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of thee" are almost certainly genuine, though even without them the meaning is
clear. It is true that Ishmael was Isaac's half-brother: but, if the Ishmaelites may be
called the brethren of Israel, assuredly, the Israelite tribes may more correctly be
called one another's brethren. (Compare1 Surah vii, Al A'raf, ver. 83,
"their brother Shu'aib.") Israelites are called one another's brethren in
this very book of Deuteronomy, e.g., in chapters iii. 18; xv. 7; xvii. 15; xxiv.
14. In ch. xvii. 15 we have an exactly parallel passage in reference to the appointment of
a king: "one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee." Most, if
not all, the kingdoms of Europe are ruled by kings who belong to families which are or
were originally foreign: but in all history we never hear of the Israelites appointing
over themselves a foreigner as king. They should have gone to the Ishmaelites for their
kings, if the Muslim explanation of "from among their brethren" in Deut. xviii.
18 is correct. They did not do so, because they understood their own language. Who at the
present day among Muslims, if told to summon one of his "brethren" to receive
some important post, would conclude that members of his own family were excluded, and that
he must find a man whose ancestors had, hundreds of years before, been kindred to his own?
Moreover, the Torah clearly says that no prophet was to be expected from Ishmael, for
God's covenant was made with Isaac, not with him (Gen. xvii. 18-21; xxi. 10-12). The
Qur'an also in several places speaks of the prophetic office as having been entrusted to Isaac's
seed (Surah xxix, Al Ankabut, ver. 27; Surah xlv, Al Fathiyyah, ver. 15).
The promised prophet was to be sent unto Israel: but
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Muhammad professed to be sent to the Arabs among whom he was born. As for a
likeness to Moses, we learn from Deut. xxxiv. 10-12, that the two points in which the
Israelites expected the coming prophet to resemble Moses were: (1) personal knowledge of
God, and (2) mighty works. As regards the former, is there not a tradition that Muhammad
said, "We have not known Thee in the truth of Thy knowledge (or as Thou
shouldest be known)"? With reference to mighty works,1 the Qur'an tells us
that Muhammad was not2 given the power of working miracles (Surah xvii, Al
Asra', ver. 61: see Baizawi's and 'Abbasi's commentaries: Surahs ii. 112; vi. 37,
57, 109; vii. 202; x. 21; xiii. 8, 30; xxix. 49, 50). The points of resemblance between
Moses and Muhammad which Muslims adduce might be found in Musailamah and in Mani for the
most part, but do not prove that these men were prophets. Finally, God Himself has
explained in the Gospel that this prophecy referred to Christ, not to Muhammad (compare
Deut. xviii. 15, 19, "Unto Him ye shall hearken," &c., with Matt. xvii. 5:
see also Mark ix. 2, and Luke ix. 35). Jesus explains that this and other passages in the
Torah refer to Himself (John v. 46: see Gen. xii. 3; xxvi. 4; xviii. 18; xxii. 18; xxviii.
14). He was descended from Judah (Matt. i. 1-16; Luke iii. 23-38; Heb. vii. 14), was born
in Israel, and spent almost all His life among the Jews, and sent His disciples in the
first place to the latter (Matt. x. 6) and only secondly to the Gentiles (Luke xxiv. 47;
Matt. xxviii. 18-20). In Acts iii. 25, 26, the prophecy we are considering is definitely
referred to Christ.
3. Deut. xxxii. 21: "They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God;
they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities." This, we are told, refers to the
Arabs, to whom Muhammad was
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