Muhammad in the Bible — Page 42
42 He named you Muslims both before and in this Book (22 : 79). This is a clear reference to the prophecies of Isaiah. The verse of the Quran seems to say, “We foretold that your name will not be one of your choice but one of Our choice. Accordingly, today, We give you the name—Muslim. ” The name is derived from sal ā m which means Peace, and this is in keeping with one of the titles of the Promised Prophet— “Prince of Peace”. The prophecy was marvellous. Equally marvellous is the fact that only Muslims claim to have received their name from God in His own revealed word. Isaiah foretold that a Prophet would come the name of whose followers would be chosen by God and announced in His revealed word. The Holy Prophet of Islam is that Prophet; his followers have been named Muslims by God, and his religion Islam. PROPHECIES OF DANIEL According to the book of Daniel, chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had a dream, which he forgot soon after. Then he called upon the wise men of his time to tell him both the dream and its meaning. None of them, however, was able to do so. Daniel prayed to God and had the dream and its meaning revealed to him. The dream was as follows:— Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2 : 31- 35). The interpretation which Daniel gave of the dream was the following: