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Chapter 2: Muhammad's Call

After Muhammad's marriage to Khadija, Bishop Waraka Ibn Nofal befriended him and set his mind to train and disciple Muhammad to succed him as the Ebionite Bishop of Mecca.  Muhammad's prosperous union with khadija gave him time for solitude at the cave fo Mount Hira in a suburb of Mecca.  It was there that Bishop Waraka began to teach and train him.

Bishop Waraka taught Muhammad many of the Old and New Testament stories of the Bible.  These stories are mentioned in the Quran with great distortion.  He also taught Muhammad about Jesus according to the Ebionites' belief, which as we mentioned before denies the deity of Christ.

One night when Muhammad was forty years old, he was alone in the cave of Hira when a spirit appeared to him at the door of the cave.  That spirit grasped him suddenly and squeezed him until he thought he would die and commanded him, "Read."

"I cannot read," Muhammad answered, because he was illiterate.  The spirit squeezed him again so tightly he that thought he would die, and commanded him again, "Read."  "I cannot read," he answered.  The The spirit tightened his grasp and squeezed him more and said for the third time, "Read."  Afraid that he might die, Muhammad said, "What shall I read?"  The spirit said:

Then the spirti disappeared.  Muhammad returned to his wife, frightened and in great distress.  He worried that what had happened to him was an hallucination or the appearance of a jinni.  The READER'S DIGEST ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIC DICTIONARY defines the word "Jinni" as follows:

Muhammad asked Khadija to cover him for he was shivering.
Khadija covered him, suprised by his fear, his shivering, and his pale face.

Khadija took Mohammad to her cousin, Bishop Waraka Ibn Nofal, who declared his belief that Muhammad was chosen to be the prophet of his people.  Keep in mind it was an Ebionite Bishop who declared that Muhammad was a prophet!  Muhammad declared in his Quran in Surat Al-Imran 3:19:

The religion before Allah is Islam.

Again in verse 85 of the same Surat:

In Surat Al-Ahzab 33:40 we read:

Analysis Of Muhammad's Call [TOP]

At this point we have to analyze Muhammad's call to decide if he is a true or a false prophet.  We will address this issue with the following questions:

First:  Since Islam is the only religion accepted before Allah and Muhammad is the seal of the prophets as the Quran declares, why was it that the call of Muhammad came through that spirit and not by a direct call from God?

Moses, the founder of Judaism, received a direct call from God.  God spoke to him from the midst of the burning bush (Exodus  3:1-10).  The Quran declares in Surat Al-Nisa 4:164:

If Islam is superior to Judaism and Christianity, Muhammad should have received a direct call from God.  Instead, he passed through that terrible experience at the cave of Hira when the spirit squeezed him, and he thought he would die.

Second:  Who will testify concerning that call?  Muhammad was the only witness to that experience.  One witness is not acceptable in substantiating such a claim.

God said in the book of Deuteronomy 19:15:

Jesus Christ said to the Jews of his days:

Christ has four witness:

Muhammad is the only witness for himself.  We cannot accept his sole testimony.
Third: God authenticated the call of Moses with miracles and He   witnessed concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, with miracles.  Why was it that Muhammad was unable to perform miracles?

Concerning Moses' miracles, the Bible says:

The Quran declares:

The Bible recorded ten miracles, not nine.

We also read about Jesus' miracles in the New Testament.  Jesus said to His disciples:

In his Gospel, the apostle John recorded many miracles Jesus performed.  At the end of his Gospel he says:

The Quran also declares that Jesus Christ performed many miracles.  He healed the man who was born blind, and the leper, and raised the dead (Surat Al-Imran 3:49).

But Muhammad declared that he could not perform any miracles.  The Quran does not mention a single miracle attributed to him.  The Quran declares in Surat Al-Ankabut 29:50:

In Surat Al-Isra Muhammad's contemporaries asked him to perform a miracle so that they could believe in him.  Muhammad answered:

Muhammad's call was not authenticated by miracles.

Who Was The Spirit That Squeezed Muhammad At The Cave?

It is of great importance to identify the spirit who squeezed Muhammad at the cave of Hira near Mecca.

After his encounter with the spirit, Muhammad was afraid that what happened to him was from a Jinni.  Then later, Muhammad declared in the Quran that the spirit who squeezed him was the angel Gabriel.  We read in Surat Al-Baqarah 2:97:

Was the spirit really the angel Gabriel? [TOP]

The answer is:  Absolutely not!

First:  Had the spirit been Gabriel, he would have calmed Muhammad and relieved his fear.  But the spirit left him in extreme distress.

Gabriel appeared to many people before his alleged visit to Muhammad and each time the first thing he did was to allay that person's fear.

Gabriel appeared to the prophet Daniel.  Daniel was afraid but Gabriel touched him, he did not squeeze him, he only touched him:

Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, who is called Yihia in the Quran; he identified himself and said to Zacharias:

Gabriel appeared to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Mary was greatly troubled but Gabriel said to her:

But the spirit who squeezed Muhammad left him frightened and in great distress.  Therefore the spirit could not have been the angel Gabriel.

