Muhammad in the Bible is a question Muslims and Christians have argued for centuries. Is Muhammad mentioned in the Bible? The Qur’an says that the Jews and Christians of the Prophet’s day found him described in their scriptures, and Muslim scholars have pointed to several passages ever since.
ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ ٱلنَّبِىَّ ٱلْأُمِّىَّ ٱلَّذِى يَجِدُونَهُۥ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَٱلْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَىٰهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْخَبَـٰٓئِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَٱلْأَغْلَـٰلَ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلنُّورَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُۥٓ ۙ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ ١٥٧
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [i.e., described] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and prohibits them from what is wrong and makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him – it is those who will be the successful.
Qur’an 7:1571
The promise in the Qur’an
The Qur’an records Jesus announcing good tidings of a messenger to come after him, whose name is Aḥmad.2 Aḥmad, ‘most praised’, comes from the same root as Muḥammad, ‘praised’.
The passages Muslims read
Muslim scholars have most often cited three passages. The first is the prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy, raised up from among Israel’s brethren; see Deuteronomy 18:18. The second is the Paraclete of John’s Gospel, another ‘Comforter’ whom Jesus promised would come after him, guide his followers into all truth, and speak only what he hears.3 Christians identify the Paraclete with the Holy Spirit, as John 14:26 does; Muslims observe that the figure who comes only after Jesus departs, and speaks what he hears, fits a prophet. The third is the servant of Isaiah 42, whose coming makes the villages of Kedar, Ishmael’s son, lift up their voice; see Kedar, the Arabs and the prophets.4
The witness of the verse
The verse makes a claim about the Prophet’s own time: the People of the Book ‘find him written’ in the Torah and the Gospel. Its strength lies in that it was addressed to Jews and Christians who could have answered it, and some of them did believe. On the Muslim view the passages above are what remains of that description, recognised by those who knew their scriptures best when the Prophet came.
Further reading: Deuteronomy 18:18, Who was Kedar?, The Islamic Dilemma answered.
Notes on Muhammad in the Bible
- Qur’an 7:157, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
- Qur’an 61:6, trans. Saheeh International; Arabic text from Quran.com. ↩
- John 14:16; 16:7-14. ↩
- Isaiah 42:1-11. ↩