Islamic view of the Bible

I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

— Deuteronomy 18:18–20 (New American Standard Bible)

Deuteronomy 18:18 has often been considered as a prophecy of the coming of Muhammad by Muslim scholars.[3] Al-Samawal al-Maghribi, a medieval Jewish mathematician who converted to Islam, pointed to Deuteronomy 18:18 in his book Confutation of the Jews as a prophecy fulfilled by the appearance of Muhammad.[4] Samawal argued in his book that since the children of Esau are described in Deuteronomy 2:4–6 and Numbers 20:14 as the brethren of the children of Israel, the children of Ishmael can also be described the same way.[5] Some Muslim writers, like Muhammad Ali and Fethullah Gülen, have interpreted several verses in the Qurʾan as implying that Muhammad was alluded to in Deuteronomy 18:18, including Qurʾan 46:10 and 73:15.[6][7]

Christian historians interpret Deuteronomy 18:18 as referring to a future member of the community of Israel who re-enacts the function of Moses, serving as a mediator for the covenant between YHWH and the Israelites. Walter Brueggemann writes that "The primary requirement for the prophet, like the king in 17:15, is that he or she must be a member of Israel, thoroughly situated in the traditions and claims of the Yahwistic covenant."[8] The Gospels of Matthew and John both present Jesus as being the "prophet like Moses" from Deuteronomy 18.[9] Acts 3:15-26 clearly dictates in the beginning of the Christian Church, that Yeshua (Jesus) is the one Moses was talking about in Deuteronomy 18:18. [10]

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

— John 14:16–17 (New American Standard Bible)

Many Muslim scholars have argued that the Greek words paraklytos (comforter) and periklutos (famous/illustrious) were used interchangeably, and therefore, these verses constitute Jesus prophesying the coming of Muhammad.[11]

However, critical scholarship recognizes that the Paraclete, or Advocate, is mentioned five times throughout John's Gospel (John 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:7-11; 16:13-17). The Advocate, called the "Spirit of Truth" is considered the Holy Spirit; a replacement for Jesus into the world after Jesus leaves, still dependent on Christ (14:6) and sent by the Father at Jesus' request (14:16, 24). The Spirit is said to permanently remain with the disciples (14:18–21). John's Gospel says that the world cannot receive the Spirit, though the Spirit can abide within the disciples (14:17). The Spirit will convict the world of sin (16:9) and glorify Jesus (16:14), and though it is "the Spirit who gives life" (6:63, NASB), the Spirit does not add new revelations to those of Jesus.[12]