Mohammad, the Promise of Enjil (Gospel) – II

The Imam: Do you deny that surely Tawrat has said: The Light came to you from the Mount Toor Sina (Sinai), and became bright for us from the Mount Saa'ir (Sair), and appeared upon us from Mount Faran (Paran)*?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: I recognize these words, while I do not know its interpretation.

The Imam: I will inform you of it; as of its saying: The Light came from Mount Toor Sina, that was Allah's -the Glorified and the Exalted- Wahy (Revelation) which He sent to Moosa at Mount Toor Sina; and as for its saying: and became bright for us from the Mount Saa'ir, and that is the Mountain which Allah -the Exalted- sent Wahy (revealed) to Eesa son of Maryam; and as for its saying: and appeared upon us from Mount Faran, and that is a mountain from the mountains of Maccah (Mecca) which between it and that (Mecca) there is one day (distance).

And the Prophet Asha'ya (Isaiah) has said in that which you and your companions say in Tawrat: I saw two riders which the earth became bright for them, one of them was on ass, and the other one on camel*; so who rode the ass, and who the camel?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: I do not know those two; so inform me of them.

The Imam: The rider of ass was Eesa, and the rider of camel, Mohammad. Do you deny that from Tawrat?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: No, I do not deny.

The Imam: Do you know the Nabi (Prophet) Habaqqooq [or Hayaqqooq] (Habakkuk)?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: Yes, I am surely knowledgeable about him.

The Imam: And surely he has said, and your book speaks from him: Allah came with Bayaan (clear arguments) from the Mount Faran, and heavens became full of the Tasbih (Glorification and praise) of Ahmad and his nation, and his people are carried on the sea as they are on earth, he brings us the new Book, after the destruction of Bait-Ol-Maqdas (Jerusalem)*; the new Book meaning: Al-Qur'an. Do you recognize and believe in this?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: Surely Habaqqooq has said this, and we do not deny his sayings.

The Imam: And surely Daawood has said in his Zaboor (Psalms) and you recite: upholder of Sunnah (Traditions) after Fetrah (separation)*. So do you know a Nabi who upheld Sunnah after Fetrah, except Mohammad?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: This is the saying of Daawood and we do not deny it, but the meaning is Eesa, and his days, that is Fetrah.

The Imam: You have been ignorant, surely Eesa did not oppose the Sunnah, and he certainly agreed with the Sunnah of Tawrat, until Allah lifted him up toward Him.

And in Enjil (Gospel) it is written: Surely the son of the pious lady is leaver, and "Farqelita [or Faraqlit]" will come after him, and he is who will fulfill news, and will interpret for you all things, and he will testify of me (Eesa), just like I have testified of him; I have come to you with parables, and he will come to you with the Ta'wil (original meanings and interpretations)*. Do you believe that this is in Enjil?

Ra's-Ol-Jaaloot: I do not deny.

…

Then the Imam continued and proved to him that he had no valid reason not to believe in Jesus and Mohammad (PBUT) based on his own scriptures, and … .

* Some of these prophecies which the Imam (PBUH) referred to, still -either as the Imam stated or with some changes- exist in the current Bible, but some are not there any more, sadly the distortions have been ongoing; see Old Testament, book of Deuteronomy 18:15,18,19;33:2 and book of Habakkuk 3:3and New Testament, gospel of John 15:26,27; 16:7,13,14 and … .

(Tawheed of Sheikh Sadooq, Oyoon Akhbaar Reza, Tafsir Noor-O-Ththaqalain, …)

Notice that the word used by the Imam is, "Farqelita" or "Faraqlit"; note that in Arabic the equivalent to the letter "p" does not exist, and almost anything with a "p" in other languages, is usually converted to a "f, ف" in Arabic. Many examples of this exist, for instance, in the name Joseph, as it is usually spelled in English, the last two letters are "ph", whereas in Arabic the equivalent of an "f", "ف" is used, and interestingly, this has manifested itself in English, as Joseph has also been spelled as Josef and Josep (this name -being the name of the great grandson of Ibrahim (PBUT)- originally was with the "p" in Hebrew); and even the letters "ph" sound as "f"; this conversion between "f" and "p" occurs in many transliterations and translations into different languages, as it happens frequently in Arabic and Syriac and Hebrew; another example of this conversion in transliteration is the word "Paran" in Hebrew and "Faaran or Phaaran", "فاران" in Arabic (Please refer to the article "Mohammad, the Promise of Torah - III" in this site).