Second:  Had the spirit been Gabriel, he would not have contradicted his former revelations.

Six hundred years before Muhammad, Gabriel said to Mary when he appeared to her:

But the spirit who appeared to Muhammad said to him:

Gabriel said to Mary that Jesus would be called the Son of God.  The spirit who gave the revelations to Muhammad said that this is the saying of the infidels, and declares that Allah Himself fights against the Christians who confess that Jesus is the Son of God.

Was the spirit really the angel Gabriel?  Could Gabriel contradict himself in such an important matter?

Third:  Had the spirit been Gabriel, Khadija would have believed Muhammad's testimony and would not have tested the spirit the way she did.

We are told by Ibn Hesham, who wrote Muhammad's biography, that Khadija tested the spirit who squeezed Muhammad.  She said to Muhammad:

What a strange way to test a spirit!

Fourth:  Had the spirit been Gabriel he would not have given a false scientific revelation to Muhammad.

The spirit said to Muhammad:

These words are scientifically wrong.  Professor Haanein Muhammad Makhloof, on page 508 of his Dictionary of the Meanings of Words of the Quran, says that the Arabic word "alaq" translated into English as "clot" means frozen blood.
Man was created from the dust of the ground, not from frozen blood.  Even the Quran states this fact:

Here the Quran contradicts itself.  In one instance it says that many was created from "a clot" which means "frozen blood," while in another it says that man was created from "clay."  The fact is, man was created from the dust of the ground as the Bible states.

Dr. William Campbell in his book, The Quran and The Bible, says on page 185:

Would the angel Gabriel make such a scientific error?

Fifth: Had the spirit been Gabriel, he would have taught Mohammad to read and write.

The Quran declares that Allah taught Jesus how to write.  In Surat Al-Imran 3:48 it is said concerning Jesus:

Ibn Katheir in his exposition of the Quran (Vol. 1, page 344), says:

We would expect that Muhammad, who calls himself the seal of the prophets, would be taught to read and write.  The spirit said in his revelation to Muhammad:

The question is, if God teaches man that which he knew not by the pen, why did He not teach Muhammad how to read and write, instead of leaving him illiterate all his life?
There came a time when Muhammad was in doubt concerning the revelations he received from the spirit.  The Quran recorded:

The "Book" mentioned in this verse is the Bible, and that shows very clearly that the Bible was the final authority for Muhammad even when he was in doubt.  If Muhammad had been a learned man he would have known the truth directly from the Bible.  But the spirit left him illiterate.

Muhammad had the right to be in doubt of the revelations given to him by the spirit which appeared to him at the cave of Hira, for that spirit was not the angel Gabriel.  If he was a learned man, he would have known what the New Testament says concerning Satan:

It is obvious that Muhammad was totally deceived, for he was illiterate, and could not search for the truth as it is recorded in the Holy Scriptures which were available in his time.

Muhammad's Call Was Not Like the Call Of Moses Or Jesus, [TOP]
Who Were Sent On A Special Mission

Moses' mission as expressed in the Bible was:

We know that Moses fulfilled his mission to the letter.  Jesus Christ declared His own mission in these words:

The spirit who squeezed Muhammad did not assign to him any special mission.  He merely said to him:

Muhammad Does Not Pass The Test Of A True Prophet. [TOP]

In the final analysis, we find that Muhammad is not a true prophet, for the true prophet according to the Bible must have special qualifications.

1.  The true prophet, who is chosen by God to be the founder of a new religion must receive a direct call from God (Exodus 3:9,10).  Muhammad received his call from the spirit which squeezed him at the cave of Hira.

2.  The true prophet, chosen to declare a new religion, must be committed to holiness (2 Peter 1:21).  The main interest of Muhammad was to have as many wives as he could, and not to live a holy life.

3.  The true prophet must perform miracles to authenticate his call.  There is no mention in the Quran of a single miracle attributed to Muhammad.

4.  The true prophet must utter prophecies that must be fulfilled to the letter.  The only so-called prophetic utterance Muhammad recorded in his Quran is Surat Ar-Rum it says:

This surat cannot be considered a prophecy in any sense, for it does not mention who defeated the Romans, where they were defeated, or who shall be defeated by them.  It seems strange that the Muslims would rejoice because of the victory of the Romans who were Catholics at that time.

Why do they not rejoice today for the victories of the Christians?

If one apples this set of criteria and the required qualifications of the prophet to Muhammad, one must conclude that he is not a true prophet.

In addition, Islam did not establish commandments or principles superior to those of judaism and christianity.  All Muhammad did was to permit:

More importantly, Jesus Christ was the last Messenger of God to mankind, there was no one come after him.  He is also the heir of all things.  This is clear from the words we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

The Quran declares that Allah is the one who will inherit all things:

If we acknowledge that Christ is the inheritor of all things, we have to confess that He is also God the Son.  At the end of His earthly life, Jesus said to His disciples:

Jesus told His disciples that He would come again to take them to His Father's house.  He did not tell them that another prophet would come after him.  It is not acceptable that God will send a slave after sending His eternal Son.