Isaiah’s vision of Jesus riding a donkey and Muhammad riding a camel, al-Biruni, al-Athar al-Baqiyya ‘an al-Qurun al-Khaliyya (Chronology of Ancient Nations), Tabriz, Iran, 1307-8. Edinburgh University Library.

For thus my Lord said to me: “Go, set up a watchman; Let him announce what he sees. And he saw mounted men, two horsemen — a rider of donkey, a rider of camel — and he will listen closely, most attentively” – Isaiah 21:6-7

For Muslims, upon reading this passage of Isaiah 21:6-7, in which Isaiah saw a vision of two riders one would see a powerful prophecy of two prophets of God:  Jesus / Isa Al-Masih and Muhammad Al-Mustafā the chosen one (peace be upon them both) and that they are the closest to each other of all people both in this world and in the Hereafter (¹). Both are God’s greatest messengers, there are no distinctions between prophets: Muhammad messages and the one that was taught by Jesus, the Jewish messiah. They are both warrior prophets whose role is for the liberation of their people, to fight God’s wars in order to set people free to worship the One and true God who sent them (²).

Notes

1. Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “I am the closest of the people to Jesus the son of Mary in this life and in the Hereafter.” It was said, “How is that, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet said, “The prophets are brothers from one father with different mothers. They have one religion and there was no other prophet between us.” —(Sahih Bukhari 3258, Sahih Muslim 2365)

   عن أبي هريرة قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ‏‏ أَنَا أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ فِي الْأُولَى وَالْآخِرَةِ قَالُوا كَيْفَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ إِخْوَةٌ مِنْ عَلَّاتٍ وَأُمَّهَاتُهُمْ شَتَّى وَدِينُهُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَلَيْسَ بَيْنَنَا نَبِيٌّ

2. ..and he fights God’s wars. Then, he is assumed to be the Messiah. If he fights and is victorious and defeats all of the surrounding nations, and builds The Temple in its place, and gathers all the scattered remnants of Israel, then he is definitely the Messiah. And he will restore the entire world to worship the (true) God alone…  —(Maimonides/Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars Chapter 11:4)
   

   וְיִלָּחֵם מִלְחֲמוֹת ה’. הֲרֵי זֶה בְּחֶזְקַת שֶׁהוּא מָשִׁיחַ. אִם עָשָׂה וְהִצְלִיחַ וּבָנָה מִקְדָּשׁ בִּמְקוֹמוֹ וְקִבֵּץ נִדְחֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֲרֵי זֶה מָשִׁיחַ בְּוַדַּאי. וִיתַקֵּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ לַעֲבֹד אֶת ה’ בְּיַחַד

I will of course admit there is notable difference between the Jewish and Islamic view regarding the messiah-ship of Jesus and the messianic age. Judaism holds the belief that the messiah is a future one while the Qur’an tells us that Jesus *was* the Messiah for the Jews. However, the role of the messiah in Islamic tradition is similar to Jewish eschatology regarding the messianic age as described by Rambam. Here Jesus will eventually return for the second time to Earth to wage God’s wars and defeat the Antichrist and unify the Muslim Ummah to restore and purify the entire world for a common purpose of worshipping God alone, thereby ending divisions and deviations by adherents.

Reblogged article by Eric ibn Kisam

Categories: Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Eric bin Kisam, History, Islam, Jesus, Judaism, Muhammad