Before His return to heaven, Isa Al-Masih prophesied about the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 14, 15 and 16. Have Christians misunderstood this prophecy? Was Isa Al-Masih referring to the Holy Spirit, or Did Isa Al-Masih really foretell the coming of Muhammad?
The Spirit of Truth is Invisible and Lives within the Hearts of Men
The promised Counselor is called “the spirit of truth” (John 14:17). And because He is Spirit “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him” (John 14:17). Furthermore, because He is Spirit, Isa Al-Masih told His disciples that, “He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).
How could Muhammad possibly fulfil this prophesy? Could Muhammad ‘live in’ the disciples of Isa Al-Masih? Muhammad was a man in the flesh. He was not an invisible spirit.
The Promised Counselor was Sent to the Believers because Isa Al-Masih Returned to the Father
The promised Counselor was given in place of the presence of Isa Al-Masih, because Isa Al-Masih was returning to the Father. Isa Al-Masih said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16).
How could Muhammad possibly fulfil this promise and be with Isa Al-Masih’s disciples when his birth took place more than 500 years after Isa Al-Masih made this promise? Is it not true that the disciples of Isa Al-Masih had been dead for well over 400 years before Muhammad was born? How then could Muhammad be with these disciples?
Isa Al-Masih Breathed the Holy Spirit upon Some of the Apostles
In John 20:22 Isa breathed upon some of His disciples and said,”Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone their sins, their sins are forgiven them.”
Did Isa Al-Masih breath Muhammad upon his disciples? Muhammad was flesh and blood and lived hundreds of years later.
The Holy Spirit Descended upon a Crowd in the Form of Tongues of Fire
In Acts 2:2-4 it reads, “And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues.”
Did Muhammad come in the form of fire? How could anyone think that Muhammad could be the promised spirit when the Gospels so plainly tell the story of the Spirit given to the believers in the first century?
The Holy Spirit was Sent to Convict People Who did not Believe in Isa Al-Masih
The promised Counselor was sent by Isa Al-Masih to do the following: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment; in regard to sin because men do not believe in me” (John 15:8-9).
When did Muhammad convict the world in regard to sin because men did not believe in Isa Al-Masih?
The Holy Spirit Brings Glory to Isa Al-Masih
The promised Counselor was sent to bring glory to Isa Al-Masih. “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” (John 16:14).
When did Muhammad glorify Isa Al-Masih? When did Muhammad make known what Isa Al-Masih gave him? What evidence is there for this?
The Holy Spirit Testifies about Isa Al-Masih
The promised Counselor was sent “to remind you [Isa Al-Masih’s disciples] of everything I [Isa] have said to you” (John 14:26). “He will testify about me” (John 15:26).
When did Muhammad remind the disciples of Isa Al-Masih, about the teachings of Isa Al-Masih or testify about Isa Al-Masih? When did Muhammad ever preach the message of forgiveness and grace that Isa Al-Masih preached?
Isa Al-Masih Baptizes the Believer with the Holy Spirit
The promise of a Counselor which Isa Al-Masih made to His disciples in John chapters 14, 15 and 16 is the same promise He made to them in Acts 1. There Isa Al-Masih said to His followers, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but you in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4, 5). The Bible confirms that the Counselor or Helper that Isa Al-Masih spoke about is the Holy Spirit and not a human being. On the day of Pentecost, fifty days after Isa Al-Masih rose from death, this promise was fulfilled. What remarkable things happened when the Holy Spirit came is given in Acts chapter 2.
[We invite you to visit us at https://www.isaandislam.com/way-of-salvation to learn more about God’s gift of Salvation. God loves you and waits to hear from you. Isa clearly said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Injil, John 14:6) For a deeper understanding of Isa we suggest you subscribe to “Isa, Islam, and Al-Fatiha” at this link.]
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Taurat, Genesis 1:1-2 says,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
We learn here that the Holy Spirit is eternal, uncreated, another manifestation of Allah, and a working power, which he gradually uses to accomplish his purpose in human history starting at creation with “hovering over the waters.”
Therefore the Spirit is not a new thing, and in no way can He be Muhammad (pbuh).
We later read many times of the Spirit of Allah coming upon the Prophets, Kings and Patriarchs in such a powerful way, that they would prophesy extensively of which we read on in the books preceding the Injil and the Quran. The example here is Saul, the first anointed King of Israel by Prophet Samuel.
