equal to God himself. However, this is a self-contradictory statement, a contradiction. Both cannot be true: the Quran cannot be both eternal and uncreated and yet have been written on golden tablets at the same time, as if the Quran is God’s word, logically God had to have preceded what was written on the supposed tablets, which God allegedly conveyed to Gabriel, which was then conveyed to Moses. Just how strongly do Muslims believe the Quran was uncreated? Anyone saying the Quran was created “is an unbeliever, so kill him.” Others suggest the unbeliever saying the Quran is created should “be flogged and painfully beaten and imprisoned until he repents.” Still, it is said, “He is killed, and his repentance is not accepted.”[1]
We have already stated several times that when God supposedly gave the Quran to Muhammad by Gabriel, there was no miracle to show its authenticity, as was true of Moses and the Law as well as Jesus and the Gospels. We have also shown quite clearly, the Muslim argument that the Quran is a literary miracle itself is indefensible and unsustainable. In addition, we also proved that the Quran was not confirmed by the previous Scriptures, the Old and New Testament. The fault does not lie with the Bible but rather with the Quran itself. Finally, we have shown that the Message in the Quran cannot be used as evidence it is of divine origin, for it is not consistent with itself and full of discrepancies. Therefore, the Quran is not from God; it is not of divine origin but rather is from man.
Does the Bible Foretell the Work of Muhammad?
As we have said, Muslims argue that Muhammad and his work were prophesied in the Bible. Surah 46:10 says, “‘Tell me! If this (Qur’an) is from Allah, and you deny it, and a witness from among the Children of Israel (‘Abdullah bin Salam ) testifies that this Qur’an is from Allah [like the Taurat (Torah)], so he believed (embraced Islam) while you are too proud (to believe).’ Verily! Allah guides not the people who are Zalimun (polytheists, disbelievers and wrong-doing).” Yusuf Ali comments, “in the Quran and its Prophet [is found] a true confirmation of the previous scriptures . . . Islam [being] a fulfillment of the revelation of Moses himself! (See Deut. XVIII, 18-19)”
Deuteronomy 18:18-19 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And it shall come about that the man who will not listen to my words that he will speak in my name, I shall myself require an account from him.
The undoing of this argument that Muhammad is somehow referred to in “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers,” as Muhammad is a descendant of Ishmael, not Isaac. In addition, Muhammad did not speak “in the name of” Jehovah God, as did Moses. In fact, Jesus is a direct descendant of Isaac, the one whom the promised seed was to come through. Moreover, Peter says in reference to the exact verse,
Acts 3:20-23 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
20 and he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in everything that he says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.’
Other verses that Muslims say refer to Muhammad are,
14:16; 15:26; 16:7 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever; 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, that one will bear witness about me. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
They accept the rendering of the Greek ho parakletos “the Paraclete” as the Comforter, which they apply to Muhammad, not the Holy Spirit. What Jesus said, “… when the Helper [or Comforter] comes, whom I will send to you [Jesus was talking to the apostles] from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father.” Shortly after that, Jesus said, “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit [i.e., the Helper or Comforter, the Spirit of the truth] not many days from now.” The apostles and disciple were to remain in Jerusalem until the Spirit of truth came. These verses, Jesus’ words would make no sense if they applied to Muhammad, who would not receive the allege revelations until six hundred years later.
The Muslim apologist will argue that these verses make no sense in referring to the Holy Spirit because how can the Holy Spirit come when the Spirit was already there. They say, “The Bible states that the Holy Spirit was already present on earth before and during the time of Jesus.”[2] True, the Holy Spirit was upon Jesus and guided the apostles and disciples throughout Jesus’ three and half year ministry. However, at Pentecost 33 C.E. there was a regeneration of the 120 in the upper room, with the Holy Spirit working in their lives, giving him a new nature. This was a regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit came in a new way. It is very clear from the Gospels that before the arrival of the Holy Spirit in this new way, the apostles were lost and needed Jesus direction at every turn. All of that changed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. From that moment forward, speaking in different tongues, healing people, a renewed confidence, they evangelized the entire then known world, going from 120 disciples at Pentecost to over one million in just one hundred years. (John 21:3; Acts 1:4, 5, 15-26; 2:32-36, 41; 4:4; 6:7; 12:4; 19:20; Col. 1:6) Clearly, the twisting of the Scriptures does not make the Quran of divine origin.
Does the Quran Contain Prophecy?
The Muslim apologist will point to supposed prophetical elements to support the notion that the Quran is of divine origin and inspired. If this were true, yes, it would be evidence of inspiration. The Bible, both Old and New Testaments are full of scores of prophecies that have come true (more than 40 for about Jesus alone that came true during his life and ministry) and some that we are still awaiting the fulfillment. Moses foretold a multitude of prophecies regarding Egypt and the Israelite people, which were fulfilled. (For example, see Exodus chapters 7-14; Leviticus chapter 26; Deuteronomy 17:14, 15; 31:6-8) Two hundred years beforehand, Isaiah foretold the deliverance of the Jews from captivity in Babylon before Babylon was even a world power and even gave the name of the leader who was to release them, that is Cyrus the Great. (Isa. 44:28; 45:1-7) Jeremiah explicitly prophesied that the land of Judea would lie desolate seventy years. (Jer. 25:11; Dan. 9:2) Daniel foretold the succession of world empires that were to come: Babylon (Dan. 2:32, 36-38; 7:4) Medo-Persian (Dan. 2:32, 39; 7:5) Greece (2:32, 39; 7:6) and Rome (2:33, 40; 7:7) Daniel also foretold 565-years before the exact year the Messiah would appear.
