Old Testament Prophecies: Deuteronomy 18:18

Among the Old Testament passages that Muslim scholars have identified as prophesying the coming of Muhammad (peace be upon him), Deuteronomy 18:18 holds a position of particular prominence. In this verse, God speaks to Moses and says: 'I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.' Ahmad Deedat and other Muslim scholars have argued that this prophecy, examined carefully in its historical, textual, and contextual dimensions, points with considerable specificity to the Prophet Muhammad.

The key phrase 'a prophet like you' — like Moses — is central to this argument. Deedat identifies multiple points of comparison between Moses and Muhammad that set both of them apart from Jesus: Moses was born of two human parents, Muhammad was born of two human parents, while Jesus is claimed by Christianity to have been born without a human father. Moses married and had children, Muhammad married and had children, while Jesus in the Christian tradition remained celibate. Moses led a political community and established civil law, Muhammad led a political community and established civil and religious law, while Jesus did not establish a state or civil legal code. Moses died a natural death and was buried, Muhammad died a natural death and was buried, while the Christian claim for Jesus involves resurrection after crucifixion. These parallels, Deedat argues, make Muhammad far more eligible than Jesus to be identified as the prophet 'like Moses' described in Deuteronomy.

The phrase 'from among their brothers' is also significant. Moses was from the Children of Israel, and the prophecy speaks of a prophet coming from 'their brothers' — a formulation that would naturally refer to a people related to but distinct from the Israelites. The Arabs, and specifically the descendants of Ismail (Ishmael), fit this description precisely: Ishmael was the brother of Isaac, from whom the Israelites descended, making the Ishmaelites — among whom Muhammad was born — the literal 'brothers' of the Israelites referenced in this prophecy.

The description 'I will put my words in his mouth' is particularly apt for the manner in which Quranic revelation was received. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was an unlettered man — he could not read or write — and the Quran was revealed to him through the Angel Jibril. His role was to receive and transmit the exact divine words, not to compose or interpret them. He is often described in the hadith literature as repeating after the Angel, memorizing the exact words of revelation, and delivering them to his Companions without alteration. The image of God putting his words in the prophet's mouth is therefore a remarkably precise description of the mechanics of Quranic revelation.

Christian biblical interpreters have traditionally argued that Deuteronomy 18:18 refers to Jesus or to the entire line of Israelite prophets rather than to any single future figure. Deedat engages with these interpretations carefully, noting that the verse's specificity — 'a prophet like you,' singular — and the characteristics it describes do not fit the interpretation that refers it to the prophetic tradition as a whole. He also notes that the Gospel of John records the Jews of Jerusalem asking John the Baptist: 'Are you the Prophet?' (1:21) — a question that implies they expected a single specific prophet to come, distinct from both the Messiah and Elijah. This 'Prophet' expected by the Jews of the first century, Deedat argues, was precisely the figure described in Deuteronomy 18:18.

The broader theological point is that the prophetic tradition did not end with Moses or even with Jesus but was fulfilled and completed in the final messenger to humanity, Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Old Testament prophetic literature, read attentively and without the presumption that its fulfillment must lie exclusively within the Israelite or Christian communities, reveals a trajectory that culminates in the Prophet of Islam.