1 Samuel 10:10 says, “When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.”
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Stefan,
Yes, the Holy Spirit is eternal, uncreated, and the working power of God. The Holy Spirit is also another manifestation of Allah, who was sent by Isa after He ascended to Heaven. Thank you for your good comment.
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There are instances where Jesus says He will be in the believers, though He is a man. He even says the believers will be in Him as well. Clearly, being in someone is only figurative, therefore Muhammad (p) can fulfill this prophecy. As for ”seeing Him and knowing Him”, Jesus (p) has stated in many places that those who do not accept Him (Jesus), do not “know Him.” Therefore, those who reject Muhammad do not know Muhammad either.
As for ”abiding with you forever”, Muhammad has indeed passed away, but his shariah lives with us till the day of Judgement. No new prophet will succeed him. In this sense, he lives with us forever. Also note that, in 1 John 4:1-3, prophets are referred to as ” a spirit”, therefore, Muhammad qualifies as a spirit as well. Jesus stated that if He did not leave, the comforter could not come. This cannot be the Holy Spirit which was already with the believers as attested by John 20:22.
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Muslim,
When Isa said He would be in the believers, He meant that through the Holy Spirit, He would dwell in them. Hence, it’s through the Holy Spirit who is also God’s spirit. Can Muhammad’s spirit can dwell in a person? His spirit was in a certain place but it can’t live inside of man.
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Dear Muslim friend,
Does Muhammad (pbuh) qualify as the “Holy Spirit?” Read the following and judge for yourself:
Qs 21:91: “…We breathed into her of our spirit…” (conception)…..?
Tawrat, Genesis 1:2, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”?
Anbian, 1 Samuel 10:10, “…at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him (Saul); the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying”?
Injil, Luke 4:1, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…”?
Acts 2:4, “..All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”?
Injil, 1 Cor 12:8 “… there is given through the Spirit …. gifts of healing.. miraculous powers, … prophecy, …. distinguishing between spirits, …. speaking in different kinds of tongues, … the work of one and the same Spirit, …”?
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Stefan,
You are right that all of these verses point to the fact that Muhammad could not be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit appeared at different times throughout the Taurat, then after Isa returned to Heaven, the Spirit came to live in all believers.
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Muhammad can never be the Comforter for several reasons. Muhammad died and was buried in Medina, but the Holy Spirit is still with us. Shortly, before he died, Muhammad said he did not know what was going to happen to him; the Holy Spirit teaches the believer all the time.
In the Acts of the Apostles, mention is made of prophets and some of them were women who predicted events which actually came to pass. So it is wrong to say that Muhammad was the ‘prophet’ who would come after Jesus.
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Namelee,
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you that the Muslims shouldn’t consider Muhammad as the Comforter. As written in the Injil, the comforter is indeed the Holy Spirit.
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One of the main tenets of Christian teaching is that Christ came to heal the rift between man and God. It is because of His life, His death and His bodily resurrection that it was possible for the spirit to be restored to mankind as our ‘comforter’.
It must also be mentioned that the spirit is one of the ‘persons’ of God and as such does not infuse the world randomly but moves with purpose and direction. At Pentecost the apostles ‘received’ the spirit sent by the Father because through their acceptance of Jesus as messiah they were redeemed and worthy in the eyes of the father God.
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Dear Tim,
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you that because of Christ we are worthy in the eyes of the Father God. We are also renewed by the “comforter” to be like Jesus.
Blessings.
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Dear Sir,
I am very happy to discover this site and hope that you will help in answering no. 1 or 2 question from me. I would like to be making some comment based on the topic. Hopping to hear from you soon.
Hamilton
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Dear Hamilton,
Thanks for joining the discussion. You will find the answers through the article.
Blessings.
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To be honest, we, moslem, don’t care whether the coming of Muhammad was fortold in the Bible or not. So we dont need to argue about this
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Dear Isti,
Thanks for joining the discussion. Then, how do Muslims know whether what they believe is true? Also, it’s because the Quran confirms the truth of the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil; but why these three Holy books don’t confirm about the Quran and the Muslim’s prophet, Muhammad?
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Unfortunately for Muslims, Muhammad could have never been the Paraclete (Holy Spirit). Muhammad only thought of Jesus as a prophet and he was not crucified.