Sixteenth Sign.Part1

The wonders that took place before his prophetic mission, but which were related to it, are called irhasat, and these too were indications and proofs of his prophethood. They were of three kinds:

THE FIRST KIND

This kind of irhasat comprises the tidings of Muhammad’s (PBUH) prophethood given by the Torah, the Bible, the Psalms of David, and the scriptures revealed to other prophets, as stated by the Qur’an. Indeed, since those Books are revealed scriptures and those who brought them were prophets, it is necessary and certain that they should have mentioned the one who would supersede their religions, change the shape of the universe, and illuminate half the earth with the light he brought. Is it possible that those scriptures, which foretold insignificant events, would not speak of the most important phenomenon of humanity, the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH)? Yes, since they would certainly speak of it, they would either denounce it as a falsehood and so save their religions from destruction and their books from abrogation, or they would affirm it, and through that man of truth, save their religions from superstition and corruption. Now, both friend and foe agree that there is no sign of any such denouncement in the scriptures, in which case there must be affirmation. And since there is certain affirmation, and since there is a definite reason and fundamental cause for such affirmation, we too shall demonstrate through three categorical proofs the existence of this affirmation:

F i r s t  P r o o f: God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) says to them through the tongue of the Qur’an: “Your scriptures describe and confirm me; they confirm me in the things I say.” He challenges them with verses such as,Say, “Bring the Torah and read it, if you are men of truth!” Say, “Come, let us gather together, our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves; then let us earnestly pray and invoke the curse of God on those who lie!” Despite his continuously taunting them with verses such as these, no Jewish scholar or Christian priest was able to show he had made any error. If they had been able to, those very numerous and very obdurate and jealous unbelievers and dissembling Jews and the whole world of unbelief would have proclaimed it everywhere. The Prophet also said:“Either you find any error of mine, or I shall fight you until I destroy you!” And they chose war and wretchedness. That means they could not find any error. For if they had, they would have been saved from all that.

S e c o n d  P r o o f: The words of the Torah, the Bible, and the Psalms do not have the miraculousness of those of the Qur’an. They have also been translated again and again, and a great many alien words have become intermingled with them. Also, the words of commentators and their false interpretations have been confused with their verses. In addition, the distortions of the ignorant and the hostile have been incorporated into them. In these ways, the corruptions and alterations have multiplied in those Books. In fact, Shaykh Rahmat Allah al-Hindi, the wellknown scholar, proved to Jewish and Christian scholars and priests thousands of corruptions in them, and silenced them. Nevertheless, despite these corruptions, in our times the celebrated Husayn Jisri (May God have mercy on him) extracted one hundred and ten indications to the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH), and included them in his Risalat al-Hamidiya. This was translated into Turkish by the late Ismail Hakki of Manastir; whoever wishes may refer to it.Also, many Jewish and Christian scholars acknowledged and admitted that the attributes of Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were written in their Books. The famous Roman Emperor Heraclius, who was a non-Muslim himself, said: “Jesus foretold Muhammad’s coming.” Also, another Roman ruler called Muqawqis, the Governor of Egypt, and celebrated Jewish scholars and leaders such as Ibn Suriya, Zubayr b. Batiya, Ibn Akhtab and his brother Ka‘b b. Asad, although remaining non-Muslim, admitted: “He is described in our Books.”

Also, some of the wellknown Jewish scholars and Christian priests gave up their obduracy on seeing Muhammad’s (PBUH) attributes as described in the above-mentioned books, and believed in him. They then pointed out these references to other Jewish and Christian scholars, and convinced them. Among them were the famous ‘Abd Allah b. Salam, Wahb b. Munabbih, Abu Yasir, the two sons of Sa‘ya, Asid and Tha‘laba, and Shamul. The latter lived at the time of Tubba‘, the ruler of Yemen. Shamul became a believer before Muhammad’s prophetic mission and without ever seeing him, just as Tubba‘ did. While the guest of the Bani Nadir before the prophetic mission, a gnostic called Ibn al-Hayyaban declared: “A prophet will soon appear, and this is the place to which he will emigrate.” He died there. Later, when that tribe was at war with God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), Asid and Tha‘laba came forward and cried out to the tribe: “By God, he is the one Ibn al-Hayyaban promised would come.” But they did not heed him, and paid the penalty.Also, many of the Jewish scholars like, Ibn Yasin, Mikhayriq, and Ka‘b al-Ahbar, became believers on seeing the prophetic attributes in their Books, and silenced those who did not accept faith.

Also, the famous Christian scholar and monk, Bahira, who was mentioned above:

God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was twelve years old when he went to Damascus with his uncle, and it was for his sake that Bahira invited the Quraysh. For he had seen a cloud casting its shadow on the travelling caravan. When it continued to do so, he realized that the one he was seeking had remained with the caravan, and had sent someone to fetch him. He told Abu Talib: “Return to Makkah! The Jews are exceedingly jealous and will resort to treachery, for his attributes are described in the Torah.”

Also, Nestor the Abyssinian, and the ruler of that country, the Negus, came to believe on seeing Muhammad’s attributes written in their Books.

Also, a wellknown Christian scholar called Daghatr became a believer on seeing the description of the Prophet, and was martyred when he proclaimed this among the Byzantines.

Also, from the Christian leaders, Harith b. Abi Shumar al-Ghasani and the prominent rulers and religious leaders of Damascus such as Sahib al-Ilya, Heraclius, Ibn Natur and al-Jarud, entered the fold of Islam, after seeing the Prophet’s description in their Books. Of them, only Heraclius concealed his belief for the sake of worldly rule.

Also, like these, Salman al-Farsi had also formerly been a Christian. He searched for the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) after seeing his description.

Also, a famous scholar called Tamim, and the wellknown Abyssinian ruler, the Negus, and the Abyssinian Christians, and the priests of Najran, all unanimously declared that they had seen the Prophet’s description in their Books, and had come to believe in him.