Qur’an 7:157 is one huge problem for Dawah preachers for obvious reasons which I will explain below.
Here is the verse in question:
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Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad SAW) whom they find written with them in the Taurat (Torah) (Deut, xviii, 15) and the Injeel (Gospel) (John xiv, 16), – he commands them for Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained); and forbids them from Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); he allows them as lawful At-Taiyibat [(i.e. all good and lawful) as regards
Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad SAW) whom they find written with them in the Taurat (Torah) (Deut, xviii, 15) and the Injeel (Gospel) (John xiv, 16), – he commands them for Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained); and forbids them from Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); he allows them as lawful At-Taiyibat [(i.e. all good and lawful) as regards
things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.], and prohibits them as unlawful Al-Khaba’ith (i.e. all evil and unlawful as regards things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.), he releases them from their heavy burdens (of Allah’s Covenant), and from the fetters (bindings) that were upon them. So those who believe in him (Muhammad SAW), honour him, help him, and follow the light (the Qur’an) which has been sent down with him, it is they who will be successful.
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You see, there are various views about the claim for “Muhammad in the Bible” by different Muslim Apologist, in fact, there are some Muslims who who care less if Muhammad was mentioned in the Bible or not, I do like to address those Muslims first.
1. I dont care [Muslims].
Now, if you are a Muslim and you fall into this category, you obviously dont know your scripture and here is why.
According to the verse above, we are told that Muhammad was found mentioned in the Torah and the Injeel. Now, even if you claim that the Bible is NOT the Torah and the Injeel, for the Qur’an to be valid, you NEED to as a matter of necessity look for that book and locate the evidence, hence, the Qur’an’s claim will be seen as false.
So, you cant care less, you are compelled by the Qur’an to look for that Scripture that talks about your prophet and validate.
2. It is the Christian’s Problem [Muslims]
These group of Muslims states that if the evidence for Muhammad is NOT found in the Torah and the Injeel, then, it is the problem of the Christians and not the Muslims, they maintain that, if Muhammad is not found in the Torah or the Injeel, then the Christians need to go and look for that book since it means their scriptures have been corrupted.
Actually, this is an error. The Christians are NOT in any way, shape or form OBLIGATED to “find” or locate Muhammad in the Bible, it has no impact on our faith and salvation, so the problem or responsibility is on the Muslims.
So, these Muslims realized that if we the Christians cant find evidence for Muhammad in the Bible, it automatically means the Bible has been falsified and altered, but the problem is this, how can the Muslims authenticate Qur’an 7:157?
Hence, the reason you find them looking rigorously for every possible way to force Muhammad into the bible in order to save that verse of the Qur’an.
3. Coming to the Rescue [Muslims]
Now, on realizing the problem the two groups of Muslims above are facing, these third group swung into action to save the day, they must authenticate this verse of the Qur’an from concluding that it is an error.
How are they doing this? They are now the one “looking” for Muhammad in the Bible.
THIS IS AN ERROR.
The Qur’an NEVER commands the Muslims to look for Muhammad in the Bible, rather, in this verse, the Qur’an says that the Jews and the Christians are the ones who “FOUND” Muhammad written in their scriptures, hence, the Jews and the Christians are the one to conduct the search and verify if what the Quran is saying is true or not.
Seeing the danger of this and also realizing that the Christians and the Jews have not found any evidence for Muhammad in their scriptures, these groups of rescuer [Muslims] have been looking for any text they can cling to for Muhammad, just to save this verse of the Qur’an.
Some in this group even went as far as saying that Muhammad’s name was mentioned in the Bible. What a lot of people did not know is that, this argument was actually influenced by the Tafsir of Al Jalalayn in which it was stated that Muhammad was mentioned by “name and description”.
Can you see so far, that this text is a huge problem? And that is why you see different theories flying all around for the evidence for Muhammad in the Bible, and after a while it gets dump and rejected by someone.
Let’s pray for our friends, that the RISEN Christ will minister to their heart and win them to Himself.
Thanks.