THE ORIGIN OF PROPHET HOOD OF MUHAMMAD(PBUH) IN THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE.
Please read with both Bible and Holy Quran.
The account of the prophet hood of Muhammad (PBUH) originated from the history of Abraham(A.S) and his first son (Ishmael) in the Bible. From the Qur'anic and biblical view point, Abraham was chosen and commissioned by GOD to be the father of Nations; among of which were the Jews and Arab nations that emerged through the prominent sons of Abraham called Ishmael and Isaac respectively. The book of Genesis reminded us of God's blessings of Abraham in Genesis:12:1-3
The blessings of Abraham in the Bible is confirmed in the Glorious Qur'an read by all Muslims all over the world in the following verses
Surah 2:124: " And (remember) when the Lord of Abraham tried him with certain commands which he fulfilled. Allah said to him verily, I am going to make you an Imam (a leader) for mankind. Abraham said: "And of my offspring also" Allah said, my covenant includes not the wrong doers. (for more details about Abraham and God's blessings see surah 2:125-135.
Through there blessings of God on Abraham, he was chosen by GOD to be the spiritual of both the Jews and the Arabs through his prominent sons called Isaac and Ishmael. The Almighty God had planned to use these two sons of Abraham to guide the whole world through the various prophets that emerged out of as this written is going to show. All the nations of the earth would be blessed through this two sons of Abraham.
THE BIBLE SAYS ISHMAEL(A.S) WAS THE FIRST SON OF ABRAHAM.
Genesis 16:15. "So Hagar bore Abraham a son; and Abraham named his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abraham was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abraham.
Genesis 21:5 "Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him".
When one perform elementary arithmetic by subtracting the years of Abraham 86yrs when he gave birth to Ishmael from his years 100yrs when he gave birth to Isaac , be will get a difference of 14yrs. This shows that Isaac was born when Ishmael was already fourteen years old. Isaac was not even born when Ishmael was 13yrs old. And Ishmael was circumcised at age of thirteen years along with Abraham according to Genesis 17:25-26. The book of first chronicle 1:28 also says: The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael.
The Glorious Qur'an also confirm the above fact that both Ishmael and Isaac were sons of Abraham respectively in Surah 14;39 where Abraham said.
"All praise and thanks belong to Allah who has given me in old age Ismail ( Ishmael) and Is'haq (Isaac). Verily, my Lord is indeed the All-Hearer of invocation". See also Surah 6:84-90 for more details.
In consideration of the above cogent and convincing facts from the Bible and the Qur'an, why should the Christian clergies deny the sonship of Ishmael to Abraham and only believe in Isaac as the only legitimate son of Abraham? On what biblical authority and rational argument do they discard Ishmael? And why d they regard Ishmael as nog being the true son of Abraham by calling him illegitimate son? Does the Bible use ghe word "illegitimate" in describing Ishmael! Where then ? If Ishmael was born out of wedlock by Abraham as Christians clergies assert, what are they making their followers to think of Abraham? Did Abraham commit an offence by giving birth to Ishmael through his second wife Hagar? Whether they want to belief it or not, the book Genesis:16:3 says about Hagar: "So Sarah Abraham's first wife took Hagar her maid , the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abraham to be his wife after Abraham had dwelt ten year in the land of Canaan.
The above verse clearly said that Hagar became the second legitimate wife of Abraham through the consent of his first wife Sarah (her supposed mistress)
Can a man give birth to a bastard through his wife? Do the Christian clergies knows more than the Bible itself? From the point of view of common sense, those who stigmatized Abraham as given birth to a son out of wedlock are only abusing or cursing Abraham; and those who curse Abraham are under God's curse and wrath according to Genesis 12:3 where God says to Abraham; I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. And in you, all the families of earth shall be blessed".