Therefore, what prophecies are there is in the Quran, which would evidence that it is inspired? One that Muslim scholarship point to is …
Surah 30:2-6 The Holy Quran
2The Romans have been defeated. 3In the nearer land (Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine), and they, after their defeat, will be victorious. 4Within three to nine years. The decision of the matter, before and after (these events) is only with Allah, (before the defeat of Romans by the Persians, and after, i.e. the defeat of the Persians by the Romans). And on that Day, the believers (i.e. Muslims) will rejoice (at the victory given by Allah to the Romans against the Persians), 5With the help of Allah, He helps whom He wills, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. 6(It is) a Promise of Allah (i.e. Allah will give victory to the Romans against the Persians), and Allah fails not in His Promise, but most of the men know not.
The Persians had just defeated the Romans, and in 615 C.E., Muhammad supposedly recorded the above prophecy. According to Muslim commentators, Allah is here promising, foretelling of the defeat that the Romans would administer to the Persians roughly ten years (three to nine years according to one translation) after having been defeated by them. This is viewed as one of the foremost prophecies in the Quran. Muslims claim the prophecy was fulfilled by the year 624 C.E. However, the historical fact is that the military campaign of Heraclius (the Emperor of the Byzantine [Eastern Roman] Empire), begun in 624 and continued in 625, and 627–628, going through Armenia, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. This means the prophecy was not fulfilled in time (a period of thirteen to fourteen years, not three to nine years). While Muhammad received the supposed revelation of the Quran between 610 – 632 C.E., the “official” Quran was not collected and recorded onto paper until sometime between 634 to 653 CE. The dates do not support the prophecy and the prophecy itself if received before could have been easily changed by the time it was written to match the events. The Quran was originally written with no vowel points, which means this passage could just as easily have been translated (Sayughlabuna) “they shall be defeated” as (Sayaghlibuna) “they shall defeat.” The vowel points were added long after the event, so the scribe could have deliberately altered the text.
Dr. Shabir Ally is the president of the Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International in Toronto, Canada. He made the following comments on the above Surah 30:2-6. “Allah promised that the Romans who had just been defeated in the year 615 C.E. would turn around and win a decisive victory within nine years. At the time this statement was made, no human could envision how it could come to pass. The Romans had been so soundly defeated that no hope was left that they could make a comeback within such a short period of time. The disbelievers mocked at the Muslims over this passage in the Qur’an because they thought the prophecy would surely fail. One man, Ummayah bin Khalaf by name, even placed a bet of a hundred camels that the prophecy would fail. Abu Bakr, the closest follower of the prophet, on whom be peace, took up that challenge because he was sure that the word of God could never fail. True enough, within the specified period, in the year 624 CE, the Romans confronted the Persians in battle at a place called Issus. The Romans won their decisive victory exactly as prophesied in the Qur’an, and Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, won the bet of one hundred camels. In the meantime, however, revelation from Allah had prohibited gambling, so the prophet directed Abu Bakr to give away the camels to the poor and needy.”
Notice too that the prophecy is not specific as to who defeated the Romans, when they were defeated, and where they were to be defeated. Far from being one of the foremost prophecies in the Quran. Moreover, Dr. Shabir’s view of the difficulty in knowing the outcome just is not the case, and any wise observer of the day could have and should have known that the Roman Empire would win in the end. The Romans (Byzantines) were the world power of Muhammad’s day, just as the United States is the world power today. To suggest that the United States would win a military campaign that it was about to embark on would not even be an educated guess. Most would have known that the Romans would have been able to defeat the Persians eventually. Also, it is far more likely that the prophecy was penned after that or altered before being officially published. The fulfillment of the prophecies of the Bible take place long after the death of the author, so there is no way to say the author altered anything.
Another prophecy is about the Quran itself. Surah 15:9 prophesies, “Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e., the Qur’an) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption).” Muslims say that what Muhammad received from Allah by the angel Gabriel has never been changed and is exactly the same. However, there are many conflicted readings in the different manuscripts of the Quran.[3] Scholar Arthur Jeffery gives us over ninety pages of variant readings within the text of the Quran. In fact, just in Surah 2, there are one hundred and forty conflicting and variants reading in the text of the Quran. While almost all Muslims are unaware of this, some Muslim scholars will openly acknowledge these conflicting readings.
Another prophecy that failed to come true is that Islam will be “victorious [or superior] over every other religion.” (Surah 9:33) After almost 1,400 years, Muslims can account for but some 1.8 billion of the world’s population, whereas Christians claim 2.2 billion. Much of Islam has been the direct result of Islamic war on certain lands and forcing conversions. For centuries, Islam has engaged in one holy war, Jihad, after another, in obedience to the command to “kill them wherever you find them … kill them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.” (Surah 2:191) Even in their holy war crusades, Islam has lost many times. Two examples would be in France in 732 C.E. by Charles Martel and at the gates of Vienna for the last time in 1683 C.E. Even today, no Islamic country has the capacity to deal with Christian nations if ever there was a war. Even the tiny nation of Israel is surrounded by Muslim countries that would love to kill every Jewish person therein. However, the Israelite military and equipment are far superior to that of all the Islamic nations together. Therefore, we see that based on the prophecy the Quran cannot claim divine origin.
[1] (Qadi ‘Iyad Musa al-Yahsubi, Muhammad Messenger of Allah (Ash-Shifa of Qadi ‘Iyad), translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley [Madinah Press, Inverness, Scotland, U.K. 1991; third reprint, paperback], p. 419)
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