Al-A‘rāf 7:157

The issue

The verse describes Muhammad as the ummī prophet, translated by Palmer as

“the illiterate prophet”.

The exegetes explain that the meaning of the ummī prophet is one who is sent to

the Arabs (who were an illiterate people). The verse adds that the description of

Muhammad as an ummī prophet is found in the holy books, the Jewish Torah and the

Christian gospels: “in the law [the Torah] and the gospel.” However, examination of this

claim presents the following inconsistencies:

• If the description of Muhammad is not found in the “law and the gospel,” that omission might suggest that the Jews and Christians removed Muhammad’s description from their holy books. How then did the religious people of both

religions, Judaism and Christianity, conspire to complete such a task?

• For the sake of argument, if the Christians and the Jews had conspired to make

this alteration, would not some Christians and some Jews refuse to accept such alterations to their holy books and leave their religion or create a separate sect?

• Again, for the sake of argument, if both sides conspired and removed the description and, further assume, that no religious split took place as a result of such an alteration, why didn’t the Christian cults use such an occasion to show that they held the “true” scriptures (containing Muhammad’s description) and use that to prove the veracity and legitimacy of their claims?

• Since Muhammad revealed this “secret” (his claim that thereis written record in the

holy books of his legitimacy), he must have had these writings hidden somewhere.

Where are they now?

• In defense, one might reply that there is a narrative that mentions the omitted

text. ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Ās. read, “‘O thou prophet! verily, we have sent

thee as a witness and a herald of glad tidings and a warner’”(Q 33.45). To this

verse, commentator al-Qurtubī adds that Muhammad is “a refuge to the gentiles,

...[Allah’s] servant and...messenger....attribute is al-mutawakil [(“one who trusts

or relies”)]: neither harsh nor coarse, nor clamorous in the markets...[and] does

not repay an iniquity for an iniquity but pardons and forgives”. Ka‘b al-Ahbār

repeated this text with slight variations in expressions.

Notice the following about this text:

First, it is spoken by two witnesses, ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Ās. and Ka‘b

al-Ahbar. However, ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Ās. was not a Jew. He and his father

were pagans following the religion of the Quraysh. All that is attributed to him is

that he “read the Qur’ān and the previous books”. Which previous books did he

read and in what language?

Second, the text based on this reading by ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Ās. does not

specify Muhammad but can be applied to a large number of people.

Third, how much of this reading could truly be applied to Muhammad himself?

Did he truly “not repay an iniquity for an iniquity but pardoned and forgave,” or does his life record (sīra) show otherwise? (See comment on Q 5.33).

Fourth, why don’t others mention this particular text? The composition of the Bible

took about fifteen hundred years. If Muhammad or his description was mentioned

in any of the Bible’s books, the people through the ages would have written and

discussed the person whom “they find written down.” Therefore, even if the Jews

and the Christians were to intentionally remove such a text from the Bible, such

a mention would be recorded in the historical records and the narratives of the

nations and the poems of the poets.

Fifth, when the Old Testament speaks about a prophet who would come after

Moses, it speaks of him as a prophet from among the Israelites: “The Lord your

God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites...”

(NLT, Deut. 18.15). The condition “from among your fellow Israelites” means that

the prophet will come from one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Does this condition

apply to Muhammad?

In the New Testament, there is no mention of a prophet to come but an announcement

by Christ about the Holy Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another

advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot

accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives

with you and will be in you” (John 14.16-17).

Notice that the Holy Spirit, who will be forever with those addressed, cannot be a

person who lives for a short while in the Arabian Peninsula. (Compare the comments

on Q 3.3-4 and Q 5.15).