As another interesting example, let us look at the word "alphabet" in English, this word has actually entered English from Arabic, perhaps after the Crusade Wars, between the Christian Europe and the world of Islam, during which the civilization of Muslims was taken and transferred to Europe, and as a direct result the "Renaissance" -the great scientific revival-, based upon the Islamic civilization, happened In Europe (for more information in this regard, please refer to the article: "Europe, Christianity and Islam" in this site). The word "alphabet" is actually the combination of the first three Arabic letters of "ا" which is pronounced "Alef", and "ب", which is pronounced "ba", and "ت", which is pronounced "ta" in Arabic; putting the pronunciations of these three letters next to each other, the word "Alefbata" is produced, and then this word adopted an English identity and was changed to "Alphabet", notice that "f" was replaced by "ph" also. One origination of this change to "ph" seems to have started by the Greek under the influence of Hebrew; this is what the Webster dictionary says in regard to the word "Alphabet":

"The alphabet, a system of writing, developed in the ancient Near East and transmitted from the northwest Semites to the Greeks, in which each symbol ideally represents one sound unit in the spoken language, and from which most alphabetical scripts are derived."

And let us not forget that the first available gospels were in Greek.

And as of "q" used in "Faraqlit", the "q" is actually "ق" in Arabic, and similarly in Syriac and Hebrew, which has no equivalent in English, and only recently as a standard, "q" has been chosen to be used in place of it ("Faraqlit" written in Arabic alphabet is "فاراقلیط"); but before this newer standard, when transliterating "ق" either "k" or "c" (which some times has the sound of "k") was used; for instance the Prophet Is_haaq's name "اسحاق" when being transliterated into Greek, and later to English, has changed to Isaac (PBUH); "c" was used in place of "ق".

It is also noteworthy to mention that Arabic and Hebrew are both languages written from right to left with the same roots and very similar sounds and rules; therefore, with sometimes almost identical pronunciations of words.

So far we can see that "Faraqlit" and "Paraclete" are actually the same. And for us as the Shi'ah -with Hadithes confirming "Faraqlit" as the Hebrew and Syriac name of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) such as indicated in the aforementioned Hadith- this is enough proof that the following Qur'anic verse has referred to such Biblical prophecies:

And when Eesa son of Maryam (Jesus son of Mary) said: O' children of Israel! Surely I am the Messenger of Allah to you, verifying that which is before me from the Tawrat (Torah), and giving the Glad Tidings of a Messenger who will come after me, his name being "Ahmad". But when he came to them with clear and evident arguments and proofs, they said: This is clear magic.

(Qur'an, Surah Saf[61], verse 6)

So, this verse of Qur'an is telling us that in the original undistorted Enjil (Gospel) of Jesus (PBUH), the Prophet Mohammad, by the name of Ahmad (PBUH&HP) has been mentioned; let us keep in mind that in Arabic, Mohammad and Ahmad both mean the "Praised One", and are from the same root of "حمد". Just like Qur'an, many Islamic Hadithes verify that Ahmad and Mohammad are both the names of the Prophet (PBUH&HP); as a sample, let us look at two very enlightening Hadithes from the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) himself:

When a group of Yahood (Jews) asked Prophet Mohammad (PBUH&HP) of the reason why he was named Mohammad and Ahmad and Ab-Ol-Qaasem and …, the Prophet (PBUH&HP) responded:

I have been named "Mohammad", because I am "Praised" on earth, and I have been named "Ahmad", because I am "Praised" in heavens, and I have been named "Ab-Ol-Qaasem", because Allah in Qiyaamat (Judgment Day) shall divide (Qaasem means divider) Heaven and Hell based on me, so any one, from the past and the future, who has not believed in me, Allah shall send to Hell, and any one who has believed in me and my Prophethood, Allah shall send to Heavens, and … .

(Elal-O-Shsharaaye', Amaali of Sheikh Sadooq, Ma'aani-Ol-Akhbaar, …)

… Allah from the top of His "Arsh" of His Grandeur and Magnificence, has named me with ten names, and has expressed my descriptions, and in the language of each Prophet, Allah has given the glad tidings about me, and in Tawrah (Torah) and Enjil (Gospel), He has frequently mentioned me; Allah has taught me His Words, and ascended me to Heavens; Allah has derived my names from His Names, one of His Names is "Mahmood", and I was named "Mohammad", and He manifested me in the best centuries and in the best nations; in Torah, He has named me "Aheed", because of the fact that due to Tawheed (Monotheism), the bodies of my nation will be Haraam to the Fire of Hell; and in Enjil, He has named me "Ahmad", because I am "Praised" in Heavens, and my nation are "Praisers"; and in Zaboor "Psalms", He has named me "Maahee" (the obliterator), because by me, He obliterates the worship of idols on earth; in Qur'an, He has named me "Mohammad", due the fact that in Qiyaamat, all nations shall "Praise" me; (every one shall "Praise" me) because in Qiyaamat, no one will "Intercede" but with my permission; and in Qiyaamat, I shall be called "Haasher", because the time of my nation, shall be connected to "Hashr" …; and my Lord blessed me and said: O' Mohammad! I have sent every Prophet with the language of his nation, upon the adherents to one language, and I have sent you to every red and black, and I have assisted you through the fear which I have placed in your enemies, and I did this for no other Prophet; … .

(Elal-O-Shsharaaye', Khesaal of Sheikh Sadooq, Ma'aani-Ol-Akhbaar, …)

To be continued …

“Part I”