ethood as his name matched his status and character because he is praised in this life due to the guidance, wisdom and knowledge that he obtained and benefited from others with and he is praised in the here-after because of the intercession that he was honored with by Allah. Therefore the meaning of praising was used as suitable. He was never Muhammad (praised by others) until he was Ahmad (praising Allah a lot). He praised Allah so much so that Allah granted him prophecy and honored him. That is the reason why the name Ahmad comes before the name Muhammad. This is noticed when Issa (peace be upon him) used Ahamd when he mentioned him by saying: his name is Ahmad and so did Musa (peace be upon him) when Allah said to him that is the nation of Ahmad which upon Musa (peace be upon him) said: O Allah let me be one of the ummah of Ahmad. So, as you notice the name Ahmad is always used before Muhammad because the Prophets praising of Allah happened before people start praising him. Thus, when he was born and sent as a messenger he became for real Muhammad. (Abu Abdullah Al-Qurtubi, Tasfir al Jami li-ahkam al-Quran, Commentary on Surah 15:9, Source) So Jesus was predicting the coming of someone not by his actual name but by the feature or characteristic of the person. For example, Abdul Rahman is a great companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him), but he was nicknamed Abu Hurayrah, which means father of the kitten because he had a habit of holding a kitten with him wherever he went. So his nickname was given based on a characteristic that he had. Also, the reason why the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was called Ahmad first is because he first used to praise God and then in return he was praised. Thus he was called Ahmad before Muhammad. Secondly, its not wrong to say that Ahmad was actually another name of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for he had several names that he claimed for himself and Ahmad is only one of them: Saheeh Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 732: Narrated Jubair bin Mutim: Allahs Apostle said, I have five names: I am Muhammad and Ahmad; I am Al-Mahi through whom Allah will eliminate infidelity; I am Al-Hashir who will be the first to be resurrected, the people being resurrected there after; and I am also Al-Aqib (i.e. There will be no prophet after me). Volume 6, Book 60, Number 419: Narrated Jubair bin Mutim: I heard Allahs Apostle saying, I have several names: I am Muhammad and I am Ahmad, and I am Al-Mahi with whom Allah obliterates Kufr (disbelief), and I am Al-Hashir (gatherer) at whose feet (i.e. behind whom) the people will be gathered (on the Day of Resurrection), and I am Al-Aqib (i.e. who succeeds the other prophets in bringing about good). Saheeh Muslim Book 030, Number 5810: Jubair b. Mutim reported on the authority of his father that he heard Allahs Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I am Muhammad and I am Ahmad, and I am al-Mahi (the obliterator) by whom unbelief would be obliterated, and I am Hashir (the gatherer) at whose feet mankind will be gathered, and I am Aqib (the last to come) after whom there will be no Prophet. Book 030, Number 5811: Jubair b. Mutim reported on the authority of his father that he heard Allahs Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I have many names: I am Muhammad, I am Ahmad, I am al-Mahi through whom Allah obliterates unbelief, and I am Hashir (the gatherer) at whose feet people will be gathered, and I am Aqib (after whom there would be none), and Allah has named him as compassionate and merciful. Book 030, Number 5813: Abu Musa Ashari reported that Allahs Messenger (may peace be upon him) mentioned many names of his and said: I am Muhammad, Ahmad. Muqaffi (the last in succession), Hashir, the Prophet of repentance, and the Prophet of Mercy. Maliks Muwatta Book 61, Number 61.1.1: Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mutim that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, I have five names. I am Muhammad. I am Ahmad. I am al-Mahi (the effacer), by whom Allah effaces kufr. I am al-Hashir (the gatherer), before whom people are gathered. I am al-Aqib (the last). If Christian missionaries become stubborn and still refuse to accept this argument then you can use this argument against them from their own Bible. In the Bible it says... Matthew 1:22-23 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel- which means, God with us. Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14 in order to show that this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. However, notice that the prophecy says that the child will be called Immanuel. Nowhere in the Bible is Jesus called Immanuel and nowhere in the Bible does Jesus claim the name Immanuel to be one of his names. However, Christians like this one would simply argue back what I just did in this article. However, the argument from the Muslim side is stronger because at least Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) claimed to be Ahmad. Nowhere does Jesus claim to be Immanuel.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 22:24:33 +0000
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